open list?

[Steven D. Majewski]

On Mon, 26 Oct 1998 A440A@aol.com wrote:


>    You are correct in saying that an outsider's(non-tech) view shouldn't be
> that much of a bother, that is not the problem.  
>    The problem is an extra 100 or more letters a week from people seeking
> advice.  I do that for money here,  I am certainly not going to seek places to
> do it for free. 

[...]

>         	There have been an alarming number of really top-flight techs, with
> years of experience, that have left this forum because of the excess, non-
> technical, posts.  I question whether the "hospitality" is worth it 

 As one of the non-techs who lurks on this list, I have to speak up
and say that most of the non-techs seem to do mostly that -- lurk,
listen, and try to learn something. 

 The overwhelming majority of non-technical posts are from the piano
technicians. That's true even if you stretch "technical" to include 
piano-tech _business_ related posts as well as all of the "what's 
the strangest think you ever found in a piano" threads, and comments
on the general state of classical music and performance today. 

 I know that I'm a "guest" in this forum, so I wouldn't think of 
posting computer virus warnings, telling you about the banjo concert
( Bela Fleck and the Flectones ) I went to last week, arguing about
Macs vs. PCs or insulting folks who have different views on historical
temperments than I do. Are you sure it wasn't some of *that* traffic,
rather than the comparative handful of "I've got this old piano and I
was wondering... " posts that drove some of those folks off the list ? 

 I'm not complaining about those non-technical posts. I happen to love
hearing all of the crazy customer stories, and I just tune out whenever
one tech started calling another a Nazi. You have the right to define
this forum to be whatever you wish. Also note that, it is typical of
usenet and internet mailing lists in general, and not of pianotech
alone, that the meta-discussion of what to do about question from 
non-tech's has itself generated more volume than any of those questions.

 If you do decide to keep it an open, unmoderated list, my best advice
is just to ignore and delete any posts that you think are inappropriate.
If you don't have a moderator or other authority figure to appeal to,
all you have is the "marketplace of ideas", and the civility and behavior
of the "permantent residents" have a lot more to do with how the forum
functions than does the occasional clueless newbie who wanders in and
asks a dumb question. None of that means you have to answer thos dumb
questions. Either someone else who feels more generous that day will do
it, or no one will -- but you'll avoid 30 or 40 more messages about 
what to do about those messages.  


---|  Steven D. Majewski   (804-982-0831)  <sdm7g@Virginia.EDU>  |---
---|  Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics  |---
---|  University of Virginia             Health Sciences Center  |---
---|  P.O. Box 10011            Charlottesville, VA  22906-0011  |---

"I'm not as big a fool as I used to be, I'm a smaller fool." - Jack Kerouac
Some of the Dharma  <http://members.aol.com/kerouacsis/SomeDharma.html>