Is It Just Me? (Cont.)

[Cindy C.]

Hey, again,

Wendy:

>And we talk so much about how big the list
> volume is, but the point is that if everyone was at least trying 
>to be conscientious about posting, the volume wouldn't be nearly as 
>big! 

Oh, hey, I understand this, for sure.  But I'm not so sure that it 
is really the fault of the individual posters.  There are just too 
many people talking at once, and when you have that in any social 
situation, people can't help but talk past each other.  And over 
each other too.  So we're left with people who are willing to talk 
past each other (I know -- not everyone posting is doing that, but 
many are), and people like me who would like to post but can't do so 
responsibily with list volume at these levels.


>But for now, I'm just discouraged.

<pat, pat>

Yeah.  Me too.  I feel like someone who is trying to do double-dutch 
jump rope and can't find a way to enter because the ropes are 
twirling way too fast.  It's been almost two months, and I feel like 
I'd never be able to get a word in edgewise.  Argh!!!!


>I totally agree though, that I don't want to
> leave this group and leave behind so many of the posters from days 
>gone by whom I've so enjoyed reading. Cindy, Pippin, Eileen, 
>Elkins - there are tons of others, too. 

Hey, thanks!  I've had off-lists with some of the folks I consider 
to be excellent posters, and some really are holding back because of 
the deluge.  It's a shame.  I am dying to hear their canon thoughts, 
myself.  But then again, if they jumped in now, I'd miss their post 
anyway.

And that's why I proposed such a drastic solution of having a second 
list with an open membership.  Right now, I am getting nothing from 
the main list.  Zippo.  I'm not seeing the posts of my favorite 
posters either because they aren't posting at all, or they are 
posting but I can't keep up with what is being said.  For me, I'd 
rather be on a list that is a subset of the main list and get even a 
tiny bit of the posters I like to read.  And if one of my favorite 
posters chooses only to post on the main list . . . well, I'll 
either read them there or not.  But I'm not getting to read them now 
at all, so I guess I'm no worse off, in a way.  At least I'd get to 
post without feeling that my post will be swamped, that I will miss 
replies, that everything has been said already and I'm just adding 
to the message volume problem . . . .


>So I'm afraid we've already lost the input from some
> of the "old crowd." And that's just a d*mned shame.

Yeah.  If people grow bored and wander off, well, that's the way it 
goes.  I feel pretty confident, though, that that isn't what is 
happening here.  Which is a d*mned shame, Wendy.

>Maybe in a few months
> this batch of newbies will have settled in, and there won't be so 
>many rubbish posts. But until that happens, I want to spend the 
>bulk of my time somewhere else. 

Noooooooo!  Wait!  Come on, we can fix this!  Don't go, OK?


>I almost wonder if the idea of another group isn't a good
> idea. For there to be an "intro" group - "HP for newbies" or 
>something, and once people have gotten all the thestral and gleam 
>questions out of their systems, they can "graduate" to a group 
>where the level of discussion can be higher, and more in-depth. 


That would be difficult, though, and I'm not sure it gets to the 
root of the problem, really.  I mean, we've coped with "gleam" 
questions before, and people didn't throw up their hands in 
frustration.  The reason, I think, was that there were just a few 
gleam questions now and then.  When you quadruple list volume and 
have a skeleton crew of dedicated list administrators to police 
everyone, those gleam questions can get out of control, even though 
every poster really means well when they post.

For me, I'd rather just give members of the community an option of a 
low volume place to post.  It wouldn't be elitist so long as 
membership were open, IMHO.  If no one went over there and started 
posting, then I guess that means people are willing to live with 
high post volume on the main list.  And who knows?  Maybe we'd get 
lucky and some of the old-timers would come out of hiding.

As for me, I'd probably scan the main list for posters I like to 
read, but I'd do my own posting on the smaller list.  I think.


> Ah well. There's my rant. Thanks for listening. :-)

Anytime, Wendy.  And don't go, OK?

Cindy -- smiling at the idea that she'd probably be the only one 
willing to join a new list and would sit there talking to herself, 
but excited by the prospect of winning every argument