Greetings everyone!
I thought I'd talk a bit about one of the aspects of the list that is likely to
come up for any newcomers, and potentially strike participants as odd when this
forum exists to promote civic discourse.
The participation model of the e-democracy forums is a bit different than most
mailing lists and online forums. In most cases, if a member is subscribed to a
mailing list or forum, they can make contribute as many postings as they have
time to write up. That's not the case here, and it's a deliberate choice.
There are other significant choices, such as requiring a real name, and real
location affixed to each posting.
Information Overload is one of the issues we've become painfully aware of as
more and more of us are connected by more and more channels.
The value of a forum such as this is in part determined by a signal to noise
ratio, but it's also about the overall pace and quality of content.
Within a 24 hour period each participant can post twice. Someone with a more
time on their hands can't flood your in box through this forum. Potential
back-and-forth messages that tend to degrade in civility and thereby degrading
our shared space are likewise reduced.
Essentially, by requiring participants to pace themselves, each of us has to
decide what's worth saying today, and if there is something we really want to
react to ... the potential for a required pause may change how we each react.
If you've got a lot you want to share on a particular day, feel free to combine
several items into a longer posting. This furthers another goal: putting
things into our own voices. We're the collective curators of content here.
If there are several news items I'd like to forward, I'm more likely to inject
my own comments if I am editing them into a single post (or two).
I hope this clarifies the policy.
Feel free to ask questions related to any aspect of your experience with this
forum. And if you have content that is rejected by the automated two-post
restriction, please do share it with us tomorrow! I'm very eager for the
dialogue, and appreciative of all who post.
Warm regards,
Michael Maranda
Hyde Park, Chicago
PS ... Thanks for the phone conversation today Mark S. Glad we connected!
I thought I'd talk a bit about one of the aspects of the list that is likely to
come up for any newcomers, and potentially strike participants as odd when this
forum exists to promote civic discourse.
The participation model of the e-democracy forums is a bit different than most
mailing lists and online forums. In most cases, if a member is subscribed to a
mailing list or forum, they can make contribute as many postings as they have
time to write up. That's not the case here, and it's a deliberate choice.
There are other significant choices, such as requiring a real name, and real
location affixed to each posting.
Information Overload is one of the issues we've become painfully aware of as
more and more of us are connected by more and more channels.
The value of a forum such as this is in part determined by a signal to noise
ratio, but it's also about the overall pace and quality of content.
Within a 24 hour period each participant can post twice. Someone with a more
time on their hands can't flood your in box through this forum. Potential
back-and-forth messages that tend to degrade in civility and thereby degrading
our shared space are likewise reduced.
Essentially, by requiring participants to pace themselves, each of us has to
decide what's worth saying today, and if there is something we really want to
react to ... the potential for a required pause may change how we each react.
If you've got a lot you want to share on a particular day, feel free to combine
several items into a longer posting. This furthers another goal: putting
things into our own voices. We're the collective curators of content here.
If there are several news items I'd like to forward, I'm more likely to inject
my own comments if I am editing them into a single post (or two).
I hope this clarifies the policy.
Feel free to ask questions related to any aspect of your experience with this
forum. And if you have content that is rejected by the automated two-post
restriction, please do share it with us tomorrow! I'm very eager for the
dialogue, and appreciative of all who post.
Warm regards,
Michael Maranda
Hyde Park, Chicago
PS ... Thanks for the phone conversation today Mark S. Glad we connected!
