[etugblogs] Re: should we move the discussion back into email space?
- From: "Scott Leslie" <leslies@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etugblogs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 10:16:54 -0700
> I'm something of an outsider to the ETUG process, so I'm not much
> of an authority on questions of what is appropriate to the
> community. But I personally would resist moving the discussion
> to the mailing list so soon... short of an outright mutiny, why
> bother? I personally have found the mailing list process to be
> burdensome, and in the past it has personally kept me from
> participating in ETUG discussions (to me, it adds pressure to
> make strong points... I'm essentially generating a mass mail, I
> find it less pressure to post to a page where people come and go at will).
>
> And though there is some discomfort, I don't think it's
> extreme... and I think people will get used to it -- it's not
> that radical a shift. And as you note: "In the first day alone
> we've generated about as many messages as happen in one week of a
> typical ETUG eDiscussion." -- which makes me wonder what the problem is.
o.k., so this is one email convincing me that I'm just being lily livered
;-) Any more?
> I also think that if we abandon the weblog so soon, it will
> cripple the legitimacy of our topic. If the weblog can't handle
> a focused discussion with a relatively homogeneous group, then
> they aren't much good. are they?
I guess it's on this last point that I'm worried - I've personally never
claimed that blogs are the best place to host *focused* discussions. I think
this is one use they aren't particularly strong on. What I fear though, is
that this apparent weakness will overshadow what they *are* good for,
individual publishing in a group setting as well as helping to deal with
masses of information from multiple sources.
> Having said that, mailing out the main post of the day, along
> with the link to the post/comments area, might pull more people
> in -- and I don't see much harm to the flow in sending one or two
> mails per day. (Though I imagine some people might take that as
> invitation to respond to the list and ignore the weblog.)
>
> If we do migrate, let's just do it (I won't squawk). PLEASE
> PLEASE PLEASE don't let our discussion with the wider group turn
> into a process discussion. I haven't the stomach for it.
I agree, that was just me being wishy washy.
Thanks for talking me down off the ledge, Scott.
PS I just saw June's message which seems to back up the point of not
'abandoning' the blog. I hadn't thought of abandoning it, just moving the
'discussion' portion alongside. That said, I think both of you are right.
Let's stay the course for now. June, I'm actually interested in the idea of
giving guest authorship privileges to certain ETUG folks, but not yet. The
ensuing chaos would surely drown this (and yes, you could take this as
another point against their effectiveness, but I think that's being unfair -
the context and constraints with ETUG and in an online class are, in my mind
at least, different)
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