Hi All,
As an ISP I have a bit of experience here so I thought I'd give back to this
group for a change. (I'm on or administer 10's of lists and have been since
the mid 90's.)
First, each list should have it's own published charter to fall back upon.
That charter should clearly state what topics of discussion are allowed. It
should state some form of code of conduct as well. These things not only
help the list membership keep on track, they also make it easier for the
moderator to step in when need be to either stop out of control threads, or
remove people from the list.
When posting, it's *generally* accepted that you should top post, not bottom
post, as it's easier for people to follow just the new portions of a
conversation.
If a thread is getting long and you are commenting on one small part of it,
trim out the rest. No one seems to do so, but adding a note that signifies
that you've trimmed out a section is a good idea as well. (ex: ***trim***,
before and/or after the section you've cut out.)
Avoid personal attacks. It's VERY easy to be more aggressive via email than
it is in person. After all, no one's gonna reach out of the computer and
deck you for being a jerk. I try to pretend that the person I'm talking to
is in front of me and say things in the same way that I would if we were
talking in person. In the end you can never change a person's mind, you can
only give them the tools they need to change it themselves. (A skill I'm
admittedly very poor at....)
Off topic posts. Sometimes, it's either convenient or advantages to ask
those on a list about a topic that's not related to the list charter. How
much of that happens is up to the list moderator and to the list members.
Convenience: It may be that you are on only one list. It may be that
you've already asked a question elsewhere. It may be that you just don't
know where else to ask a question.
Or, as is often my case, the list membership is the best and the
brightest that you know so you ask the ones that you think can quickly give
you the best answer.
If/when you do post an off topic item, mark it with OT so that those that
have no interest in a thread that's not related to the list charter can
either easily delete the thread or automatically just filter it out in the
first place.
Do NOT change topics without starting a new thread. Especially don't reply
to an existing thread to start a new one. There is information in the
headers (which are not normally shown to us but exist non the less) that
many mail programs or search mechanisms use to organize conversations. If a
conversation does drift from one topic to another one, be sure to note that
in the subject line. (ex: now favorite microphones -- was -- Morse code)
On a personal note, this is the ONLY mailing list that I'm on that does NOT
reply to the list! It drives me nuts. I have to remember to hit reply-all
then take out the individual's email address etc. And once I've done that
I've added yet another un needed email address to my address book that'll
also have to be cleaned up much more often. Can we PLEASE standardize that
function?
Anyway, I hope that helps folks out.
laters,
marlon
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