Re: a suggestion

I would like to make two points.

On Sat, 3 Apr 1999, Judi Kessler wrote:

>when 25-50, 2-4 page WSN messages show up daily in my in-box, I have no
>choice but to hit the "D" button.

Granting the premise that there are 25-50, 2-4 page WSN messages daily (a
dramatic exaggeration of ridiculous proportions), one of the things that
is so wonderful about these listservs is that they can meet the needs of
people with different capacities and desires. For those who enjoy and can
reading longer, more thoughtful communications, the listserv is a great
way to get away from the soundbite world of commercial mass
communications. On the other hand, for those serious, dedicated, and
overworked scholars who only have time for infrequent, one-line
communications, the delete key is available for quick and easy disposal of
those longer, rambling contributions. This medium is sort of like buying a
magazine or newspaper and then choosing either to read the whole thing, or
only choosing to read the news in brief. I use my delete key all the time
(although not generally on this list). Of course it is not at all like a
newspaper or magazine in that the people who speak are not approved by an
editor who selects those who agree with his perspective.

>Relatedly, those of you who feel compelled to make multiple
>contributions daily (I don't know where you find the time!) might
>consider stepping back and "listening" a bit. Think of it as a virtual
>roundtable.

WSN has over the past several months had an extremely low volume of
contributions. I was wondering when some of the members would actually
start talking about something, anything. This claim that there have been
multiple contributions daily makes me wonder if I am not on some special
WSN where all of the crap Judi Kessler finds so easily deletable is
automatically being filtered out.

Peace,
Andy