Dear Comrades,
Please let me explain some things about this Google e-mail discussion
group, *YCLSA Discussion Forum*.
It has no editors, censors or facilitators. What appears is what is
posted by the subscribers. The moderators have a limited role, which I
would like to explain.
The moderators (also called "managers") are currently four: YCLSA
Spokesperson *Mafika Damane Mndebele*, YCLSA National Committee Member
(with responsibilities having to do with political education) *Kenny
Motshegoa*, ex-British-YCL member and long-time subscriber *James
Tweedie*, and myself, Domza the VC.
The history of the YCLSA Discussion Group is that I started it in 2006,
with the knowledge and approval of the YCL. For a few years it was the
/de facto/ discussion forum of the Communist University.
Last year I converted the main Communist University group, which is much
larger than the YCLSA group, but which was previously only a
distribution list, into a discussion forum. Then I proposed to combine
the two lists, but some YCLSA comrades objected.
Then Cde Gugu Ndima was the moderator. When Gugu pulled out, the YCLSA
Discussion Forum fell back into my lap. Hence I have been very keen that
there should be plural moderators, in fact a team of moderators, so that
when one drops out, the whole thing will not come back to me alone,
again. So I am very glad and grateful that Cdes Mafika, Kenny and James
are on board as moderators.
So what do moderators do?
To answer this, one must first explain that _new subscribers_ have to be
automatically placed on the moderated list. This is because we don't
know at first if they are spammers, or "bots", or what they may be. Only
when they post do we get something like proof that they are subscribers
in good faith.
The moderator's job is to look at the messages that are held for
moderation, and convert them whenever possible, and as fast as possible
into "_always allow_", so that they will no longer be moderated, but
will post direct to the group. This is necessary. There is not enough
time to moderate a lot of people.
In doing this, moderating rules are basically:
* No spam, junk-mail, Viagra adverts, porn, 419 scams, religious
fanatics. All these and anything similar get unilaterally and
immediately _banned_.
* No newsletters, because this is a discussion forum, so each
e-mail should have _only one item_ in it. Exceptions might
sometimes be made for SACP Central Committee or YCL National
Committee Statements.
* No behaviour that threatens the forum itself. People who
menace the group can get put back on the moderated list, and
then banned if necessary.
The latter situation is not ideal. It is exceptional, and if it happens
at all it probably means that there is some kind of stress or crisis in
the air.
Much the best is when the subscribers themselves exert gentle pressure
on any comrades who look like they are becoming destructive.
We try to avoid having a "state". We have been through long periods of
self-management when the only corrections made were those that came from
ordinary subscribers, by their words.
It's a kind of communism.
It's a kind of magic!
*VC*
--
You are subscribed. This footer can help you.
Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this
message.
You can visit the group WEB SITE at
http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options,
pages, files and membership.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't
have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in
the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat):
[email protected] .
