The future of the list?

[Dan Schmidt]

lrgh at webtv.net (Linda Highland) writes:

| My gut reaction to this was "bad idea" .  But this may be because
| I'm unfamiliar with how a moderated list works.

I'm on a moderated classical music mailing list (with around the
same volume as pynchon-l) and it works well.  The discussion is very
spirited; it's not like the (on-topic) arguments get suppressed.
There have certainly been some big flames (most recently, about how
much musical education a critic needs to have), but they stay on
topic.

| I assume someone-- "a moderator"-- prescreens posts before they are
| sent out to the general list.

Right.

| Are messages refused because they are offensive, becase they are off
| topic, because the moderator feels it is inappropriate, because it
| is the sort of message members have complained about before....? All
| of the above?

Off-topic or offensive are the two main ones, I think.  If it's
borderline, usually it'll get through with a note added by the
moderator saying "reply to the poster, not to the list."

| I assume posts are "held up" for an indefinite time until the
| moderator has time to screen them. What effect does this usually
| have on the flow of the discussion?  Does it slow things down enough
| so that people think before they write, or does it slow things down
| so that people lose track of the discussion?

On the classical music mailing list, messages get through within half
a day usually.  So discussions do move a little slower.  Which may be
a good thing, as you note.

| Basically, what really would change?

My experience with the music list has been positive.  I imagine it's a
lot of work for the moderator, though.

-- 
                 Dan Schmidt -> dfan at harmonixmusic.com, dfan at alum.mit.edu
Honest Bob & the                http://www2.thecia.net/users/dfan/
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          Gamelan Galak Tika -> http://web.mit.edu/galak-tika/www/