Re: rough draft for changes at pkt

[Galbraith.James@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James K. Galbraith)]

The discussion so far has been very constructive.

As an advocate (and practitioner) of pkt restraint, I nevertheless side with
bill mitchell, trond and others against fixed limits. I also rather enjoy
the repartee that comes with occasional short posts and ripostes. The
problem comes with those few who sometimes feel that they have a sharp
comment to make on four or five things in rapid succession and perhaps
several times a day; the result being four or five simultaneous
conversations among the same small group of people, all crowding the inbox.
The telltale sign of this is usually a sequence of posts from one source,
spaced just a few minutes apart.

Ric's concept of a 'rough draft' suggests an alternative approach. How about
trying to come to consensus around a 'code of conduct' for pkt?  The 'code'
can consist of some basic reminders, my suggestions being: (1) Tone it down;
(2) Space it out; (3) Speak to the list; (4) Avoid the quote-back mode, but
if you have to, at least place your message up top, not down below; (5) Take
private conversations and flames offlist. One might also add: welcome
newcomers and include them in the conversation.

The simple way (once Ric distills from all of this some basic noncoercive
principles that will keep bill m. on the list) to keep this going is for the
list editor to send us all a message, once a month alongside the regular pkt
sub/unsub reminders, reminding us of the code. I think that would have a
very good effect, as well as letting newcomers know how the community likes
things structured.

If this doesn't work, tabulation of posting frequencies and that sort of
thing may be useful. But I think people will generally remind themselves of
the community's principles, if the community actually wants to have them.
And it would spare Ric the nanny role, which I'm sure he doesn't relish. JG

*****
James K. Galbraith
LBJ School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin TX 78713
Phone: 512-471-1244 (o)
Fax:  512-471-1835 (o) 512-480-0246 (h)
Email: Galbraith.James@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx