Dear group,
Rich, Bob, and George are re-enacting for us the never ending tussle
over how much "non-pertinent BS" this list can or should tolerate.
As the list owner I have learned to accept that the list will never run
by itself nor ever be perfect. There are a few good reasons for this.
First off, people will *ALWAYS* ask reasonable questions, some of the
answers to which will *not* be related to CS. About the tenth time in a
week that you've read the following exchange, you'll understand why I
explicitely permit brief non-CS related threads in reply to health
related questions...
"Does anybody know how to treat hocketypocks?"
"CS helps my hocketypocks some, but bleebleknots takes care of 'em
right away! Contact me off-list and I'll tell you how..."
"Me TOO!" "What are bleebleknots?" "I would be grateful if you'd send
me the information as well." "What is hocketypocks?" "Can you post it
here so all of us can learn about it, too?" "What's your e-mail address
so I can contact you off-list?" "Me THREE!" "But that's OFF TOPIC!!!"
...
That's the first fact of life. It is more efficient to just allow such
questions and answers, *IF* the members respect the rules and keep
their replies BRIEF and FOCUSED on basic info and pointers to other
resources.
Second, topic drift happens. Witness the current thread on "Our
wonderful FDA..." that has actually swung back *ON* topic, while
retaining the un-descriptive Subject. It can be hard to tell sometimes
when enough is enough and a thread needs to stop. That's usually when
I have to step in.
Third, people will post a certain amount of Off Topic stuff, because
it's too funny, important, or interesting for them to resist. Warnings
about FDA or CODEX actions, articles on mainstream recognition or
interference with alt-health, or the occasional wisecrack or funny
story all find there way onto the list.
I can always fully moderate the list and reject everything that's not
pertinent... but it will slow things to a crawl *AND* stifle the
creative synergy that often makes the list the most useful.
Or, I can decree these things OFF TOPIC and FORBIDDEN and enforce this
with WARNINGS, SUSPENSIONS, and threats of REMOVAL and EXILE...
But every message I post, no matter how gently phrased, falls with the
subtlety of a sledge hammer, discouraging participation by everyone,
especially the newer folks who fear to anger the LIST GOD.
So instead, I accept a certain amount of "noise" while working quietly
with individuals to keep their behavior in bounds while still meeting
their needs as much as possible. I post the occasional request to
retire a thread or move it to the OFF TOPIC LIST. And I step in to
mediate the infrequent dispute, such as this one.
I don't blame Rich for being unhappy. I should have acted a day or two
ago and asked for the retirement of a couple of these threads. We'd
certainly gone beyond a cursory overview of brewers yeast, to meander
into the realm of vertebrate orthodontia and such. He was wrong,
however, to raise the issue on the list.
In my defense I will only say that it's been a helluva long while since
the last time list traffic got so busy and *interesting* as to trigger
one of Bob Lee's marvelously explicative, if non-pertinent, essays.
<grin>
Giving the group the chance to "stretch its legs" like that helps
people get to know each other, and hopefully encourages them to stay
involved. It comes at a price, however. We CANNOT keep roaring along
with a large fraction of "non-pertinent BS" without driving away others
who don't have the time or energy to deal with it.
So...
Answer all reasonable questions, ON LIST, but keep the off topic
threads SHORT and BASIC.
Change the SUBJECT of the thread to reflect its content. It's easy
enough that anyone can do it!
Treat OFF TOPIC chitchat as the privelege that it is and keep it BRIEF,
or move it to the Silver Off Topic List, PLEASE!
If you'd like to COMPLAIN about how the list is running, talk to me
PRIVATELY!
As long as I'm running it the Silver List will probably never be
"tight" enough to satisfy the likes of Ol' Bob.
That said, 2002 is shaping up to be the first time since 1998 that we
will average less than 1000 messages a month. It looks like we'll be
hitting about 8000 or 9000 messages this year, versus 13-14 thousand
the last three years running.
There are several reasons for it that I can figure out. We lost some
of our old crew of regulars *because* of the high volume. We lost both
people and participation due to bleedover from the meltdown of the old
off-topic list. We also lost some people when a couple of e-mail
viruses snuck through to the list. (In fact there is enough confusing
Klez-variant activity off-list that it might make some folks leary of
being on the list still...)
What I want, folks, is for you to make good use of this list, but be as
respectful of our main topic, Colloidal Silver, as you can.
To make that happen I also want you to use the Silver Off Topic List
for the many *other* interesting things that we find to talk about.
There hasn't been as much traffic on the OT list as there should be.
We are just getting to the point where it becomes IMPORTANT to use the
Off Topic List as it is intended, so please learn how.
Anybody on the Silver List can post to the Off Topic List at...
[email protected]
You can read it at the archives at:
http://escribe.com/health/silverofftopiclist/index.html
The Silver Off Topic List rules and subscription instructions are at:
http://www.silverlist.org/OffTopic.html
Silver List rules are explained at:
http://www.silverlist.org/SilverList.html#Rules
Be well, all.
Mike Devour
silver-list owner
[Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian]
[[email protected] ]
[Speaking only for myself... ]
--
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