Greetings everyone! I think it's worth telling you all that we're growing again. We're also enjoying a period of fairly high volume with the majority of it well on topic. I can hardly ask for more -- Bravo!
It always takes a while for new members to absorb the "culture" and find their place, and for the dynamics of the group to accomodate new personalities. It's all a normal part of the ebb and flow. I urge you to be especially responsive to newcomer questions. If nobody knows and nobody responds, well, that's not a very good welcome. One of the risks we face as we grow is uncontrollable increase in list volume. Maybe one person in ten is active while the rest lurk. Many are subscribed who probably don't even read the list regularly, but keep it around "just in case." But, as we gain new members, some of them *do* take an active role. (Hi folks! Thanks!) The upshot is more conversation, higher list volume, and more stress on everybody trying to read and keep up. Staying on topic helps keep this manageable. I believe a certain amount of "noise" is inevitable and necessary to keep the list "alive" and lively. I also want people to get the answers they need, regardless of whether they involve colloidal silver. I only ask that off topic discussions be ended or taken elsewhere as soon as basic curiosity is satisfied and other resources cited. We've even got the silver-off-topic-list to go to when we have a subject going that really deserves more time than we can afford to give it here. You can find details at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silver-off-topic-list But another part of keeping the volume manageable is simply not posting things which do not add to the discussion. Oh, the occasional wisecrack or pleasantry is just a part of being friendly, and I don't begrudge it! But if you counted the messages that consist of umpty-ump lines of quoted text with a "Thank you!" tacked onto the end, you'd be shocked. So an important skill to learn is how, in *your* mail program, to reply to the author of the message instead of the whole list. In Outlook Express, which a lot of people are using, when you hit Reply, it might give you either the original author or the list address. However, if you hit "Reply All", you can usually get both. At that point you *MUST* delete the silver-list address from the To: window, and any others beside the author of the message, in order to make sure your reply goes privately instead of to the entire list. Taking control of where your message is going is a basic requirement of e-mail mastery. Then you will be able to judge whether your remark justifies being stored, downloaded, opened and read by over 350 people. When you think of the members who have come here for help with difficult health problems and may not have the extra time or energy to spare, you realize it is an important decision. In all, we're doing pretty well right now, and I thank you all for your effort to help others and your restraint toward topic and courteous behavior. We have a group of smart, good, responsible people. I am grateful to you, my friends. If there's anything you need from me, my address is at the bottom of every message from the silver-list. Be well, Mike Devour silver-list owner [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
