[ga] Re: What causes the problem?

[Greg Burton <sidna@feedwriter.com>]

At 08:07 PM 2/10/01, Eric Dierker wrote:
>Off topic posts, too many posts, and nastiness drive people out of the
>process. It's documented.
>I am not sure of the accuracy here but the people themselves are not
>the cause.

In some cases yes, in others, no. I was speaking about mailing lists in 
general - no matter the subject of the list, a preponderance of those 
things leads to the loss of membership, involvement, and input.

>It is aggravation in the process and the stranglehold the
>existing constiutencies have on every move that causes the problem.

That perception is certainly a contributing factor, though the existing 
constituencies have their own problems. I don't mean to minimize your 
notion, either - it's definitely true that good people have opted out 
because they don't see any way of affecting the process. So someone can 
very understandably be frustrated and angry.

The point is - acting out is NOT a productive strategy. Calling people 
names does NOT want to make them sit down and work it out. Bringing outside 
conflicts into it does NOT convince anyone that the participants are 
mature, reasonable people who can be entrusted with positions of 
responsibility. If we are outside the process, acting like crazies will NOT 
bring us into it. See?

The problem is that it's not black or white. You can't just say "x is a 
good guy, y is a bad guy", because then you'll miss that everyone thinks 
that they're the good guy. You'll also miss the reasonable things the 
"other side" is saying.

Ah well, it's only life.

Regards,
Greg

sidna@feedwriter.com

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