Hello again! I just want to clarify a couple of things I said in my last post on "List Behavior..." part of which is included below.
I believe that some off topic posting and socializing is both inevitable and *essential* for the list to work the way it should. If I were to force us to stay on topic 100% of the time we would *not* have as good a list as we do now. In fact it would barely function at all. When somebody asks "Does CS work for <blank>" and we get a bunch of non-CS recommendations as well, that does *not* hurt the list. We share a lot of info, everyone learns new stuff, and the person asking gets all the help the assembled masses can provide. When we share a little humor or kibitzing back and forth, it builds community. When we give some encouragement or support, everyone gains a little hope or inspiration. In exchange for these benefits, it is crucial that we understand that every off-topic posting places a burden on the other members of the list. The fact that Dennis complained and others agreed with him in principle if not tone, points that out. Consideration demands that we be willing to set limits on ourselves. We'll never find a perfect balanc or satisfy everyone all the time. But if we avoid the known problem topics, stay as close to CS as possible most of the time, and be *fair* and *considerate* in our use of the list for socializing, we'll get about the best results possible. Marsha's reporting the birth of her grandson *was* a special case. We don't need an announcement of every birth, wedding, bar-mitzvah, or other family event. But it's comforting to know that we were there to support her when tragedy struck last year, and can be here today to rejoice with her at this happy time. This part of what I say below is the key: "We're always going to have to balance the quality of information with a sense of community, and the consequent noise level required to foster it. It won't work at either extreme." Be well, all. Mike D. >>>>>begin excerpt of previous post... Now we need to take up the *real* issue here. Ivan's posting, below, has perhaps the best insight of all that has been said on the topic of topics, I think. We *are* a lot bigger than we were last year at this time. The list has been very busy for quite a while now. The proportion of off-topic postings *has* grown some, beyond the rate of total traffic growth. In any case, it is now much harder to cope with the volume. My policy towards topic is that anything that is not prohibited (politics, religion, marketing) can be posted if it answers a valid question or concern of a member. Anything not closely related to CS should then migrate into e-mail or other forums -- fairly soon in most cases. I expect this discipline to be self-imposed and that I should have to act only rarely to move something off-list. BEFORE YOU POST, think of your audience. *Everyone* has to read what you write. We have both long time members and newbies who are totally lost and don't know what has gone before. Try to include enough detail or background to help the newcomers to understand. We've also got folks who are fighting their own health battles and do *not* have much energy or time to spare. *PLEASE* give thought to them before you post something that is off topic. For every active member there are a dozen lurkers. The usefulness or destructiveness of every message you send is multiplied by that much. We're always going to have to balance the quality of information with the sense of community, and consequent noise level, required to foster it. It won't work at either extreme. Courtesy. Consideration. Patience. The list is set up so that replies default to the *list* rather than the original poster. When we tried it the other way, list traffic crashed and burned. Even the most useful and popular discussions *vanished* into e-mail because people would forget to manually redirect their replies to the list. The present situation, though, makes it easier for off-topic exchanges to go to the list. This can even be embarrassing at times. So check the TO: and CC: fields on your messages to make sure you know where they are going to!!! *Before* you hit send! The steady stream of people I deal with every day who need assistance with their subscriptions testifies to the fact that we'll *never* achieve perfection in this medium. So everyone will have to be patient with the inevitable mistakes of others, and continue to weigh the value against the cost of being a part of the silver list. The list is presently set up to let postings go through unread by me until after they are seen by all. Anything other than this will slow the list down so much as to stifle it, IMHO. That freedom demands that everyone self-censor for topicality and conduct. Please use this freedom wisely. Be well, Mike Devour silver-list owner > Hello all, > > I had resigned myself to the fact, that after a cursory glance, I > would need to delete at least 2/3rds of daily posts as irrelevant or > outside my areas of interest. When the list was smaller, I did not > give this a second thought. The list is much larger now.... > > Who and what is the list for? This is the question I asked myself > when I found the traffic of irrelevant mail starting to rankle. I > decided that if I didn't like it, I could leave. > > But I also thought that, operating as a small intimate community > can only work in a small intimate community, and that as the list > grows then the interactions between members would necessarily become > more formal. I think that is about to happen here. We are not a > 'family' any more, we are more like a nieghbourhood or club, and > growing. It is probably inappropriate to discuss ongoing personal > details these days. > > Expect growing pains. > > Ivan > [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
