> The reference (deleted in the reply) was to fourteen messages in
> forty-eight hours, most of which seem to be not even an exchange of
> messages but merely an infatuation with seeing something he'd said on
> a list. I'd certainly boot this guy from my list.
I don't think 14 messages in 48 hours is necessarily an offense that
warrants the 'death penalty' on a list, even this one.
I think all of us have seen users get carried away and overpost, but whether
this is by the force of their convictions or the exhiliration of seeing
their prose in print isn't particularly relevant.
I cannot honestly remember sufficient posts from one user to reach my own
pain threshhold for this list, but I will also admit to having not read or
at best briefly scanned quite a few posts in the thread in question.
(And it wouldn't surprise me if Chuq has posted about that many times over
the same time period, though I hasten to add I am NOT suggesting Chuq
has been overposting, it's that he's taking one side of a rather spirited
discussion, something this list has happen every now and then, alternating
with periods of inactivity.)
In any event, assuming some overly busy poster flooded my list, I would
take one or more of the following actions long before I'd boot the poster
off: write the individual and suggest he/she cool it, post a general warning
to the entire list and suggest that EVERYBODY cool it, or put the user in
read-only status for a while. If the posts have at least SOME marginal
relevance, I'm much more inclined to be tolerant in my choice of sanctions,
my flash point for totally irrelevant postefs (and my choice of sanctions)
is a whole lot different. And in the case of a spammer who sneaks through
my safeguards, I just quietly delete the miscreant and take whatever steps
I can to make sure THAT particular person/domain never darkens my door again.
I will, on occasion, offer an apology to my subscribers for the intrusion.)
To me, the list manager HAS to be the voice of reason and calming influence
on a list, not the chief hothead.
--
Mike Nolan
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