Date   : Thu, 09 Dec 1999 14:15:44 -0000 
From   : "Fraser, Colin J" <Colin.Fraser@...>
Subject: Re: I think I must have a say in all this. It is LON

Faraz,

Over about the last week or so, around 30% of the posts I have received from
the BBC list have been from you.
They have contained nothing of any value.

People subscribed to this list are here to share information.
Sharing is a two way thing.

Nobody would say that if you know nothing, you're not allowed to post
questions
Everybody learns by asking questions. Nobody here was born with a wide
knowledge of the Beeb.
However, there is a point where the goodwill towards novices will disappear.

If you persistently post questions that could be answered easily with the
slightest effort on your part people will be irritated.

If you post questions along the lines of "I have the user guide, but I can't
be bothered reading it, so has anyone done an interactive tutorial ?",
people will get more irritated.

If, after having established how little you know, you chime in every time
someone else asks a question, offering incorrect advice, or even offering to
help do something that it would seem you haven't a snowball's chance in hell
of ever pulling off, people will get irritated.

The more frequently you irritate people, the more quickly they will reach a
point where they find the list so irritating, they either unsubscribe, or
suggest that you should be booted off.

The racial issue is totally bogus. You do yourself and other minorites no
good at all by suggesting race is an issue where there is no evidence at all
that this the case.
If the Queen of England started posting persistent newbie questions to the
list without ever seeming to learn anything, people would want her booted
off too.

You need to get a grip on your enthusiasm, and realise that your continuous
chatter will only serve to irritate people further.

Think before you post - "Does the list really need another post from FH
Choudry?"

And don't be so naive as to think that if a list member has been so
irritated by you that they are driven to drastic action such as calling for
a ban on your posts that you are completely innocent.
Just because you don't annoy yourself, doesn't mean that you aren't annoying
a sizeable chunk of the list membership.

"Engage brain before posting"


Colin f