On Sat, 29 Jun 1996, James Bateman wrote:

Scott Johnson Wrote:

The thing is, you're a prolific poster, a contributor to spam, etc., so
it's only natural you wouldn't see much of a problem with this.  But for
those of us who don't post as much, and don't like the spam as much,
there's a problem.

(!)  Zen a frequent poster?  More than some, less than others, but Zen
always tried to be careful about his topics.  Zen does not like spam for
spam's sake.  However, you have a good point, and Zen will shut up now.

Well, you're definitely more prolific than some (me for instance), though 
I'd agree you're probably not one of the worst.  You're just one of the 
more memorable ones - speaking in the third person does tend to make one 
stand out. ;-)

Of course, to some of us, the social posts seem pointless already, but
that's neither here nor there.  Someone proposed a three-tier system that
seems workable to me: basically, we'd have fanfic-l, comment-l, and
social-l.  Fanfics would be posted to fanfic-l, and replies would
automatically be directed to comment-l.  Commentary and requests for help
could be sent to comment-l, and replies would automatically be set to
social-l.  Of course, if you're replying to C&C with more C&C, it's
child's play to reset the reply to comment-l - but it would be a
conscious decision, to be done if you're sure it's not spam.  This way,
people interested only in reading fanfics could just subscribe to
fanfic-l.  Those who want to read and comment on fanfics would subscribe
to fanfic-l and comment-l.  Those who want the list just as it is today
could subscribe to all three.  And those who aren't particularly
interested in fanfiction, but who like the people around here and want to
chat with them, could just subscribe to social-l.

Zen missed this proposal.  It *does* make sense, but sounds a little
complicated.

Maybe a little, especially on the end of setting it all up, but once it 
was actually in place, it would quickly become second nature, I think.  
And it would definitely let those who like the noise level keep it 
steady, while letting those who don't like it cut it down severely, 
without hindering anyone else's enjoyment.

I think around here, habits are a bit too ingrained for that to work.
The prolific spammers are too used to replying to everything with a
supposedly witty comment or an off-topic long comment or what not.

Perhaps you are correct.

Zen hereby officially apologizes for his use of Spam.

Gomen nasai.

(Zen does *try* to be polite. - He just does not always succeed.)

No problem - I do think that if everyone made an effort, the list could 
become a lot more livable.  It's just that the spammers might not really 
enjoy the results.  But every little bit helps.  Thanks.

--
Scott Johnson |
zagyg@io.com  |              This space intentionally left blank.