XPost: news.groups, rec.arts.comics.dc.universe, rec.arts.sf.tv   
   XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: kalelfan@yanospamhoo.com   
      
   [note crossposts to five unmoderated groups that I'm subscribed to   
   and have participated in, in some cases for 10-15 years]   
      
   So there I was thinking about what to title this thread and where to   
   post it, eh?  Later in the thread I'll post the draft title I had prior to   
   the one I've settled on: "META+ The Root Cause of Usenet's Decline".   
   For now I'll just offer up my #1 answer du jour:   
      
      "The vast, vast majority of discussion board participants   
      will not be interested in a pitch that says "here's a bucket   
      and a strainer, now filter the cesspool yourself."   
      
   It's often called "signal to noise" but that doesn't really properly   
   convey the "worst of the worst" Usenet content that can scroll   
   across a user's screen.  Well run servers may have automatic   
   filters for binaries and spam, but some of what gets through   
   can still be vile stuff that would quite arguably be actionable   
   or illegal, or violate hate speech laws in Canada and other   
   jurisdictions for example.  The average person just doesn't   
   want to get near it.   
      
   There are other problems too, but those are either moot   
   points or symptoms, more than they are the root causes.   
   For example "very few know about Usenet, especially not in   
   recent years" is a fair statement.  But promoting something   
   with a cesspool barrier and then a big signal to noise problem   
   is largely a waste of time.  Relatively few who tried it would   
   suffer it.   
      
   So why have some of us been here for fifteen or more years?   
   Basically because we've become immune to the stench.  We   
   ignore it or filter it, or if it annoys us enough we flame it but   
   mainly it becomes an ugly piece of the furniture.   
      
   Because we can get over the cesspool barrier, we get to the   
   several benefits or selling points that Usenet otherwise would   
   have for many people out there.  The better posters can be   
   quite knowledgeable.  There's a good core base of longtimers   
   who haven't all died off yet.  I think it has the web forums beat   
   in terms of their clunky interfaces, vs. a good nntp newsreader.   
   Windows Live Mail, easily accesible and free for download last   
   I looked, works fine for the average user.  There are all kinds of   
   groups on every topic you can think of that can be searched on   
   a newsgroup list.   
      
   Another big benefit is the existing Usenet infrastructure and   
   the "passive conduit" that it represents.  It allows the main   
   or underlying foundation to be unmoderated.  That's the   
   traditional version of Usenet that many of its existing users   
   value, and new users would like the ability to "turn off the   
   moderator" whenever they'd like too!  So that can be a big   
   selling point as well, because too much moderation on the   
   web boards and in some groups can be a problem.   
      
   That underlying foundation is a great platform to build an   
   optional filtering system on, one that inherently encourages   
   self-moderation because the worst of the worst posters or   
   posts will know they won't get by those optional filters.   
   Those posters or posts will tend to go to the unmoderated   
   version directly, saving any moderation work at all.  The   
   moderated process can also provide a hi-mod and lo-mod   
   version, and other tools so users who choose moderation   
   can tailor it to their preferences.   
      
   So the root cause can be addressed, but it would require a   
   Plan and lots of volunteers to assist with developing and   
   implementing it.  Group by group, it would require not just   
   one but a team of moderators.  Pick a topic though, any tv   
   show for example with a reasonable online base, and you   
   could probably find literally dozens and probably 100+   
   volunteer moderators of that topic across the web on the   
   various boards.  It's fragmented, but it illustrates the large   
   potential pool if Usenet can be restored as "The" place for   
   worldwide discussion of a topic.   
      
   Even the Cylons had a Plan, right?  And they didn't need   
   volunteers they just made them.  :-)  Usenet, it needs a   
   Plan and it needs lots of different volunteers to carry it   
   out.  It needs a bunch of Ones (admins), Twos (techies)   
   Threes (programmers), Fours (moderators), Fives (PR folk),   
   a Six [this space reserved for Tricia Helfer :-)] a really   
   massive number of Sevens (nameless, faceless cyber-   
   entities called Users), and an Eight [this space reserved   
   for Grace Park :-)].   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)