Chat room vs. discussion forum (was: Partly on Posting limits Plus ...)

[dan]

Alla:
> I guess I was never really bothered with the volume either, because 
I read messages on the website and simply skip the topics or posters 
I am not interested reading. I find it very easy to do, honestly. 
Having said all that, again I understand the necessity of reducing
the volume (I'd like the number to be more than three, especially if 
someone has not posted for a few days, but I will of course abide by 
Elfs' decision)

Dan:
This is where some of the difficulty comes in, when one skips to 
posters that interest them without looking too clearly at the 
content. I mean, defend new members all you want, but what is your 
actual criteria for reading their posts? This is kind of a 
theoretical support for new members. Familiarity, I mean to say, 
can lead to tennis. The other thing is, topics overlap so much that 
it is perplexing to think a really cool insight on Lupin's motivation 
could be ignored, when it might apply to Snape's pensive scene, or 
Ron's Erised just as much. You know what I mean?

Any number of posts as a limit, on the other point, is going to be 
susceptible to the same criticism. Is one enough? Is two? Is five? 
Three seems to be a fairly usable number of posts - especially if the 
threads being posted to are in fact different branches of the same 
topic, which of course happens daily. Join the arguements up - I 
personally don't see, for example, the five Snape threads of the last 
week (the eighteen thousand of the last 4 years) as any different at 
all.

SSSusan:
> I find cutting people off altogether more problematic than limiting 
posts.  How many people would come back later if, all excited about 
the new book & joining up, they were told, "Sorry, all full"?? 

Dan:
The issue is, what to do with the 14 hundred "OMG I just read HBP and 
it is awesome!" and "has anyone ever wondered what the gleam in 
dumbledore's eye meant?" and "has anyone ever wondered if Snape is in 
fact a vampire?" and "did anyone else notice Luna wasn't on the 
Hogwarts Express at the end of the year?" and "I don't know if this 
has been discussed before, but does anyone think Petunia will perform 
magic?" posts from people who have just joined, or the "I just want 
to say, SSS, your post is DEAD ON!" posts, or the "hi, i'm ~*newbie*~ 
nd tell me wtf is w/ harry in bk 5, he's crap nasty..." posts. From 
new folks on moderated status, these posts are EXTREMELY time 
consuming. Are form rejection letters okay? Not just at release time, 
but at any time? "Your post is OT." "This is a me too." In some ways, 
the posts from regular members asking the elves to forgive them this 
little OT or me too post is worse than anything else, cause folks 
still on moderated status see that those posts get through, and post 
likewise.

The problem is, when folks are excited about joining the group, they 
don't often read what we send them, or don't think we actually mean 
it. They look at the list, see an OT or me too, and hit send.

As SSS says, locking the door is not nice. I think having no new 
members for a week before and after the release is not too harsh, and 
the door would NEVER say "full up." How about: "Sorry, the list has 
been locked down for two weeks. Come back after July 23 and we'll be 
pleased to have you!" What if there was NO POSTING AT ALL for those 
two weeks?

Dan aka Cranky Elf