Re: ADMIN: Civility and content

Subject: Re: ADMIN: Civility and content
From: Robert_Johnson -at- percussion -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 09:07:16 -0400


I've been subscribed to the list for most of the past five years. In all
honesty, I don't see a significant difference in tone recently than I've
experienced at any other point since I joined the list. Indeed, it seems
to me that it's currently more civil than I've seen at some points in the
past. I suspect Eric's comments about "worse behavior offlist" may be the
clue. Since he's the list owner, he's more likely to see such behavior,
and more vulnerable to being dragged into the middle of it.

Techwr-l is one of four online venues I frequent. The others are an
international list devoted to my favorite wargame, a local list devoted to
the same game, and the Beliefnet boards dedicated to my faith. The level
of discourse I see on Techwr-l is much better than the discourse on the
international list and about the same as I see on the Beliefnet boards.
The certification wars and Word-versus-Frame wars can't hold a candle to
the flamewars on the international wargame list. The wars on Techwr-l
flare up from time to time, generally when a new subscriber unknowlingly
triggers them. We even joke about it "being about time for the
semi-annual certification war". The flamewars international wargame list
literally never stop, and they corespondents take no prisoners. Dire
personal insults are the rule of the day.

In comparison, the local list for the same game is almost the epitome of
civilty. Yes, we hurl the typical male-bonding insults, but I have yet to
see a flamewar on that list. And I think the key is that it is a local
list. At some point, you have to sit down across the table from just
about everyone on the list. Flaming people publicly cuts your chances of
finding an opponent to zilch. We have a few people common to both the
local and international lists, including a couple of frequent flamers on
the international list. They do not behave the same way on the local
list, and I think it's for very reason.

So I'm not sure reducing postings to one per day is going to address the
problem of incivility and off topic posting. It would definitely
undermine the usefulness and viability of the list.

I honestly don't see a need to make any changes, but unlike Eric, I'm not
dragged into the middle of these pissing contests (and all too frequently,
that's all such flamewars are). Rather than limit the number of postings
overall, I would favor either posting limitations on specific abusers (if
that's technically feasible) or temporary suspensions (which may be more
practical). The latter is the approach for abusers of the advertising
rules, and it seems to work effectively. The only issue is fair and
consistent administration. The rules for advertisements have pretty clear
boundaries. The rules for civil and professional behavior are more
amorphous, which makes defining the boundaries of acceptable behavior a
dicier proposition and enforcing the rules much more subjective.

Speaking only for myself.

Bob Johnson
Documentation Specialist
Percussion Software
Stoneham, MA

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