Date : Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:58:27 +1100
From : msmcdoug@... (Mark McDougall)
Subject: Ban off-topic posts
On 21/11/2010 10:00 PM, John Kortink wrote:
> Um, could we have a vote on completely banning off-topic
> posts ?
Has anyone considered the fact that this sort of thing is actually
self-regulated by the majority of the group?
If the group as a whole were truly opposed to OT postings, then any OT post
would simply be left ignored and anyone attempting to flood the list with
irrelevant ramblings would soon get bored and move on.
OTOH if people respond to OT postings, then it means (1) there is a
significant portion that don't mind them and (2) OT posters will be
encouraged to continue.
Of course, feeding the trolls and posting about banning OT posts muddies the
water a little... but still...
One hypothesis that arises from my theory of self-regulation above is that
those that are truly opposed to the OT postings will leave, because they
won't be able to force the issue with a vote/ban.
Time will tell...
From my personal perspective, I think an outright ban on OT postings is
simply socially retarded. To whoever said they're not interested in anyone
or anything else (I've since deleted the post) - you know they make jokes
about people like you - right? That's pretty sad.
In general I would say that *starting* OT posts should generally be
discouraged, but the occasional offender should be tolerated. And even then,
the poster should have a reasonable expectation that some of the group may
have a peripheral interest in the post eg. retro-computing related.
If an on-topic post goes off onto a tangent at some point then that is
generally more acceptable, and in some cases understandable. And easier to
ignore, especially if your weren't following the thread to being with.
But yeah, if this turns into another Facebook, it's bye from me as well.
Regards,
--
| Mark McDougall | "Electrical Engineers do it
| <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug> | with less resistance!"