Re:Kenton Bird's Common Sense

["Brian Jay" <brian_jay@starmail.com>]

>  Many thanks to Kenton Bird for expressing what most
>V2020 subscribers are thinking.
>  One post per day is plenty!
.

Well I for one do not support the Idea of one message per day, and I don't
know what "most V2020 subscribers are thinking." I do know, however, that
the number of individuals who have posted to this list has nearly
quadrupled since this time last year and has doubled since May.  This may
have something to do with all these annoying little emails!  Perhaps a
better rule to save your time would be to not allow new posters like me ;) 
Seriously, I think a bigger problem is people who unnecessarily change
subjects when responding to an email.  If the subject line is the same
throughout the thread, it becomes so much easier to delete uninteresting
messages.
.

For your information these are the numbers of individuals posting that I
counted from the V2020 archives.  (This says nothing about how often each
person is posting, I'll let someone else keep track of that.)
.

2001	
Jan 55
Feb 64
Mar 22
Apr 64
May 22
Jun 32
Jul 35
Aug 44
Sep 61
Oct 63
Nov 58
Dec 57
.	
2002	
Jan 75
Feb 58
Mar 68
Apr 65
May 65
Jun 117
Jul 129
.

I do not view these numbers as a problem.  I view them as a success. 
Clearly there have been issues lately that have encouraged more individuals
to speak their minds (or possibly lose their minds).  These issues have not
just encouraged the list's regular loudmouths to sound off.  The Vision
2020 list has done just what it is supposed to do.  It has provided a forum
for community members to voice their concerns.
.

>  This endless rebuttal stuff is becoming downright
>dreckful--not to mention silly and a waste of time.
.

You find it dreadful and I find it amusing.   We do agree that quite a bit
is silly. 
.

>   It might be an entertaining luxury if everyone
>could keep up with the recorded stream of
>consciousness of a handful of individuals.
>   
>   But time just doesn't permit.
.

This list itself is a luxury.  I'm sorry that you don't have time to read
everything sent to it.  Neither do I.  Perhaps you could do what I normally
do, Automatically delete all message sent from the vision2020 digest and
read the threaded vision2020 archive once every week or two.  That way I
spend only about 5-10 minutes most weeks reading the threads that I find
interesting and still retain the ability to post.  And as for the "stream
of consciousness of a handful of individuals" I think from the numbers
above it is clear that, although some people do post an awful lot, there
are many different people joining in.
.

>   I noticed another post with only the words "Ho-Hum,
>click, delete," or something similar as the only new
>comment. This was sent to the entire list!
.

I agree.  This is a very rude thing to do to the whole list.
.

>   Endless rebuttals, arguments, comments etc. are
>wonderful. But what's wrong with sending them ONLY to
>the person you're rebutting/arguing with and NOT to
>the entire list? 
.

Why didn't you send your message about "Ho-Hum, click, delete," only to the
perpetrator?  Probably because you wanted everybody who saw the "Ho-Hum,
click, delete," message to see your response too.
.   

>  I'm not saying don't post--I'm just saying that
>limiting the sheer numbers, as Mr. Bird recommended,
>would be welcome to many subscribers. 
.

I think it is fortunate that we are allowed to make our own decisions about
how often to post.  This flurry of emails will die down (I hope) but
everyone should feel free to decide how much is too much.
.

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