DANGER: HUMOR POST

[Dianne L Parham]

NONTECHNOLOGY RELATED....DELETE, DELETE, DELETE IF YOU HAVE A POLICY OF 
NO HUMOR ALLOWED IN THE WORKPLACE.

I have seen this posted before, but in light of some recent postings, I 
thought some of us who haven't seen it before will be amused by it.  The 
rest will be offended and flame me for wasting valuable time and e-mail 
space on trivia...on the other hand, there is something to be said for 
stepping back once in awhile from a heated discussion.  Dianne Parham, San 
Diego Public Library, dzp at library.sannet gov

On Fri, 6 Jun 1997, Susan Cronin Ruderman wrote:

> I found this posted (anon.) on another list I subscribe to and thought it on
> target.  Having such a frame of reference might help understand the
> occasional misunderstandings that arise on any list.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> 
> THE NATURAL LIFE CYCLE OF MAILING LISTS ("LISTSERVS")
> 
> Every listserv seems to go through the same cycle:
> 
> 1. Initial enthusiasm
>    a) people introduce themselves
>    b) they gush a lot about how wonderful it is to find kindred souls
> 
> 2. Evangelism
>    a) people moan about how few folks are posting to the list
>    b) they brainstorm recruitment strategies
> 
> 3. Growth
>    a) more and more people join
>    b) more and more lengthy threads develop
>    c) occasional off-topic threads pop up
> 
> 4. Community
>    a) lots of threads, some more relevant than others
>    b) lots of information and advice is exchanged
>    c) experts help other experts as well as less experienced colleagues
>    d) friendships develop
>    e) people tease each other
>    f) newcomers are welcomed with generosity and patience
>    g) everyone (newbie and expert alike) feels comfortable asking
>       questions, suggesting answers, and sharing opinions)
> 
> 5. Discomfort with diversity
>    a) the number of messages increases dramatically
>    b) not every thread is fascinating to every reader
>    c) people start complaining about the "signal-to-noise ratio"
>    d) person 1 threatens to quit if *other* people don't limit discussion
>       to his/her pet topic
>    e) person 2 agrees with person 1
>    f) person 3 tells 1 & 2 to lighten up
>    g) more bandwidth is wasted complaining about off-topic threads than
>       is used for the threads themselves
>    h) everyone gets annoyed
> 
> Then, EITHER...
> 
> 6A. Smug complacency and stagnation
>     a) the purists flame everyone who asks an 'old' question or responds
>        with humor to a serious post
>     b) newbies are rebuffed
>     c) traffic drops to a doze-producing level of a few minor issues
>     d) all interesting discussions happen by private email and are limited
>        to a few participants
>     e) the purists spend lots of time self-righteously congratulating each
>        other on keeping off-topic threads off the list
> 
> OR...
> 
> 6B. Maturity
>     a) a few people quit in a huff
>     b) the rest of the participants stay near stage 4, with stage 5 popping
>        up briefly every few weeks
>     c) many people wear out their second or third 'delete' key, but the
>        list lives contentedly ever after
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Susan Cronin Ruderman, Vice President
> Veritas Information Services
> 9 Alton Street
> Arlington, MA  02174
> (617) 643-7811; fax: (617) 643-1136; ruderman at tiac.net;
> http://www.tiac.net/users/ruderman
> Consulting services to the legal, non-profit, and executive search communities
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
>