Subject:
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Some US-like things about LUGNET (Was Re: Where did you lot spring from?)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 4 May 2000 00:27:22 GMT
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Viewed:
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1510 times
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Shiri Dori wrote in message ...
> > > more of the world enjoys cheaper net-access. To me, the things that
> > > contribute
> > > to the US centric perception would be the frequent US only references (eg • US
> > > shopping outlets, prices in USD, US-only services, US Culture) in common
> > > newsgroups such as lugnet.general etc. These aren't listed because I • believe
> > > they should be curtailed, but it might aid understanding of where the
> > > perception comes from.
I would agree that the U.S. "store sales" posts in .general belong in
loc.us, and would like to see that happen.
Still, LUGNET on the whole feels fairly US-oriented to me, and there are two
major causes of this. I mentioned them in loc.au but I'll repeat them here
because they are things that I feel strongly about. I can't offer any decent
solutions, nor do I demand any, mainly because despite having these strong
feelings I still greatly enjoy being here and am proud to be a member. These
things just detract from the experience, that's all, and I want to get them
off my chest in the hope that people will remember this later, that not
everyone agrees with certain aspects of LUGNET.
The first aspect is the level of moderation. Being an adult, living in a
culture that is NOT an American culture (despite being, as people say,
somewhat Americanised), I feel irritation at being hampered by guidelines
regarding profanity that are so far into the wholesome family end of the
spectrum as to feel, frankly, ridiculous. If I wish to give any emotionally
emphasis or expressiveness I am forced to use a limited set of the most
firmly US-entrenched slang such as "darned", and can only use words such as
"God" in a religious sense (or for reference as I just did). In my culture
we say "bloody" about as often as USians seem to use "darned", but of course
my culture is represented by a minority on LUGNET. That's a bit ironic,
because I would guess that it's an overly-vocal and overly-moralistic
minority of USians on LUGNET who have pushed the colourful language
guidelines so far into the colourless. Oh well, it was either them or me
gets inconvenienced either way. I guess it's me then. :-(
The second aspect is what I see as a severe reluctance to give constructive
criticism. Now, I would _never_ want to see criticism given in an impolite
or unfriendly way (such as the CAD group's treatment of Jonathan Wilson),
but there is something important about sharing what you see as potential
improvement that helps raise the standard of what we do here generally on
LUGNET. From what I have seen, especially in the groups where less
proficient builders hang out (I think it varies from group to group), this
happens only rarely, just where it would do the most good IMO. I _can_ offer
a suggestion here: be friendly, but also be a bit more honest. You are _not_
a meanie. You are helping make LUGNET a place for better building.
>
> > I think Todd and Suz have done a marvelous job of creating a neutral zone • for
> > all AFOL's to meet in cyberspace, where international boundaries can be
> > broken. Having the .loc groups is a stoke of genius IMO, as it still • allows
> > people from different regions to "talk shop" without worrying about • cultural
> > or language barriers, and gives the place a more personal feel.
>
> Oh, definitely. The .loc groups are great, it's too bad that they feel • they're
> alienated, though.
The thing I like most about the .loc groups is the way that I can change the
topic at will (even away from Lego entirely), and I don't get a council
member asking me to post to a group that I don't even read. Stream of
thought or conversation can be whimsical, and it's a shame to have to
compartmentalise it to that large an extent. That was probably what Mark
Harrison was getting at, in an ambiguous way. I'm very happy to have the
.loc group which allows me such freedom of conversation. In fact, nowadays I
spend more time there than .general.
Cheers,
Paul
LUGNET member 164
http://www.geocities.com/doctorshnub/
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Where did you lot spring from?)
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| (...) But not everyone here is an adult. Although I sometimes swear casually when talking, I agree with Todd that forbidding profanity improves the community's image and makes it a nicer place to participate. It's often much harder to tell through (...) (25 years ago, 3-May-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Where did you lot spring from?
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| Xposting to .general... this needs a bit more publicity IMHO :-) This is not solely an .loc.au thing... (...) Not only that, it's a double reason (well, IMHO, not based on any statistics or anything)): -There is a large _Americans : other countries_ (...) (25 years ago, 3-May-00, to lugnet.loc.au, lugnet.general)
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