What Price Success? Improving Posting Quality on HPfGU

[quigonginger]

Greetings, everyone.  Ginger, new to this list, addressing one small 
point of Carolyn's post:
> CONTROLLING POSTING VOLUME
> 
> The list has been characterised over the last two years by uneven 
> bursts of posting in the summer. The group was created in August 
> 2000, and monthly posting averaged a fairly even 1500-2000 per 
month 
> until Jun-Aug 2003, when the publication of OoP generated over 
20000 
> posts in three months. The posting rate subsided back to 2000 per 
> month until Jun-Aug 2004, when nearly 12000 posts went up. It would 
> be reasonable to assume the same pattern will be repeated in summer 
> 2005, especially if (as seems likely) it coincides with the release 
> of HBP.

Ginger:
This is something that has been on my mind for quite a while.  We 
welcomed many of our great posters during the joining glut that was 
OoP's release.  For that reason, I would hate to see us lose other 
quality potential posters by having a ban on joining.  

OTOH, I am one who reads every post unless it is one of the ones I 
can't understand because it is so far above my head.  During the days 
following OoP, I was sleep-deprived.  

Lists evolve and change over time with a change in membership, but 
this was so sudden.  Overnight, people were joining and saying "Hi, 
here's my 234kb analysis of the book."  Ok, slight exageration.  Many 
gave up on trying to read all the posts, and just went ahead and 
posted.  Within 100 messages, it was guaranteed that someone would 
ask why Neville could see the thestrals, and several people would 
answer.  Repeat every hundred posts.  

I can only imagine the headaches this would have caused for the 
Elves.  I remember having pity.  

Sadly, people also left at that time; I understood their frustration.

Submitted for your approval: 
1. Having new members wait until they are contacted by their 
welcoming Elf before posting.  The Elf can send, with the standard 
welcoming letter, a standard warning of the pit-falls (see point 2) 
that accompany the release of a new book, which would include a 
strong suggestion to look around before posting to see how the group 
works and the standards that we have.

2. An ADMIN to all members asking cooperation with:
Reading other posts before writing.
Posting specific points rather than full-book reviews.
Drasticly limiting their number of posts immediately after the book.

3. Creating a HBP FAQ, updated frequently, which all must consult 
before posting.  Howlers to those who ask oft-repeated questions.

These are, of course, only suggestions which may be ignored, toyed 
with, changed or otherwise pondered in these exciting months ahead.

Thank you for your consideration, Ginger