Hi Chuq, the answer really varies with the list I think. And of course can change over time as the list changes.
Funny that Vince should mention not making an exception for Sept 11th, because I made an exception for that topic on my list, though people were not allowed to put forward racial and religious stereotypes (no one tried...it just worried me). Some lists I'm a member of banned discussion entirely, but they all allowed what I consider essential, off topic or not: members in NYC or DC posting that they were okay. My main list, Immune, is the biggest. I do not allow off topic posts at all. But the topic is so broad that it includes pretty much everything someone would want to post. The focus is on a particular grouping of health problems and toxicity issues, but any post about health is on topic. Any post about how someone is doing emotionally is on topic. So are posts about the environment, the health industry, health politics, etc. Ironically, even Sept 11th was on topic in most ways because our discussion focused on the toxic effects of the fires, smoke, asbestos, etc and the lack of protection for rescue workers...which grew into a website I designed. So what's off topic? Virus warnings, chain mail, general chatting, television shows and movies (unless they're discussing a particular health issue), etc. I also gently cut off any discussions that get out of hand and vere into off-topic areas (I write the participants and ask them to take it private). I discourage joke and inspirational forwards but allow the occasional one. Another list I run, Immune-Survivors, is more of a support group so anything goes there. I just keep out spam and attachments. A third list, LCVeg, is so low traffic (about 100 lurkers!) that I'll accept anything that even vaugely fits. But if traffic picks up, I'll keep it to food, diet, health, and exercise. The fourth list, Immune-Admin, is announcement only so not an issue; I'm the only one who posts. And then I started a fifth list, using Yahoogroups, and it's only to discuss a particular project I'm coordinating. Whenever some one has posted anything off topic (including asking if they can discuss related projects elsewhere), I've asked them not to (an announcement of the related group is okay). There's actually an advantage to running so many groups. Like when someone posted to the project group asking for advice on nontoxic means of getting stains out of carpet, I told her to post to Immune, where such a question was perfectly on topic. I rarely have to tell someone not to post, I just tell them post there instead. Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 10:10:15 -0800 From: Chuq Von Rospach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> What I can't decide is whether this is a problem, or whether any 'cure' would be worse than the disease. On the one hand, I see this kind of side-chatter as community building (mostly, sometimes, it's just clueless people, but a lot of it is mining of a trusted community for non-topic information). On the other hand, these things can lead towards an attitude of "topic is optional", and some of the discussions can take off with a life of their own and clutter up the list, creating all of the problems too much side-chatter brings. It's a trade off. I've found that lists that allow chatter tend to have more people and more traffic--Including more on-topic traffic in general--than lists that are stricter with posts. There is another list similar to Immune that is very chatty and it was actually a spin off from my list years ago for other reasons. Because many subscribers to one are also on the other, they compliment each other. I like keeping my list more focused on quality information and I don't feel guilty about it because this other list has the chatter for people who want it (I have posting priviledges on that list but do not subscribe--I find the discussion there to be more plentiful but less useful). Whatever you decide, I recommend you make some rules about it. Either don't allow off topic posts or allow them but only if people mark them as such. "OT:" in the beginning of the subject line works well and lets people who filter messages weed them out. Putting OT elsewhere in the subject is not as helpful. You might want to allow certain kinds of off topic messages (personal announcements) but not others (jokes, chain mail). Another trick is to post the dilemna to the mailing list and ask subscribers to give their opinion. I find this extremely useful for backing up decisions I make. I bet you'll find a lot of people who hate the clutter. Of course you don't have to go with majority rule, you're just getting feedback. I suggest you insist all comments go to you privately and not to the list, but that you wait a couple weeks then summerize the results on list. A way to avoid on list replies is to create a poll on a website and then post the URL. I've used this successfully for the should replies go to the list or the poster problem. I think the latter because to do the former breaks things. But I constantly get requests to change it. No one writes to say don't change things, but why would they? When I did a poll, the majority said they liked it the way it was. Now when I get bitter complaints about how hard it is to post to the list (use reply-to-all sheesh!), I can tell them about the poll and they shut up. Anyway, good luck and I hope it works out for you. Cyndi -- ____________________________________________________________________________ ___ "There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe there's Cyndi Norman something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.tikvah.com/ _________________ Owner of the Immune Website & Lists http://www.immuneweb.org/
