Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: List decorum



Rick Tarara wrote:

Since (unfortunately) we've been forced into discussion list 'rules',
etiquette, etc., I'd like to get some feelings from this one list about
something that bothers me.

We have seen a lot of cross posting between lists. This often involves
pulling comments that may have been made in the middle of a prolonged
thread on one list and then (without proper context) spreading them across
several lists.

I use the delete key to filter out threads that I'm not interested in. I lurk on
other threads and post on others - on a number of different list groups.
Deleting an uninteresting thread doesn't annoy me in the least. However, I do
find these cross posts annoying. Often, one has to read for quite a ways into
the post to figure out what the topic is (the cross posters seem to post up to
their bandwidth limits for a single message.) Invariably, the cross post is
germane to the originating list but not to the others. If I were really
interested in this stuff I'd be subscribed to the list it comes from.

I also worry about the snippets of quotes that are used. When you post to an
ongoing discussion, you use shorthand in your terminology because you assume
those following the posts will understand the full context of what you are
saying. Pulling a paragraph out and posting it to another list can make the
original poster look ridiculous. As Rick said, most of us don't have the luxury
of long searches through archives to get the full context.

There have been occasions where someone will alert the group with a quick
message that a possibly interesting thread is going on in another list - I find
that appropriate and useful.

I do find the long cross postings to be distasteful and slightly arrogant.

Bob at PC
-Who has probably annoyed a lot of people by responding to DR so often :-)