The way I see it, our Discussion List is one of our windows, into which the general public sees who we are. We have had some amazing discussions on it, about which any group would be proud. However, right now, in my opinion, the list has been co-opted, as it often happens with lists, by some folk who I personally consider delusional. As the only active moderator, my first impulse is to delete them. However, the Discussion List belongs to all of us; therefore, I would prefer that we all engage in keeping the list attractive, perhaps by posting intelligent subjects in hopes of drowning out some of the negative verbiage.
I am no longer on discuss, partly because of stuff like that... but
when I was moderator, if I felt a small number of posters were
dominating discussion with off-topic posts, I would move them to
Moderated status. If you then just take your time approving their
posts, it has a damping effect on the intensity of the discussion, and
that alone can be enough to quell their domination of the list.
You can also, IMO, remind them that the point of LPSF-discuss is to
discuss libertarian issues *as they apply to San Francisco*, so
discussions of e.g. U.S. foreign policy, the Federal Reserve, FEMA,
HAARP, and the Illuminati are off-topic (unless your ever-enlightened
Board of Supervisors are considering resolutions on those topics).
HTH,
Chris
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Chris Maden, text nerd <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
Axial tilt is the reason for the season.
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Yes....that's why I said to John on the discuss list (in the last couple of days) that these projects needed to be done off LPSF lists. While we should be happy to provide a platform for organizers to introduce ideas and recruit from our members if both are interested, they are not necessarily a part and parcel to LPSF activities.
I am strongly opposed to moderation except in the most extreme cases. I
have often seen lists die due to moderation. I have not seen anything in
the recent posts that I consider time wasting or objectionable, and I think
this is one of the better lists out there.
Me too. We can still try to steer the conversation toward local politics and what the LPSF can concretely do in that arena when it wanders off into whatever, and perhaps encourage people to take some of their correspondence off list, without actually moderating anyone.