How time flies.... Seems like yesterday when I read Tim DeMello's letter-to-the-editor in the Gomantak Times. GoaNet (or is it Goanet, I'm still confused) seemed to be a good idea. So I signed up immediately.
That must have been six months to a year after the list was launched. Those were the days when a USRobotics 14.4 kbps modem in Goa still cost Rs 14,000 -- about five or six times the cost of a four-times faster made-in-Goa modem from D-Link today. Our email service provider then was Axcess, a Mumbai-based business linked to the BusinessIndia magazine group, which since went out of operations. We paid by the message, if one recalls rightly. One's email address then was [EMAIL PROTECTED] Within hours, about 15 or so messages poured into my inbox, which linked up via the slow 2400 kbps line. In those early days, when most didn't know what e-mail was, it was unusual. So, there was a mix of trepedation and pleasure. There was someone called Herman Carneiro welcoming me to the list (we since lost this tradition in between, of formally welcoming new members). Tim de Mello was making his point, Vishwas Chavan of NIO was sending out news culled from the Goa papers. If one recalls rightly, the early birds were others like James Almeida, of course the ever-resourceful Eddie Fernandes, Cyp Fernandes, the articulate-but-blunt VM (aka Vivek Menezes), James Almeida, Sharon, Ulysses Menezes and many others who are going to get irritated with my forgetting to mention them here.... GoaNet went through the typical 'life cycle of mailing lists'. We were first thrilled to get to know each other, and overawed that so much could be achieved by communicating with unknown others over such a distance. Our enthusiasm later plateaued out. Soon infighting came into play (this happens not only among Goans, but just about any mailing-list... maybe more so among us Goans). In some cases, the bitterness was intense. In most episodes, we quickly forgot the harsh words exchanged liberally. Early on, some of us journalists saw in GoaNet, a great possibility through which to build up alternative news-exchange channels. Colleagues in the Herald International Review (was that the correct name, it seems ages ago) were quick to put out their updates via GoaNet. There was Goldwyn, Agnelo and Susan. Not only did we reach out to new readers, but there was scope for a greater freedom of expression -- no editors who's taste one had to fit in with, or others acting as censors of sorts. GoaNet has proven to be a place through which to make friends (and convert a few friends into enemies... but that's part of the game), to share ideas, and gain from giving generously. One often recalls how James Almeida put me in touch with a technical journal that wanted a freelance writer to write a single article on radio policy on India. That was about three years or more ago, and I'm still writing on the rate of about one every month... and getting paid for it. We perhaps all have a lot to gain from sharing. As one likes to argue, places like GoaNet can be the 'cyber-kudds' of the 21st century. Just as an earlier generation of Goans set up places for Goans to stay in the hostile environments of a new city (Bombay), we need to build networks that are mutually beneficial, linking people in cyber terms, across the globe, wherever they might have migrated to. GoaNet can and is playing such a role. Other mailing lists too have a role to play; but unfortunately we all (me too) at times get subsumed in our rivalry and egos and this blocks the potential good that could come from such networking. Ten things I don't like about GoaNet: * Not enough people participating. * Too much dependant on the postings of a few (including this writer). * Women's voices not much heard. * Debate sometimes gets too personalised / impolite. * New-comers tend to be wary of introducing themselves. * Existing members not involved in introducing GoaNet to non-members. * Admin responsibilities could be shared to a team of fresh blood. * Greater sense of purpose could help work on positive projects for change. * Lack of clear understanding where such networks could play a role in Goa. * Growth could have been much larger; potential still untapped. Ten things I like about GoaNet: * Sprit of sharing still exists, though not much as earlier * Interesting place through which to keep oneself informed * Rudeness-levels far lower than compared to some other lists * Readers have been patient with the list's lapses. * Only a few members needed to be 'expelled'; but there should be more advanced means of dealing with dissent/differing standards * Herman has played a tolerant, unifying role inspite of workpressures * Good mix of news and discussion; much scope for improvement though. * Voluntary, non-commercial nature of the list has its advantages. * Some of the freshness of the earlier years has been retained. We should not forget the small successes of GoaNet over the years -- supporting Sandra D'Souza (surname???) participation in the special olympics, lobbying for an Internet node in Goa, building awareness among the Goa diaspora about paedophilia in Goa, taking news from Goa to expats scattered across the globe, acting as a exchange point for updates about Goan communities the world across, sparking off the idea for the Goa Schools Computers Project, and other small but not-inconsequential inputs. We perhaps need to work harder on this front in the years ahead. Over to the others. Let's hear from them. Criticism welcome... this is critical if we are to improve. FN =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? 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