ADMIN: We'd Like to Pick Your Brains About TBAY

[abigailnus]

Dear Everybody,
 
One of the reasons that we decided to establish -Feedback was to
allow us to find out about the group's needs and opinions, and
occasionally we'd like to ask for your thoughts about various subjects.
This is one of those times. Most of you have probably seen the TBAY
prefix attached to some posts on the main list. TBAY is a posting
format that has existed for about a year and a half, and it has a great
many fans among the older list members. We'd like to see newer
members get involved with the form, but we realize that the learning
curve for TBAY can be a little steep. To this end, members of the list
admin have been putting together a TBAY primer, which will answer
new members' questions about the format.
 
Trouble is, we're not entirely certain what those questions are.
 
We can guess some of them, and no doubt we can thing of a few that
a person with no familiarity with TBAY might never think to ask, but
there are surely questions that we would never consider. Which is why
it's great that we have you to do our work for us. :-)
 
So, if you could take the time to answer these questions, and maybe add
a few of your own, we'd really appreciate it, and we hope that in turn the
list will as well.
 
1. We'd like to know how you perceive TBAY. How would you describe
TBAY messages? What do you feel is the most important aspect of a TBAY
message? What does the term 'TBAY theory' mean to you? What, if any, is
the difference between a TBAY theory and a regular HPfGU theory? 
 
2. Do you read TBAY messages? Have you ever posted a TBAY message? If
you have, what prompted you to do so? Have you ever wanted to respond
to a TBAY thread but chose not to because of the format? What about the
TBAY format made you reluctant to post?
 
3. How accessible do you find the TBAY format? Do you find discussions
of older theories (such as MAGIC DISHWASHER) on TBAY more or less
accessible then discussions of older theories in regular posts (such as
Evil!Lupin)? Do Hypothetic Alley (home of several major TBAY theories)
and Fantastic Posts help to make TBAY posts more accessible? What can
veteran TBAY-ers do to make newbies feel more welcome?
 
4. What do you find confusing about TBAY? What would you like to know
before posting? What would make you more likely to post in a TBAY style?
 
Thanks in advance for any input you can provide,
Abigail, aka Bookish Elf
For the list elves