TBAY, Filks, combining posts, HBfile

[ameliagoldfeesh]

--- In HPFGU-Feedback at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" 
<drednort at a...> wrote:

> My view is that if TBAY needs the list to survive, as you believe, 
and the list 
> doesn't need TBAY to survive, then TBAY is being specially 
privileged by being 
> on the list. If TBAY can't stand on its own two feet, why is the 
entire list expected 
> to 'subsidise' it?
>
<SNIP>

A Goldfeesh:

This whole debate over TBAY reminds me of when I joined this list a 
couple of years ago.  Shortly after I joined an immense SHIPping war 
broke out.  I remember getting a few digests in which 23 out of 25 
posts concerned SHIPping, of which I was not interested in the 
least. Then came the inevitable call, by others who felt like I did, 
to move all SHIPping offlist and that it contained too much fluff, 
not enough canon and anyway, *who the heck gave a flying fig if Ron 
ended up with Hermione or ran off with the Giant Squid in the first 
place*.  Penny (msg #31619), the listmum at the time, and John 
Walton (msg #31641)both had some good advice as mods.  I'm just 
trying to point out things haven't really changed much, even though 
the list is so much bigger now.  If a person dislikes TBAY just skip 
over it or delete it.  The same goes for FILKS.  Neither take up 
that much list volume that I can see. Also, if a TBAY post is 
lacking canon nothing prevents another listmember from calling the 
poster on it.  Just quote a bit of the post and ask if they'd care 
to provide more canon to it or point out where it is.  I wish I'd 
done this a couple of weeks ago when I saw a TBAY with very very 
minimal canon and *tons* of fluff.  TBAY or not, if a person is 
posting with little canon-ask them for it.  Perhaps the person 
doesn't realize what is necessary or needs reminded.

The thing I see that takes up a ton of list volume is that hardly 
anyone anymore (other than Catlady) combines posts. Instead of one 
nice (though perhaps long) post, I see posters having 3 or 4 short 
posts in row on different subjects.  Why can these not be combined?

This brings me to the (Not So)Humongous BigFile.  Tom Wall, in an 
earlier post, pointed out that it didn't have much information about 
canon in it any longer.  Nor does it have the examples of citing 
like I believe it once did- I wish I would have kept an older copy 
of it.  Plus, I noticed it was lacking (in section two) the bit 
about combining posts that it used to have. This, I believe, should 
be reinstated. 

I would also like to suggest that (instead of redoing all the HB 
again) the older version would be posted again for those who would 
like to look through it and get more specific tips.  It contained 
useful information that should not have just been trashed. The older 
version could be more like guidelines, than the actual rules, 
perhaps.  After all, if a person is on this list, they can 
apparently read huge tomes and a vast amount of posts, but not a 
long file on list rules and ettiqutte?  It doesn't seem too much to 
ask, really.

A Goldfeesh (who also wishes more people would remember to sign 
their posts, having seen that even some of the older members 
neglecting it too)