Re: MERRYROSE: List Explosion Suggestion

[Henry Best <jstrauss@gmu.edu>]

On Sat, 1 Jun 1996, Robert J Welenc wrote:

> It seems, however, that those who are hollering loudest are those
> who are receiving the Atlantia list at work and are also dealing with
> messages relevant to business.  Think, kind gentles.  Does your employer pay
> you to be in the SCA?  Or suggest you use his/her computers for non-business
> related purposes?
> 
> Alanna Volchevo Lesa
> Ivan Borisovich Volchevo Lesa
> 


1) Most places have a computer use policy that recognises a certain 
fraction of your computer usage will be personal and cautions you not to 
let that usage grow excessive, interfering with your job. In these 
places, it is acceptable usage to get a few emails from friends, spending 
and hour or two per day sifting through repeats and replys about broken 
imaginary pottery will exceed that acceptable usage clause, necessitating 
that the reader sign off the list or do poorly at their job.

2) Regardless of whether _you_ think that the reader(s) should simply 
give up access to timely Atlantian news if they cannot afford to scroll 
through pottery breakage, _I_ think that it is in the kingdom's best 
interest to have as many people as possible able to receive important 
news. 



If imaginary tavern brawls interfere with our ability to 1) get vital 
news out 2) permit the optimal amount of socialization, then we must 
either declare tavern brawls "bad" or find a way to support them painlessly.

Although I can rig my system to filter my mail to varying degrees, today. 
One month ago I could not and had no other options available to me, as 
they cost cash I simply did not have. And some people lack the expertise 
and inclination to filter. They will simply unsubscribe, to our loss.

If we can permit each person to _throttle_ the amount and relative 
quality of what they receive, simply and enduringly, we will be able to 
have more people involved in intra-kingdom communication, a good thing.

The most effective way that I can see remains that of breaking Atlantia 
list into three basic categories:

Announce
Discuss
Party

Persons who think 200 messages per day is all in good fun can subscribe 
to all three. Persons who think that 10-20 messages per day is better can 
take announce and discuss. And people who just want news can just take 
announce, with a traffic count of maybe 3 per day, tops.

I can tell you that, irrespective of flying crockery, we are losing large 
numbers of folks who presently want _just_ the announcements and can't 
get them without listening to us talk about period chocolate or 
principalities. We ought to try to serve their needs.

Henry, who probably wouldn't choose to read about crockery, but reads at 
19200 baud and has a delete key.


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