JoeGoaUk, Thanks a lot for your statistics andfigures! It does help to understand who's posting, who's contributing, and who's keeping involved. It can also been an encouragement to others ... to get started posting regularly, and to know that whatever little they do, they will be contributing in a useful manner!
[That is what I believe about a small place like Goa too. In a big city, for most of the time and for most of the people, it makes very little difference whether one is alive or dead. In a small place like Goa, one's contribution -- positive or negative -- can often be instantly felt. Small is beautiful :-) ] But there is another issue here. How do we shift from QUANTITY to QUALITY? Who do we evaluate which posts add value, and which don't? Of course, this is very subjective. One man's food is another's poison. Still, coming from the world of journalism, I would believe there are qualities that make some posts imminently readable, and others which make posts boring. For instance, what do readers like to read? * Posts which are positive, informative and well thought out. * Posts which do not endless target another Goanetter. * Posts which make their point in a rather interesting way. * Disagreements expressed without bitterness. * On-topic posts, rather than those which stray away. * Non-repetitive posts. * Please add anything else you might add to this list. I do not have any answers, but it is a big challenge of how a volunteer network that will be 16 years old in a few weeks time should go about promoting quality (without, at the same time, blocking out on free speech -- to which we all know, there are limits, and it comes at a price!) Maybe, there should be a 2-3 person committee (not connected with the Admin or others already involved in running the list, for obvious reasons) who would select a post-of-the-week. This could push quality upwards, instead of things ending up in a shouting match, as it sometimes does. Just a thought, my personal views. Any suggestions? FN Frederick Noronha +91-9822122436 +91-832-2409490
