The future of the list -- nanny time?

[Doug Millison]

Robot Vegetable's Sacramento joke works, in part, because it zips right out
onto the list and into our mailboxes, without having to wait for approval
of a moderator -- the time lag would dampen this sort of humor on the list
by slowing down the pace.

I think if people intelligently and with some consideration for the human
behind the screen call each other on their bullshit, the list will work out
just fine. To the extent that more people put more effort into the MDMD,
the list experience becomes richer automatically.

I've participated off and for some time on another list-serve discussion, a
music-related list, that has been through equally trying upheavals. This
other list is dominated by a small circle of world-class experts in the
particular musical tradition the list covers. Some of them are also
performers in this tradition. They tear each other to shreds. There are
rumors of a "secret list" in which a select few participate so they won't
have to put up with the dumb questions and uninformed opinions of the list
Preterite. The discussion waxes and wanes, but it remains an interesting
and rich online experience.

At 4:14 PM 7/23/97, Vaska wrote:
>I have a feeling that the mere presence of such a
>"pointsman" would, for example, deprive us of the deliciously funny comment
>by the Robot Vegetable:
>> Hadn't heard of "sfacimento," though.
>    Capitol of California.



D O U G  M I L L I S O N ||||||||||| millison at online-journalist.com
 Today in history (23 July, according to wire reports): 1940. The "Blitz"
all-night air raid by German bombers on London began.