RE: Why I like this list but not OT (long)

Subject: RE: Why I like this list but not OT (long)
From: "Etzel, Gary" <Gary -dot- Etzel -at- advanticagroup -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:28:42 -0500

Dick Margulis wrote:

> This question arises because you are a lurker. Other than complaining
> about inappropriate posts, I see about six posts from you, mostly
> questions, not contributions to answers. But when a lurker
> finally surfaces for the purpose of threatening to quit, I have to
> wonder why they bother and why the rest of us should care.

> Any thoughts on this?

Hi Dick, I think that's a great question. I emailed my last post at 1:19 PM EST and it finally showed up in my Inbox at 10:48 PM. I don't know why, but it's always been that way for me. So I lurk because I can't post in a timely manner. By the time my emails show up, points are already made and discussions have typically moved on. But if you care to check the Adobe forums, framers list, wwp-users list, and too many STC lists for me to remember off the top of my head, you will find that collectively I've been an active participant in all of these lists.

I'm just expressing an observation that many threads on this list, especially in the last few weeks, seem to go on and on and on about topics that have nothing to do with the questions that were originally posted. If people on the list are happy with that, then that's fine. But here's why I think you should care. According to the TECH-WRL website, "The TECHWR-L discussion list has more than 5,000 direct subscribers and an estimated daily readership of more than 10,000 people worldwide." But only a fraction of you post. The rest of us, like me, are your audience. We come here to learn about technical communication, find ways that we can better do our jobs, perhaps learn about the field so we can decide whether this is a career we want to pursue. And speaking on behalf of the lurkers, we are not socially inept, and we do feel the need to blow off steam and talk about things other than COBOL every now and then. My point is I don't think TECH-WRL is the appropriate place for some of the discussions we are seeing. There are plenty of other outlets besides this one single list.

So my question to you is this, what ever happened to Friday Fun? There used to be an appropriate time and place for this sort of thing, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Gary (emailing December 13, 2006 at 9:31 AM)

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References:
RE: Why I like this list but not OT (long): From: Etzel, Gary
Re: Why I like this list but not OT (long): From: Dick Margulis

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