Hi folks, Thank you for sharing your opinions, as I requested. I hope that those that are threatening to leave will hang around long enough to see the end of this discussion and take part in forming its results.
A number of quite interesting points are being made, and others are being demonstrated, although not by anyone's specific remarks... One of the latter points this discussion shows, confirming over a decade of experience for me, is that our group has been and always will be divided between those who want more free-flowing discussion and others who want us to remain closer to the topic -- and neither group will ever be completely satisfied with any compromise that I ever strike between the two extremes! (Yes, there are folks who are pretty well satisfied in the middle ground, too! <grin>) So, on this first point, please let me offer a few remarks that I hope will help everyone understand better what it takes to keep this forum even half-way successful in its mission... ***POINTS TO PONDER Remember, first of all, that I don't see messages before they go out! I do all my "moderating" after the fact. I depend on EACH OF YOU to regulate your own behavior, consistent with the list rules and the culture I try to instill in the membership by public guidance and private coaching. Your self-control is the price I demand of you for the privelege of staying in the group. Next, one of the very first things I learned when I took over ownership of the list is that I would NEVER be allowed to stop ALL off-topic posting if our group were going to continue to accomplish what we should and could with our efforts. Here's why: Inevitably, easily half the questions people will ask have a non-CS related component: "Will CS cure...?" "My friend has ... will CS help?" "Does anybody know anything to do for ...? Whether CS is useful in each case or not, a lot of the time there are non-CS-related answers that these people need and deserve to hear. I've never prohibited non-CS- related information that might be able to HELP somebody. Other questions people ask have no relationship to CS to begin with, yet are obviously important or urgent for them, and frequently interesting to many of the rest of us. The guideline for these worthwhile off-topic discussions? Make them fairly brief, a day or two, giving out basic information and pointers to other resources so folks can continue their research elsewhere. For me to re-evaluate this fundamenal aspect of the list would require some pretty convincing arguments. Many members have just finished saying how much valuable stuff they've learned from the group on topics besides CS. I would not want those questions to go unanswered. Another point to consider is the members' responsibility to mold the discussion to their own needs. All new members are urged (in the instructions they receive upon joining) to ASK QUESTIONS in order to get the conversation moving in a direction that will help them. When they do this they normally get answers. If they don't, the conversation moves on without them. This is not an organized lecture series, where you can sit back passively and have all your questions answered, but rather more like a cocktail party, with folks milling around and talking amongst themselves. Anyone who wants to pick up the microphone and ask a question about the main topic is welcome to do so, and they'll get plenty of help as long as they need it. If I demanded that everybody sit quietly until somebody asks a proper question, it would be a very different place, and I think we'd lose a whole lot more people than we probably do when things get too noisy for too long. Who's to say what's the right balance? Ummm... Well, me, I'm afraid. Which is why I'm asking questions. *** DEFINING THE PROBLEM Now, as I consider specific actions or possible changes in policy in response to the present complaints, I think we might all benefit from some analysis to see just how things really look. I've surveyed list traffic for the first 23 days of August. Here are some statistics: *** Posts per day: average 24.26 mean 22.04 min 8 max 50 stdev 10.68 There've been 5 days over 30 messages and 8 days under 20. *** Counting threads and posts: Threads ranged from single unanswered posts to multi-day 40-post behemoths. For this analysis I looked at Subject: lines and samplings of posts, but did not account for subject drift within threads or count threads with "Unidentified Topic" or "Silver Digest" titles. On topic threads have a significant CS component. Threads for Other Questions offer information not related to CS but relevant to health- related questions raised by members. Off topic counts everything from Kurt's polemics to computer questions to humor and chit-chat. On topic: 44 threads; 194 posts Other questions: 32 threads; 198 posts Off-Topic: 30 threads; 136 posts Frankly, I'm not willing to analyse and rate each of the 554 posts in the sample in detail, if it's okay with all of you. I do need to get to bed sometime this morning! <grin> ***SUGGESTIONS? ANALYSIS? As I see it, lately we've averaged about TWO DOZEN posts per day, and between a third and half of them are the usual lower quality, for a variety of reasons. But, then, the percentage of CS-related questions people ask that get answered and discussed is very high. It's my normal practice to ask for OT threads that drag on too long to be ended, but it's been weeks since I've needed to, as most such threads have ended of their own accord within a (mostly) reasonable timeframe and total list traffic has averaged low to moderate. Self- regulation does seem to work, after a fashion. So, I'm open to specific suggestions or ideas. In light of the points I've made above, please tell me: How much traffic is too much? Off topic versus on-topic? Do you feel my basic policies need to be changed or updated? Should I do a better job of enforcing them? How, specifically? Should we stop answering non-CS-related health questions entirely? Should we ban *all* politics-related posts, no matter their importance? Or is the existing policy (brief, occasional, little or no discussion) good enough if it's enforced? Should I more vigorously police the "style" of certain messages so as not to scare new people off or annoy the regulars? Any other points you think I've not covered yet? Reply to me privately or to the list, as you prefer. Even if you've already "said your piece" I'd appreciate your reflection on my thinking thus far and how (or if!) I'm addressing your concerns. There's more for me to say, and I will. I've seen some very nice points being made and suggestions offered that I'd like to comment on, but I'm going to stop for now and get some sleep. <Yawn!> Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. It's not a bad thing to air grievances and sound each other out every once in a while, though I *will* get riled if folks make a habit of spouting off their objections on the list instead of privately! <scowls at David!> <grin> Ultimately I alone have to decide how things will be run, but your feelings and thoughts are important to my thinking. Peace, Mike Devour silver-list owner [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [mdev...@eskimo.com ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
