mhnadel@gryphon.CTS.COM (Miriam Nadel) (07/24/87)
[This is a draft of a set of guidelines for posting to soc.women. My intention
is to post these guidelines periodically - probably monthly, but I would
like some feedback on how often other people think is appropriate. I would
also like general feedback on whether I've included the right things, anything
I may have left out, anything I should clarify, etc. My current plan is to
accept comments until 20 August, revise this draft based on those comments,
and begin monthly posting of the revised guidelines on 1 September. Any
comments should be sent by e-mail, NOT posted. You will note that this is
cross-posted to news.misc. I have done that because I think that some
relevant input may be obtained there; however, the regular postings will go
only to soc.women.]
The following is a set of guidelines for posting to soc.women. The intention
of these guidelines is to suggest ways in which the newsgroup can be made
more productive by eliminating flames. They are not intended as a means
of censorship; indeed, they are unenforceable as such. They will work only
if we respect one another as people and desire to be treated with respect
by others.
If you have not already done so (or have not done so recently) you are
urged to read the articles in news.announce.newusers. These articles will
tell you what newsgroups are available, suggest what newsgroup may be
appropriate for some particular topic, suggest ways to interact with the
Usenet community more effectively, provide answers to frequently asked
questions, and educate you as to what is considered proper netiquette. Some
relevant sections are summarized below; however, they are not intended as
a substitute for reading news.announce.newusers.
Purpose of Soc.women:
The list of active newsgroups defines soc.women as a group for the discussion
of women's rights, discrimination, etc. The actual focus is somewhat broader
than that. Topics that have been discussed in the past include pornography,
portrayal of women in the media, suggested books for learning about feminism,
women in sports, rape prevention, etc. We also talk about lighter topics
(such as leg shaving) and discuss ways to deal with practical problems.
If you don't see what you want to, post your own articles. But please
think about whether what you post is really appropriate for this newsgroup.
The best way to anger regular readers is to post material that should
really be somewhere else. By the same token, "metadiscussions" about whether
or not a particular posting is appropriate only waste bandwidth. If someone
brings up an inappropriate subject, either ignore them or send e-mail.
Some inappropriate subjects come up repeatedly. For example, while abortion
is a legitimate concern for women, the excessive heat associated with its
discussion has led to a consensus of the net that all such discussion should
take place only in talk.abortion. Another recurring problem is the
discussion of the ways in which our society restricts men; a newsgroup
called soc.men was created specifically for that discussion and should be
used. Discussions about why women behave in certain ways in relationships
are most appropriately confined to soc.singles. Affirmative action discussion
should take place in talk.politics.misc unless it specifically concerns women.
It is a good idea to avoid crossposting unless you are sure that your
article really belongs in all the groups you are posting to. In addition,
you should check what groups a followup is going to. Often an article
continues to be crossposted to soc.women long after the discussion has
become irrelevant to this group. Please edit the newsgroup line to avoid
continuing the irrelvant crossposting.
What Constitutes Good Netiquette:
Avoiding inappropriate subjects and editing the newsgroup line have already
been discussed above. A few other suggestions will make your interaction
with this newsgroup (and the net in general) more polite and effective:
1) If you do post something you later realize you shouldn't have, you can cancel
it. The sooner you do so, the better the chances that people won't have
read it already.
2) Personal attacks are never welcome. If you really must issue personal
attacks please do so by e-mail. Bear in mind the saying "when arguing with
a fool, be sure s/he is not doing the same." Your postings will be treated
with more respect if you show the same courtesy to other posters.
3) If you are requesting information, please ask readers to reply by e-mail.
Summarize the responses to the net.
4) When responding to an article, it is a good policy to trim down the
amount of included material. Some versions of news require the new material
to be more than half the article. If you can't trim down the quotes, please
attempt to paraphrase what the other poster has said. The longer an article
is, the less likely it is to be read.
5) People do make spelling errors and grammatical errors. It is a good idea
to proofread what you have read to make sure that it is easily understandable.
Responders should bear in mind that most of us are not perfect typists/
proofreaders and should avoid spelling and grammer flames. If you insist on
correcting someone, send e-mail.
6) Before you submit a follow-up to a message, read the rest of the messages
in the newsgroup to see whether someone has already said what you want to
say. If someone has, don't repeat it.
7) It is a good idea to cite references when stating facts. It is not
a good practice to discuss a personal experience that differs from
facts or statistics. For example, the issue of child support has risen
several times and someone always has a horror story that they claim
contradicts the figures given. Bear in mind that we are usually discussing
a general social issue, not your specific case.
How to Get Others to Read Your Articles:
1) Please try to be concise. Long postings are less likely to be read.
2) Choose appropriate subject headings. Even when posting a followup article,
you should edit the subject line to relect what the article is about.
The summary and key words lines are also used when people decide what to read
and it is worth the effort to edit these.
3) Subtlety can easily be missed when reading. Similarly, sarcasm is hard
to communicate in writing. The smiley face :-) is used to indicate a remark
intended as humorous.
4) It is a good idea to include a mail path from the backbone in your
signature. Your system administrator can help you with this.
Miriam Nadel
--
"Do I look as if I could control dragons?" - the king in _The Westminster Alice_
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