Hi all! Steve's message, below, is typical of the kind I get off-list when we go through periods of high traffic and lots of off-topic discussions.
I prefer folks send such comments to me directly, but since Steve sent it to the list *and* did such a gracious job, I'll respond here for everyone's benefit. Steve wrote: > Tonight I sampled 295 recent entries to the list to see what > percentage even mentioned CS. The result was dismal - only 8.5% > even mentioned CS, silver, or electrolysing water!! Read it and weep, folks. That's the outcome of all this unbridled enthusiasm we've been seeing. I see in the most recent batch of messages that some CS related threads have actually emerged. Thank you, folks!!! > Moderator Mike Devour has asked to keep the list submissions on > topic. I am surprised he allows so much non-topic stuff on his list. Lets review the standards for list topics... CS related discussions, basic or technical, are always on topic and may be discussed as long as there is interest. If somebody asks a health related question, you are welcome to reply with information not directly related to CS if you judge that it is likely to be helpful to them. Such off-topic discussion should carry on just long enough to satisfy people's initial curiosity *and* direct them to other resources, sites, forums, publications, etc. After that the topic should fade away or be taken off-list by those still interested in it. If this is the third or fourth message you've sent to an off-topic thread... That should be a clue you're going too far. Politics not *closely* related to CS or important alternative health issues should simply be avoided. *All* politics should be limited to the least necessary to direct people to other resources off-list. Religious topics should be limited to the occasional passing remark or words of encouragement or thanks, and not be permitted to devolve into preaching, outright evangelism or doctrinal debate. Vendors, distributors, or practicioners are asked to limit their on-list activities to comments of general interest from the point of view of a knowledgeable individual helping others. Commercial activity or self promotion must be conducted off-list unless expressely approved of by me, in advance. No SPAM, chain letters, or urban legends, please. No personal attacks, aggressive behavior or gross or obscene material will be tolerated. <hint hint> > A lot of the messages are personal from one person to another, and > really should have been sent directly to the individual instead of > to the list. I have the default reply-to address set to the list posting address and not to the original author. The result of this is that nearly *all* comments end up back on the list, including thank you's and you're welcome's and the occasional personal comment that was meant to be sent privately. Most folks simply won't keep track of who their message is going out to, so if I set it up to reply to the original author most topics would end abruptly as they rapidly migrate off list, leaving many questions unanswered for the rest of the members. > I fear the serious researchers and users of CS will be driven off > the list because of the 90 plus percent of off-topics. It is too > time consuming to wade through all the OT stuff which is not > supposed to be on the list in the first place. This has happened to some extent already, and we are the poorer for it. Also, the folks who come to us who are dealing with illness of their own or a loved one often do *not* have the time or stamina to cope with extensive off-topic posting. These folks deserve our consideration and courtesy. In contrast, however, we see that there is a real need and ample demand for just the kind of chit-chat and diversity that gets things going so heavy here sometimes. For that reason I will continue to allow other topics to continue as an undertone. I would just ask you to ask yourself whether the message you want to send is really important enough to consume the time of 350 people... or if it's worth cutting and pasting the address of the original author in place of the list address in the To: field before hitting 'send'. > I am grateful Mike owns and moderates this list. It must be a time > consuming task. Again, please respect his request to keep the > list on the topic for which it was created - CS. 100% on topic is > not realistic, but 70% or so should be achievable if we all > cooperate. > > --Steve Young I agree. Lately, even 50% would be a welcome change! As our newer members learn the boundaries and find a niche for themselves, I'm sure we'll get back to a more comfortable traffic volume and content quality. I've been a little slow responding, but I am asking folks to ease off. Be patient a little longer, please. Be well, Mike Devour silver-list owner [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] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
