[arachne] Subject Lines

Arachne at FreeLists---The Arachne Fan Club!

Originally from - Re: [arachne] Re: Fw: Welcome to list 'arachne'

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 11:48:03 -0500 "Sam Ewalt" <ewalt@xxxxxxxx> writes:
> 
> On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:43:29 +00, Bastiaan Edelman, PA3FFZ wrote:
> 
> > Most wanted: a subject line that is clear! And if the subject is
> > diverting... please change the subject line on whatever list we 
> > are using.
> 
> But some people object to that procedure because it makes it hard
> to follow a thread consistently! I think that the subject should
> reflect the nature of the actual message and should be changed
> whenever needed because of the changed subject.


Keeping the old subject lines to "follow threads" is mostly useful for
the archive functions on the server. Individual users have other options
to sort out pertinent emails by subject (folders, renaming files, etc.).

If a subject is technical, then the de facto conversation is kept pretty
close to the subject. The nature of that thread also makes "following the
thread" more important.

I find no valuable use for following a thread that moves from (for
example) GIFs to GRAPHICS to MAPS to ETHNOCENTRISM to BASKETS to DEFINE A
MAP (and on and on). Perhaps someone involved in an academic study of
"the nature of conversations" might find that thread useful, but the
person searching for information on GIFs would find it a waste of time.

I agree with the suggestion of keeping general conversation on the
Coollist and using this list for more arachne-specific (but not
necessarily only ultra-technical or developmental) subjects. That also
leaves a backup list if Freelists ever crashes. That also will force the
Freelists *subject lines* to be more consistently on-topic.

In truth, the Coollist will probably die from lack of useful dialog. It's
long term value, IMHO, is that it provides us a way to politely suggest
that people take their dialog to another forum. Useful when others want
to listen in on the conversation, but an easy way to sort out selected
email and do a bulk delete.

Bob ~


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Arachne at FreeLists
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