Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

DejaNews all over again...

Author:Phil Wolff
Posted:11/25/1998; 11:29:24 AM
Topic:Testing a new feature.
Msg #:503 (In response to 500)
Prev/Next:502 / 504

Some of these threads, including Bedlam, are so like those of yesteryear in comp.mail.list-admin.software and other usenet groups. These are not new problems, but the tactics are becoming better understand.

Option (a). If I'm NBC News, with an audience of 10 million at any given moment, I don't let all 10 million dilute my conversation. I moderate and broadcast so I have a clear editorial voice. High signal to noise ration and no oppty for chaotic behavior by contibutors. This is like DaveNet.

The alternatives are (b) allowing a select few trusted contributors participate and letting everyone else lurk, or (c) opening wide for all comers with a few folks shepperding strays back on topic and educating newbies. With the registration process, Discuss seems somewhere between (b) and (c).

With the few readers and participants Discuss has been delightful. What happens when you have a 1000 fold increase in the number of participants?

David Bernbaum did a good piece on the taxonomy of list publishing styles in last April's Wired magazine at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.04/es_lists_pr.html.

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