There's a real difference, though, Andy, between "private e-mail"
exchanged among friends in the so-called real world and b-c chat
among those who know each other only virtually through some list
like this one, so the special terms seem warranted and highly
useful to me.
And if, as some think, there's a whole sociology,
including a sociopolitical dimension, to list-life, front- and
back-channel, then we need a conceptual language for it, wouldn't
you agree? John Kinsella has aptly spoken, for example, of "the
shadow world of back-channel."
Candice
At 02:54 PM 7/15/00 +0100, you wrote:
>First time I've ever heard these terms on a mailing list --
>private email is usually 'off list', and the opposite doesn't
>really need describing, being the natural route.
>
>Andy
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