On Mon, 17 Jul 2006, Robin Netherton wrote: > On Sun, 16 Jul 2006, Lavolta Press wrote: > > > So what about a system of CHAT: for chat, compliments, me-toos, > > computer problems, off-topic, and in short everything not a > > substantive message on costuming, versus no header at all for > > everything else? > > That strikes me as being more likely to succeed, and to be useful, than > asking that every post be tagged in some way, which is what I thought you > were suggesting originally. I don't think a total tagging system would be > manageable with our current administrative setup and turnover rate, but a > "CHAT:" tagging convention to separate costuming from non-substantive > or non-costuming isn't too much to ask.
As a mostly lurker, avid reader and sometimes poster, I would like to second this. An easy way to filter out non-costuming posts would indeed be useful. :) Another way to go (or maybe used to supplement a simple tagging system) might be to set up a short and clear set of guidelines for the group that dictate a bit more how to post. Maybe this is just my usenet background talking, but I find that online communication is so much easier if everyone follows some simple rules. The most important that come to mind are: - Please trim your posts. Do not quote an entire post or digest when you reply, but only those parts you are replying to. (This, I find, is not so much a problem when I have the list set to deliver individual messages, but in those periods where I need it set to digest I often find that reading the list gets very frustrating and time-consuming.) - When veering off the original subject in a reply, please also change the subject line! (In order for the "but you can just delete the posts you aren't interested in" argument to be valid, it needs to be possible to identify such posts _before_ you read them.) - Don't post one-liners or comments that don't contribute to the discussion at hand. (By this I mean that "ooh, your work is lovely" has the same positive effect if sent privately as on the list. I think such feedback is inspiring and important both to give and receive, but maybe not so useful on-list.) On the one hand I do like that the list is so chatty and a real community, OTOH I would like an opportunity to more easily identify interesting posts. The important thing is, as others have said, to make any rules so short and clear that they don't discourage people from posting at all. Ingrid -- This email has been scanned for viruses & spam by Decna as - www.decna.no Denne e-posten er sjekket for virus & spam av Decna as - www.decna.no _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
