Re: URGENT - Please Read

[Stuart Grimshaw <stuart@xxxxxxx>]

I've added step 5a :-) see below.

On Monday 12 Aug 2002 9:52 am, Jerome O'Donohoe wrote:
> I would just like to mention this, for those who haven't seen
it...
>
> THE NATURAL LIFE CYCLE OF MAILING LISTS
>
> Every list seems to go through the same cycle:
>
> 1. Initial enthusiasm (people introduce themselves, and gush a lot
about
> how wonderful it is to find kindred souls).
>
> 2. Evangelism (people moan about how few folks are posting to the
list, and
> brainstorm recruitment strategies).
>
> 3. Growth (more and more people join, more and more lengthy
threads
> develop, occasional off-topic threads pop up)
>
> 4. Community (lots of threads, some more relevant than others; lots
of
> information and advice is exchanged; experts help other
> experts as well as less experienced colleagues; friendships develop;
people
> tease each other; newcomers are welcomed with
> generosity and patience; everyone---newbie and expert
alike---feels
> comfortable asking questions, suggesting answers, and
> sharing opinions)
>
> 5. Discomfort with diversity (the number of messages increases
> dramatically; not every thread is fascinating to every
> reader; people start complaining about the signal-to-noise ratio;
person 1
> threatens to quit if *other* people don't
> limit discussion to person 1's pet topic; person 2 agrees with person
1;
> person 3 tells 1 & 2 to lighten up; more
> bandwidth is wasted complaining about off-topic threads than is used
for
> the threads themselves; everyone gets
> annoyed)

5a Someone posts this email to the list :-)

> 6a. Smug complacency and stagnation (the purists flame everyone who
asks an
> 'old' question or responds with humor to a serious post; newbies
are
> rebuffed; traffic drops to a doze-producing level of a few minor
issues;
> all interesting discussions happen by private email and are limited to
a
> few participants; the purists spend lots of time self-righteously
> congratulating each other on keeping off-topic threads off the
list)
>
> OR
>
> 6b. Maturity (a few people quit in a huff; the rest of the
participants
> stay near stage 4, with stage 5 popping up briefly
> every few weeks; many people wear out their second or third 'delete'
key,
> but the list lives contentedly ever after)

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