Re: Moderation of GZG-L (was Re: Back from SALUTE and bye bye)

I am not for moderation when it takes the form of censorship, or when
it's done secretly.

I am for moderation when it keeps personal attacks and flame-wars from
ocurring unchecked.  It requires the selection of good and reasonable
people to moderate, as well as clear-cut and easy to understand rules of
behavior.

As far as nettiquette, I am no Mr. Manners, but I think I do my share. 
My favorite ploy is to ask someone to take an issue off-list while
promptly killfiling the git.

I run a list for all genres or micro-scale gaming... I don't control the
type of language used (though the into states that "Swearing isn't
prohibited, but it does make you look stupid.  It's your choice.") or
the topics.  What I do step in on (as the guy "hosting" the list) is
rude behavior that *I* feel reaches the level of disruption.  

But that's the thing... the list is somewhat small, and it's MY list
(though the members contribute more than I ever will) that Yahoo lets me
act like a host (as in party, not internet) on.  So I get to decide when
someone isn't invited anymore.	So far, no-one has been ejected except
for a porn-site spammer.

I'm not sure if all that made sense or even tied together well... but
there's my 10c.  

--Flak Magnet

On Mon, 2002-04-29 at 14:16, Jerry Han wrote:
> I've noticed that, we've already started to drift off topic.	
> Took about 12 hours -- that has to be a record.  (8-)  
> 
> Anyway, I'm just going to comment on some points from various people.
> 
> A bunch of the people leaving are old-timers who don't like the
direction
> the list is taking, so they sign off.  They aren't known because
(probably
> like me), since the list has split off in so many directions, they
don't
> want to take the time to read anything.  (It may be as simple as a 
> traffic issue -- 300-400% increase over the past 6 years.)
> 
> And, for all the people who sign off announcing their disgust, there
> are those who gradually just disappear as well.  
> 
> That being said -- I'm not suggesting moderation to retain people.  If
> they choose to leave, then there's nothing that can be done about it. 

> People leave and sign up all the time.  The reasons that they leave
are
> educational, and should be paid attention to, but, we should be paying
> attention to the list, and not to client count.
> 
> Along those lines, more and more people are announcing that off-topic 
> posts, flame wars, trolls, and other things of that nature are
degrading 
> the quality of the list.  And, nobody has disagreed with that point, 
> even if there is disagreement on the method of correcting the problem.
 
>   
> Before I get any further, let me say that I'm not blaming any single 
> person for this.  What I am blaming, is the general failure of
netiquette,
> because of the changing audience of the Internet as a whole (for
example,
> there's a time to take things off-list, and there's a time to
> change the subject headings and there's a time to take a deep breath
> and try and avoid the flame war.   Help people help themselves.)
> 
> Right now, though, it seems public opinion (from the grand total of
> 8 people who responded (8-) ) seems to lie against moderation.  We've
> had some suggestions about formalizing and enforcing the ad-hoc policy
> we've had to date on the list, using various mechanics.  Some people
> have suggested that each person is responsible for making their own
> decisions, and thus, personal filters and killfiles are key i.e. no
> action be taken at the list level.
> 
> Further comments?  Note, I'd like to stay away from mechanics at this
> point -- I think the big question right now is "Is something broken?
> Can we fix it, if it's broken? Do we even have the right to fix it?"
as 
> opposed to "Do we use an elected body or trust the list administrator?
> What email clients support killfile/filters? etc."  Just trying to
keep
> some focus.  
> 
> Matt, if you're out there, I'd like your opinion on this -- you 
> administer a whole whackload of email lists.
> 
> Thanks,
> JGH
> 
> -- 
> *** Jerry Han - jhan@warpfish.com - http://www.warpfish.com/jhan ***
>	    "Up, up and away, away from me -- It's alright...
>   You can all sleep sound tonight, I'm not crazy... or anything..."
>      Five for Fighting, "Superman (It's Not Easy)" -- TBFTGOGGI
> 
-- 

--Flak Magnet
Hive Fleet Jaegernaught