[HPforGrownups] SHIP? - protestations, call for HPFGU-SHIP

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 31641

Elizabeth Dalton said:

> That being said, I do find it boring (despite the insistance of some SHIP-ers
> that it's a *very important topic*), and I think I'm not the only member to
> vaguely wish there was a separate list for it.

As someone only tangentially interested in the Great Ship Debates (H/H vs.
R/H vs. H/G), I must say that I *don't* wish there were a separate list for
shipping debate.

Over on the Mods list, we have in the not-too-distant past discussed whether
to move shipping to OTChatter or its own list, and decided not to, for the
following reasons. (Oh, and Elizabeth, it is beneath you to accuse Penny of
imposing her own personal preferences on group policy, as the decision was
made by the entire Moderator Team. I would hope that you will apologise to
her for that unnecessary and immature comment.)

1) Shippers are VERY good about placing the SHIP prefix in front of their
posts. The reason we created HPFGU-Movie is that we felt that movie
discursants were not doing as good a job with the erstwhile MOVIE prefix.
Moreover, we were worried about the influx of members to the Main List who
had not read the books and would therefore make comments which would be
irritating to those of us who have.

2) With three lists already, it is becoming an increasing burden of
moderation on the group's Moderators to deal with the lists. Plus, it is
confusing to new members to have to join further groups. Imagine:

* If your posts have anything to do with the Movie, they go to HPFGU-Movie.
* If your posts have anything to do with relationships between characters,
they go to HPFGU-Ship
* If your posts are *only* related to the books, they go to HPforGrownups
* If your posts are off-topic or not movie- or book-related, they go to
OT-Chatter

(or even * If your posts are off-topic, or not movie- or book-related, or if
they deal with romantic relationships between characters, they go to
OT-Chatter)

An Off-Topic group is a common occurrence across the internet, and the Movie
list was a sensible split for the reasons above. Moreover, where would a
discussion about shipping which referenced the movie go? It's not as clear
cut as the "book=main list, movie=Movie list" distinction. We feel that it
would be really quite confusing.

Indeed, even the status quo has obviously confused you, as you have sent
this off-topic protestation to the main list rather than to OTChatter -- or,
more appropriately, in private email to the Mods.

3) On the same theme, it is increasingly difficult to manage multiple lists
-- the recent incidences of spam mean that we must remove addresses from
three different lists already. Also, to reduce volume, we are placing some
poeple on Moderated Status. This takes about three minutes per address per
list -- that's almost ten minutes every time we place someone on moderated
status. Every day, I would estimate that between us, the Mods spend about
half an hour on simply managing people on and off Moderated Status -- let
alone the time that the Mods, Elves and Poltergeists spend approving
messages from the people on Moderated Status

4) Lastly, creating another list is problematic in that it splinters the
community feel of HPFGU. We had serious qualms about creating the Movie
list, but decided that the possible influx of less-than-desirable posts onto
the main list (see "lolz sean bigerstaff is sooooo hot" posts on Movie List)
outweighed this. We don't perceive shipping posts as enough of an issue to
the majority of members to

> I don't think this is "whining" or "whinging."

It is when you gripe about Penny imposing her views on list policy.

> And it would seem to me that any topic that requires a tag on the subject
> line, that can constitute up to half of the posts on the list for an extended
> period, and that draws repeated protests from multiple members is a good
> candidate for such a division.

With all due respect, Elizabeth, you haven't been here for three months yet.
You really haven't seen the typical HPFGU patterns of subjects. We haven't
had a book for over a year -- we are truly drawing on the dregs of the
barrel here in trying to find new discussion topics. If you have any to
suggest, by all means start a new thread; however, please don't just
passively complain about shipping posts, which some people do enjoy.

> Unfortunately, this does confirm a private speculation of mine that the
> preferences of the list owner were influencing the handling of this topic. In
> that case, perhaps I should reverse my call and suggest the creation of a new
> HPFGU-NOSHIP list. Or just wait for my Howler and subsequent banishment for
> heresy, whichever. :(

Unfortunately, Elizabeth, this speculation is entirely unfounded. Penny was
speaking for the entire Moderator Team -- ANY post that uses canon is, has
always been, and will always be on topic here at HPforGrownups. I would have
thought that insidious comments like that could have been avoided in a list
of adults. Moreover, the Mods do not unsubscribe people for disagreeing with
us. In fact, the only people we unsubscribe are spammers.

If anyone would like to reply to this message, please reply to either the
Moderator email (hpforgrownups-owner at yahoogroups.com) or to HPFGU-OTChatter.

--John

________________________________

John Walton -- john at walton.vu

Percy turned Oliver over onto his side in case he was ill, and pulled the
duvet up to cover his firm, slightly hairy chest.
*Damn, he's fit,* Percy thought. *If only he were gay...*

>From Keeper's Secrets, Chapter 1, by Wood's Keeper
http://www.astronomytower.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=264
________________________________