Desperate measures

[Ebony AKA AngieJ]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Pam Hugonnet <pbarhug at e...> wrote:
> I've been reading with interest this whole debate about whether or 
> 
> Perhaps a better way to manage to the ever increasing amount of mail
> might be to institute a limit on daily posts--say perhaps three or
> four.  That way folks are more likely to batch their replies and be 
less
> tempted to send a "me too plus non sequiteur" post.  It would also 
help
> to put a lid on some of the newbies who type out the random thought 
that
> occur to them without  stopping to think if it was really worthy of 
the
> bandwidth (there a couple of newbies who are really flooding the 
list
> right now).  


AH!  I forgot to mention that, Dr. Pam... one of the rules over at KS 
is "one post a day--if you post twice, you had better have a darn 
good reason".  So people combine everything they want to say into a 
Rita-like post (grins at our Catlady).

I think posting restrictions have been discussed at HP4GU before, but 
then nixed because some don't like the digest-like posting.  I do, 
though... I like Rita's and Amy Z's combination posts which are 
usually filled with insights on various things.

Personally, I think it's an excellent idea.  In three years of KS 
membership, I've never been subjected to a string of "me too" posts.


Perhaps we can also institute a way that people can join
> the list but not be able to post for the first two weeks?  Sort of 
an forced lurker status that might do a couple of things:  first, let 
the> new person look in on the group and have the opportunity to 
observe and> learn the culture before they join the circle; second, 
to let the person> take a look at the group to see if they belong 
here.  It seems to me> that a lot od the complaints about the group 
being unfriendly or elitist> stems from a poor fit between the new 
member and the group.  A lot of> the younger members are simply not 
temperamentally suited to this kind> of group and perhaps they are 
expecting an entirely different kind of> experience.  They come 
running in with their mouths open and talking a> mile a minute before 
they realize that oops, maybe that ain't what it> all about here.  
They then react with defensiveness and hostility.  A> forced lurk 
will give them a chance to listen (something you can't do
> while talking) and to see if this is the experience that they want.
> From there they can either choose to stay or to leave.
> 

Also a great idea... but isn't that just general Netiquette?  One 
ought to lurk a bit or at least read the past 50-100 posts at mininum 
before plunging in.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Dr. Pam... hope that 
party goes well!

--Ebony AKA AngieJ