ADMIN: Some comments on unfriendliness/ignored posts etc

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 16713

Hi everyone,

There have been quite a few reactions and responses to Andrea's recent
message, so I thought I'd would offer you my own thoughts..


THANKS AND SUPPORT

Firstly, thanks to those of you who offered toasts to the moderators, or
otherwise supported us.  I don't think we deserve to be toasted to be
honest, but I'd rather we weren't flamed either (actually, I'm feeling a bit
chargrilled at the moment, but let's not get into that).


IS THIS LIST CLIQUISH OR UNFRIENDLY?

People have discussed possible "unfriendliness" or "cliquish" behaviour on
this group.  Celeste made an interesting observation:

"I have a feeling that people tend to form a certain respect for the
opinions of some older members (I mean older as in 'having been on this list
longer), and that to a certain degree, if the name is commonly seen and the
person has well-supported theories, that person is more likely to have their
posts looked at."

I think that is true and perhaps inevitable, but it isn't just a question of
having respect for other oldbies on the list; it has more to do with
familiarity and plain old human nature.  As we learn about other (vocal)
members of the group, we get to know their opinions, their style, their good
and bad points, their sense of humour, their hot buttons, a little about
their real lives.  Any newbie will spot immediately that some people on the
list seem to know each other and that some have formed allegiances on
certain topics; it would be odd if that hadn't happened on a list of 1100+
people!  It would only turn to cliquishness if we deliberately excluded new
people from discussions and failed to acknowledge them at all.  I haven't
seen any evidence for that.

As Heidi said the other day, we were all new to this group at one time or
another.  Some of us will have received a deluge of responses to our first
post and others will have sneaked in barely noticed.  Some of us will have
dived right into the thick of a discussion and others will have lurked for
ages before making a nervous first post.  At the end of the day, all newbies
will become oldbies if they stick around long enough.

Another point worth making is that newer members often respond to each
other, while the more established members of the list bow out of discussions
that, for them, have been done to death.  However, if one of the moderators
or another list member suggests that people look at the VFAQ or search the
archives, this is not intended as an unfriendly or dismissive gesture, it is
meant to be helpful.  We are trying to keep the message volume under control
as far as possible, so it's sometimes better to point someone at a recent
discussion or FAQ than have to repeat the whole thing; however, if the topic
was discussed some time ago, I'd say it's often worth revisiting.


GETTING NO RESPONSES TO A POST?

Some people have commented on getting no responses to their posts.  I have
to say that this phenomenon is not confined to new members - we all
experience it at one time or another.  I have posted things in the past that
received zero response and then seen someone else make exactly the same
point and start a huge thread. That's the nature of a huge list like this
and I think the behavioural pattern Amanda described is part of the reason.

The other thing to remember is that 'no responses' does not equal 'ignored'.
People sometimes read messages, but decide against responding, perhaps
because they accept the points made, but don't have much to say beyond, "I
agree with you!"  On the other hand, some people lurk and never post to the
list, but they will still read what others have to say.  I'm quite happy to
throw an opinion into the mix and not get any direct responses, because
someone else may be able to bounce their ideas off mine.

My advice to new members is to make some comments on an ongoing thread,
whilst reviewing our VFAQ and some of the most recent list threads.  When
you've familiarised yourself with your surroundings, try starting a thread
yourself.  If no one responds, go with the flow and try something else
later.


WELCOMING NEW PEOPLE

It's clear that the influx of new members here is astounding, and often the
best the moderators can do is say "welcome to all the recent new members".
I think it's great that other list members offer a welcome to newbies and I
would urge people to continue doing that when responding to a first post.
It's not always obvious to other list members that someone is new, if they
haven't seen the line "Hi I'm new" or something similar, so don't feel
offended if you seem to be under an Invisibility Cloak.  If your name is
Amy, it's even more confusing, as there are at least 200 of you... (j/k!).

As Penny has already said, we are recruiting some 'newbie moderators' to
deal specifically with new members.  All those members who suffered John's
April Fool hoax should note that this was his suggestion, so I think he has
tipped the scales back towards "Good John".

Be assured, everyone is welcome here if they are prepared to discuss JK
Rowling's work and have a good time.

A reminder that if any new members have any questions or comments about the
list they can e-mail the moderators at hpforgrownups-owner at yahoogroups.com

I wish you all happy Harry Potter discussions and a wonderful Easter.

Neil
________________________________________

Flying Ford Anglia
Mechanimagus Moderator

"Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose,
was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint
of gold in his hand." ["The Quidditch World Cup", GoF]

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