[Sigia-l] moderation (of various sorts)

[Carol Theobald]

Please, no hot-tubbing.

I've lurked on this list since August, and enjoyed it immensely, from the
interesting discussions to the provocative posts to the lively debates and
occasional flame-wars that erupt.

If you were to hot tub this list, it sounds like you would flush
any lurkers out as well.  Just because I haven't posted anything
before this doesn't mean that I won't have something interesting to post
in the future.

I don't personally know anybody who's posted here in the past five months,
so I don't grasp how I would go about finding a sponsor to re-join.

Having de-lurked to add my opinion on hot-tubbing, let me also add that
while I'm sympathetic to anyone who's been the target of a personal attack,
I'm unhappy to see the list go to a moderated format.  There's a passion for
what we do on this list that I don't see in the CHI-web archives. I don't
know if moderation is to blame, but I'd hate to see it disappear.

Carol Theobald


-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Merholz [mailto:peterme at peterme.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 3:54 PM
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] moderation (of various sorts)


> Ziya writes:
> > This list has seen far worse exchanges in the past and somehow seems to
have
> > survived. I'm not entirely sure what the current emergency is about that
> > requires such a drastic measure that could potentially sap the vibrancy
of
> > the list and pave way for its demise.
>
> Go figure...seems not to have hurt the CHI-WEB folks.

I disagree, with both of you!

CHI-Web has suffered terribly because of moderation. There's little real
"discussion" on the list. There's usually requests for information, and
posted summaries. Which, I suppose, is fine, but the quality of discussion
has, in my perception, suffered.

In general, I'm against list moderation for the reasons Ziya mentions.
However, I also recognize that SIGIA is suffering, that people are leaving,
that I'm not paying as much attention, etc.

There are ways to deal with it. The one I'm most in favor of is "the silent
treatment." Just ignore those whose agenda are clearly one of provocation
without any real value. Don't reply to their idiocy. Let it slide. After a
while, that person will stop posting or change their tone.

Another way, which is probably unacceptable, is what on another list is
called "hot tubbing." In this scenario, the list is closed down, flushed
out, and reopened. The thing being, you can only join the list by
invitation... A current list member would "sponsor" new members. This will
encourage the maintenance of civility on the list. While it seems that it
would also create an echo chamber where everyone agrees with each other, my
experience suggests no... People will disagree, often disagree vociferously,
but they'll disagree respectfully.

--peter