Unfirendly group? Was re:re: ADMIN:re:...

Thu Apr 12 13:08:21 UTC 2001

No: HPFGUIDX 16511

We're friendly! We're fun! We like Newbies! We were all newbies 
ourselves once! Want to see proof? Go to 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParadigmOfUncertainty/files/041101DP.htm
 (or, in the interest of self-embarrassment, go to 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups-Archives/message/3523)

If you're a newbie and you're finding it hard to get into the swim of 
things here, come to a chat - they start at 3pm on sundays (eastern 
daylight time) in our chatroom. Don't be paranoid about posting - and 
if someone either points out a bit of canon that disagrees with your 
conclusion then take that for what it is - a different opinion or a 
clarification of "fact", or if someone gives you a gentle nudge to 
the list's Very Frequently Asked Questions page or the Welcoming 
Message, then go read it. It's very enlightening, even to someone 
like me who'se been here for months!
And if someone gives you a  not-so-gentle nudge, onlist or offlist, 
let the moderators know, offlist.

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., meckelburg at f... wrote:
> I was only on the list for 3hours!, had my 3rd Post out, when I got 
my 
> first ruffle, about the topic being discussed in Length before.
> Shocked, I tried to search through the thread and I actually found 
it 
> 3 weeks back, 1100 messages before I entered. I wanted to 
unsubscribe 
> immediatly, but I waited one day, and I got a few really friendly 
> answers to my questions, so I just ignored the unfriendly ones.

I really hope you didn't feel that any posts directed to you were 
unfriendly - that is certainly not the attitude that this list is 
projecting, I hope! Although between your comments and Andrea's, I'm 
afraid that it might be the sensation some people are getting. 
> 
> Anyway, the Newbies need support as much as they can get. So 
perhaps 
> if we remember sometimes, that a couple of weeks mean a lot of 
> messages to catch up to, they wouldn't get so harsch answers. 
The group *does* have a lot of ways for Newbies to get support - all 
the things which are discussed in the Welcoming Message are there 
specifically to enable Newbies to get a grounding in what's going on 
before they jump into the lake and get thrown back into the boat by 
the Giant Squid. 
EVERYONE who joins a mailing list should ALWAYS read that list's 
welcoming message. I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm not saying it 
to attack anyone. I'm saying it because after about 10 years of 
participation on internet mailing lists/online clubs, I have realized 
that no two lists have the exact same rules/guidelines/standards/what-
have-yous. And at this list, anyone who asks a question that's 
answered on the Very Frequently Asked Questions List is asking an 
unnecessary question (or if they have absolutely no webview, they 
should email the moderators offlist and ask for the VFAQ to be sent 
to them (and if you haven't read it yet, read it now, or email the 
mods and ask them to send it to you now. They will! They're nice 
people!)) - for your convenience, the VFAQ is at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/VFAQ.htm. 
I agree - there are a lot of messages on this list, and reading back 
over a few weeks' worth is VERY VERY time consuming. But reading over 
the past 24-36 hours worth won't take *as* much time. And searching 
the message files to see if a *particular* subject has been discussed 
in the past week or two doesn't either. 

> The nitpicking on grammar and spelling really scared me though. I 
> thought I'd never be able to post anything again.I'm German and my 
> English is far from being perfect.

> I starteded checking through the messages, and if the tone is very 
> harsch or nitpicking, I just don't answer, even if what I have to 
say, 
> might be interesting!

I want to point out that in some of our recent discussions, including 
the Ron Character Discussion we've been having this week, the exact 
choice of words made by JKR, and to some extent the exact words used 
by the person posting, are reasonable subjects for discussion, 
definitions and all. If we're going to make conclusions about the 
characters in the books based on certain, specific words chosen by 
JKR (like the use of the words "angry" and "satisfied" to describe 
Ron at the Yule Ball (not to start the thread again! just giving an 
example!)) then thos e*exact* words do matter and can and should be 
picked at. 

Andrea wrote:
> Same day, same moderator barely 
> acknowledges vicious 
> ridiculing of member for her grammar.  Says play nice, but, 
> heh-heh, she's 
> always like that, now we get a cute little acronym. 
Andrea, I am really really honestly confused. I went back to John's 
BE NICE post from that day at Message 15770 and I *cannot* find 
anything in there which I can construe as a bare acknowledgement, or 
any "cute little acronym" created therefrom. If you're still around, 
can you point me to what you're refering to? Maybe I just am not 
searching correctly. I do wish - I *really* wish - that when the 
incident had happened that so troubled you, you had emailed the 
moderators (offlist?) and said so, instead of stewing in silence for 
11 days. 
To be honest, I checked over the archives, and I haven't found a 
mention of the large number of people who joined after we were 
mentioned in Salon all month, although I do acknowledge that when a 
subject that's been discussed ad infinitum AND is mentioned in the 
VFAQ, there are some of us who do a collective sigh, although as I 
understand it, such posts are almost always acknowledged on or off 
list, in some capacity. I know this because I've been the 
acknowledger & pointer myself on many occasions. 