Pal wrote:
> Sure, but this is not commensurate with your statement that people can post
> whatever is on their mind - what kind of self-restrain is that?. It is this
> statement I strongly disagree with. In fact, Mike did just that; giving a
> friendly reminder but you didn't feel comfortable with that in spite of
> your position of tolerating "everything". This is double standard.
Here, Pal hits the nail on the head. Tom's position is essentially
self-contradictory--which is why it amuses me. It's like those humorous
bumper stickers that say "I CAN'T STAND INTOLERANCE." <g>
> People are far to quick in putting OT in front
> of perfectly on topic post.
I agree with this too. Anything having to do with photography, photographs,
the way we photograph, or the reasons why, other photographers, etc., is an
on-topic post.
The need for restraint, at root, respects the reality that only a minority
of list participants are active posters. The rest are "lurkers," people who
read but don't respond. Those people presumably come to this list to read it
because its subject is Pentax and photography. When we "the posting
minority" go off about computer viruses, cartoons, Princess Diana, "politics
and religion" and so forth, we dilute the usefulness and purpose of the list
for lurkers.
Posting is in some sense a responsibility--to keep our remarks pertinent. We
are in a sense public speakers, invited to speak around a certain general
topic.
On the other hand, we are a community of friends in conversation, and, as I
remarked jokingly to Tom yesterday, sometimes we get bored, and the
conversation wanders where it will.
Let's face it, what are the compelling topics of any camera-brand list?
--what camera to get
a. what cameras we have
--what lens to get
a. what lenses we have
--the company (Pentax) and its fortunes and strategies
--how our brand compares to others
--old (used) equipment
--new equipment
a. news of upcoming releases
b. reviews and comments about new equipment
c. wish lists
--ancilliary equipment
a. how to use it
b. how to chose it
--photographic pursuits (what we do with our cameras)
--general photography topics (education, history, theory, techniques)
--digital vs. traditional
--"meta" concerns:
a. computers and programs
b. the list itself
c. the behavior of those of us on the list
I submit that this list is one of the best of all the camera-brand lists. We
are generally friendly and polite; peoples' posts are often thoughtful and
interesting; we welcome newcomers and help with questions. Plus, we have
many supporting features that other lists don't have: the PUG Gallery,
Stan's and Boz's sites, Albano's surveys, Chris's PUG comment assignments,
etc.
But there are times when the standard topics listed above seem exhausted.
Right now we've chewed over the MZ-S to everyone's satisfaction, done
digital to death (thenk-yew, thenk-yew <g>) and examined every facet of what
Pentax seems to be up to.
So we start chatting up other things. Understandable. Race car tires, Mighty
Mouse. (Errr....<g>)
STILL AND ALL, anyone who's been on ANY list for ANY length of time knows
that there are certain "issues topics" that ALWAYS start endless arguments
even among friends--pollution, race, abortion, the social and economic
structure, politicians and political parties, gun control, liberal vs.
conservative...we all know the list. Heck, you can pretty much guess at the
first message whether an issue is a hot-button topic or not.
It seems to me that we can agree that "issues topics" lead to bad blood,
extensive wasted bandwidth, and, to boot, never resolve a damn thing. This
isn't theoretical; it's empirical. All you gotta do to see it is hang around
any list and watch for long enough.
If we can't agree to avoid ITs (issues topics) and/or we can't manage to
police ourselves, I for one think it's helpful to have other people step in
and make some gentle attempt to "break it up" when it looks like ITs are
brewing and threatening to burst forth into a melee.
And unless I get censored, that's what I'll probably continue to do.
<s>
Cheers and good light,
--Mike
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