Posting of Off-Topic Discussions (was Abortion)

[Guest guest]

Hi Andrea!

 

Yes, OT is a good idea, however there is really very little off-topic on

this list. You should see some of the other lists I am on! I am on dial up,

connects 15 minutes to check mail.

 

At 03:33 PM 5/31/2004, you wrote:

 

Regards,

 

Pete

[Guest guest]

Hi Andrea,

 

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining to me. I hadn't

thought about the people who receive these posts in their inbox (I

don't do it that way). I belong to another board where you have to

respond to a topic for subsequent posts to show up in your inbox, so

I didn't think about it. Very good points. I will have to remember

this, because I really love to analyze things and talk about them!

I could be tempted if I'm not careful....I think that when someone

does post off-topic your idea to put it in the subject line is an

excellent idea. At times I think that there are things that are

relevant in an indirect way. For instance, I think that if you are

not raised in an Asian country and you are a TCM practitioner you

have thoughts and ideas about the culture that come up...its nice to

have a group of people to discuss them with. But I really did take

that abortion topic way off-topic, and I apologize.

 

One thing about me is that I generally post a lot on a board for

about a week and then stop for awhile (weeks or months). So all

this mass-posting on my part will not go on forever. I just

recently found this board, so I think I'm in the honeymoon

stage!

 

Laura

 

 

 

Chinese Medicine , " Ai An Meng "

<aianmeng@s...> wrote:

> Laura wrote:

>

> <<<So, if you don't mind, I will try to outline my thoughts in a

concise

> manner...(I know some don't like this forum being used to talk

about

> other issues, but I don't understand why...they don't have to

click on

> these topics do they?):>>>

>

>

> Hi Laura,

>

> Actually, a good many of us on this list receive the message by

email, and thus, these messages are sent directly to our inbox, so

they're unavoidable. Some members also receive the messages in

digest format, which makes it is virtually impossible to overlook

messages regarding 'other issues.' I had to go off of digest mode

for exactly that reason. It was impossible to archive messages I was

interested in, without having to archive other messages, too. When

you start receiving over 300 emails in a single day, you quickly

realize the importance to limiting messages on a list to relevant

topics. ;-) (I couldn't imagine being on a dial-up connection,

which I'm sure some members are.)

>

> I do think it is important to keep topics on this list relevant to

TCM, CHM and acupuncture (or specific to the list), as much as

possible for the reason above. I know it's very easy to go off in

another direction when a post brings something else to mind.

Perhaps, when members wish to discuss off-topic material on this

list, it would be helpful if each of us would begin the subject line

with OT, followed by the subject, e.g., " OT: Abortion, " as this

would make it easier for folks to locate relevant posts, rather than

having to read through off-topic discussions (although it still

won't reduce email volume, it will make it easier to skip off-topic

posts). Often, it is very difficult to tell what material is

included in a post, or whether or not its relevant, without first

reading it. This is especially true if the topic was originally

relevant, but then has gone off-topic since (as has happened with

the 'Abortion' topic, for example). IMHO, topics of a controvertial

nature, such as religion and politics (not laws relevant to TCM, of

course), would be best left off of the list entirely, for everyone's

sake.

>

> Just some thoughts that might things a little easier with regard

to posting. =-)

>

> Kindest Regards,

>

> Andrea

>

>