Subject:
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Re: Off-topic messages (was: Re: The Minifig Generator??)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.admin.general
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Date:
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Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:25:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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1581 times
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"Chris Alas" <webmaster19@home.com> writes:
> If this is the way that the people around here act, (i.e.: not letting
> others post messages because of "off-topic" messages, then I rather not be a
> part of lugnet. I wonder what would happen if you did this to a 7-10 year
> old. . . Perhaps I am over exagerating, maybe because I'm only 13?
I had no idea that you were so young. With the words "HTMLpro" in there,
I thought you must be at least 25 and out in the work world. This certainly
changes the way to view things.
> "Once upon a time, was a young man named Chris. Chris loves playing with
> Lego and robotics. He loved to spend time at lugnet.robotics to talk about
> the new and interesting things in Lego Robotics. Until one frightful day,
> when all Chris wanted was a answer to a question (where to find a site that
> he had seen that he wanted to get to), instead, he got doscontinued from the
> newsgroup. Before he did, however, he tried to post the message again, but
> this time with the subject "off-topic".
Well, keep in mind that first, before re-posting the message a second time,
you were politely asked not to post off-topic. But I understand if the
request was not 100% clear.
> Thinking that others who do not read
> messages like the one he posted, he thought maybe only the people interested
> in the off-topic post would at the very least answer his question. Instead,
> it resulted in his termination.
No, you're not terminated, and you're certainly not prevented from posting
to other non-robotics groups or from reading the robotics group. It's a
temporary suspension of posting privileges to the robotics group until we
can all be sure that you understand the guidelines and the reasons behind
the temporary suspension. Once you've acknowledged that you won't do any
more off-topic postings there, and you understand why, then you'll be
allowed to post there again.
The most important thing to understand is, the robotics group consists
mainly of people in their late 20's and 30's who receive the group at work
(on the job) and who only have so much time to read it during lunch or
after-hours or during breaks, and they don't enjoy seeing off-topic clutter
on that group.
The robotics group is also a delicate situation because it is a
conglomeration of a mailing list and a newsgroup. If people on the lugnet
side (that is, the newsgroup side), end up annoying the mailing-list side
(Russell Nelson's side), then it may end up disrupting the delicate balance
of things in the news-to-mail gateway. In other words, if there are a lot
of off-topic postings there, then people on the mailing-list side may decide
to split back away from the newsgroup side, which would not be good for
everyone all-around.
Please try to understand that the intention behind limiting your posting
privileges is not designed as a punishment (I'm sorry if it sounded that
way; I didn't understand that you were 13; I thought you were older and were
making blatantly disrespectful actions). Rather, it's simply designed to
give you a break while you take time out to understand the situation.
Again, the robotics group is different from the other groups because of the
older and more serious readership, and also because it's a focused group
rather than a general group.
It's also not the case that other people are allowed to post off-topic and
you aren't -- nobody is supposed to...however, it all depends on how much
people complain... In your case, having posted twice about the minifig
generator and several times about your site under construction, it irritated
several people. In contrast, other people who posted off-topic in the past
and who were asked to stop, actually stopped.
I don't want to see you go away frustrated or unhappy, and I don't want you
or anyone to feel like LUGNET is not for young people. Do you think there
would be any use in pairing younger people up with older and more
experienced "mentors"? That is, you could post messages to anywhere but the
robotics group without any supervision, but if you posted something to the
robotics group, instead of it being rejected it would be sent to your
volunteer mentor (someone you pick and who agrees to help you with your
posts). The mentor could then write back to you and explain how the post
could be re-worked to more appropriately fit into the group, or could
alternatively "approve" your post as-is and send in to the group on your
behalf. After you and your mentor decide together that you're ready to post
all on your own, you could again be allowed to do so.
Would this be useful to you? Or do you feel that you understand the issues
now and you really wouldn't need something like that?
> -Chris (One very, very, very sad person( and a bit upset person))
I'm sorry for making you sad. Looking back at what I wrote, it was an
inappropriate response to someone your age, and certainly would have been
terrible to a 7-10 year old, as you point out.
Further, I'm ashamed of the accusatory tone I used in my earlier messages,
which assumed that you were an adult.
I'm sure we can work something out, but it's going to take a bit of work,
and a little bit of help and understanding from everyone involved. I think
this is a very important situation for the older crowd to learn from, and it
is a situation which is very likely to arise again and again as more and
more people come onboard. Going forward, we need to come up with some ways
for adults and teens and children all to co-exist. Maybe this can be
accomplished through informal mentorships, or maybe through better
documentation in the initial signup procedures...
Thank you for taking the time to express your frustration rather than simply
leaving. I would be very interested to hear any more thoughts you may have.
Best regards,
--Todd
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