Posted by gary g (208.133.217.175) on July 31, 1999 at 12:23:49:
Hi Gang -
The board is up to 100s of posts/day
THAT'S GREAT !!
BUT - to get all the info, etc, find help reauests to respond to etc now takes EXTREME time every day
Maybe it's time to start some loose protocols, to handle that volume -
No need to set up "rules" - nobody woulod follow them anyway - but each one of us who trys will help everybody;
I'm not proposing rules on WHAT to post - just saying we all ought to be more considerate in helping others use the boartd (and ultimately help us)
We work with several list servers in our fam, and the following guidelines help on others:
1. READ THE INTRO MATERIAL BEFORE YOU START POSTING QUESTIONS - I'D BET AT LEAST 3/4 OF THE QUESTIONS POSTED ARE ALREADY INCLUDED, IN MULTIPLES, IN THE ARCHIVES, MEDICAL INFO PAGES, ETC -
DJ has set up a great site here
USE IT
for people absolutely new to using sites like this - try clicking on the yellow index lines on the left of the screen
you'll be amazed !!!!
2. THINK about your subject captions - give a clear hint what it's about -
example:
useless subject line:
"need help"
better : "need help w/oxygen treatment info"
if responding, amend the subject line in the thread, to classify your response
thread expansions:
usual way:
" what a crock
re: what a crock
re: what a crock
re: what a crock "
better way:
" what a crock "
re: crock /gary g's gone nuts
re: crock / brilliant idea, more info here
re: crock / is this the UFO hotline ?
if you're posting "me too" type items, SAY SO !
STAY IN THE TOPIC OF THE THREAD !
if you have comments on something else, post a new msg with a clear subject title
some people may have no life other than sitting on the internet all day, but MY idea of the value of this msg bd is to help us all find a way to get our lives BACK from CH - not swap the attacks for 6 hours a day reading duplicate message info
I need/am willing to offer,
all the help I can get/offer,
as is everybody else here
one other thing-
this is NOT specific to CH BD, we see it elsewhere too;
some people think that because they shelled out the $$ for a computer, that the people they then use it to contact, are somehow there as customer service or something
try thinking of it as a glorified telephone, and the other people as strangers you might call to ask for help, out of the goodness of their hearts - NOT somebody sitting there for the express purpose of serving YOU if & when you decide you have a problem
EVERYBODY here is "needy"
so if we ALL start treating it as a communal cooperative effort, we can ALL get a lot more out of it, a lot easier
If YOU LIKE gillions of chatty msgs, etc FINE
but PLEASE - be courteous enough to use the subject line to warn the rest of us off