Dear List users - from one of your friendly list owners (keith russell)
We have recently had much activity on the PhD list which is great - we have also had an increase in surrounding "noise" of a list - that is, we are finding ourselves going around in communication spirals as we try to determine the conversational space.
A few rules have been suggested - there are many such suggestions that all lists post from time to time. For example:
A list tends to deteriorate when people simply use
the reply button to incorporate the entire prior
post. Selective editing and careful use of
quotation are better.
It is particularly undesirable to repost the entire
body of a long prior post merely to post a short
"I agree" or "don't worry" message. In most cases,
these kinds of responses can and should be made
off-list.
Back postings to the list tend to clog up the flow -
it is possibly better to simply contact the person who
first posted rather than taking everyone back in time
(this is not to deny the reflective integration of topics
that then leads to a timely review of where the list has been
and might be going.)
Without the subtle hints of body language we need to pause?
keep up the discourse
keith russell
newcastle oz
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