[Air-l] Answering questions on mailing lists & general mailing list notes

[Gilbert B. Rodman]

Well, let me respectfully disagree with Nicole's respectful disagreement
with Jeremy.  The logic that suggests AOIR members should be technically
adept enough to click "reply all" cuts both ways, after all, insofar as
AOIR members should also be savvy enough not to send private messages to
publci lists.

Perhaps more to the point, though, is that the list is a space intended
for dialogue and exchange -- i.e., a multi-directional conversation --
not just one-way announcements.  It makes perfect sense to have an
announcement-oriented list work so that "reply" directs any responses
offlist.  But for a discussion-oriented list, such a setting places an
extra -- and unncessary -- burden on people who actually want to use the
list for its intended purpose.

Put a slightly different way, either way, there's inevitably going to be
a burden placed on *someone* to remember how the list is configured
if/when they choose to respond to an onlist message: either people who
want to reply offlist have to remember to use the original sender's
address, or people who want to reply onlist have to remember to use the
list's address.  Given that this list is routinely used for
back-and-forth exchanges -- and that misdirected private messages
(however embarrassing those might be) are the exception, rather than the
rule -- changing the list's current setting means that the majority of
people posting to the list would have to do extra work to protect a
minority of listmembers from having to do the exact same work.  Why
should we make it harder (even if only slightly) for people to use the
list the way it's intended to be used -- especially when it's less of a
burden overall to ask people to be careful to avoid MISusing the list?

Cheers
Gil

Nicole Ellison wrote:
> I respectfully (as I've done in the past) disagree. This suggestion  
> (to change the default reply setting) gets floated every year or so,  
> usually after some dreadfully embarrassing mishap where a clearly  
> private message has gone to the entire list. If we are concerned  
> about the effects a public reproach has on participation, think about  
> the effects of one of these! I think the AOIR membership is  
> technically sophisticated enough to click "reply all" when they have  
> a message that should go to the entire list, and to suggest that  
> "changing it to reply-to sender would take the  communal spirit of  
> the work away and make it into a request-for- help" is to suggest  
> otherwise. Clearly the expectation among users is reply goes to  
> sender, reply all goes to all, so why should AOIR users have to think  
> about how AOIR is different every time they wish to post? As far as  
> the effect on the well-being of the list, which I share as a concern,  
> I believe that messages that unnecessarily and unintentionally go to  
> all has a detrimental effect, both in terms of the examples of public  
> humiliation I give above as well as contributing to a worsened signal  
> to noise ratio which we've all observed. In contrast, as I see it,  
> the worst case scenario of a default reply to sender is that a  
> message meant for the list has to be resent once the poster realizes  
> this. Perhaps we could try it out for a while and see what effects,  
> if any, changing the default has.
>
> -Nicole
>
> On Dec 15, 2006, at 10:13 PM, Jeremy Hunsinger wrote:
>
>   
>> This would be... one of the situations where .... if I were a list
>> admin... I would say 'over my dead body'.  Because air-l is not about
>> the individual benefit, though we do wish to benefit everyone that
>> contributes and participates, but air-l has been about the group of
>> interested parties.  changing it to reply-to sender would take the
>> communal spirit of the work away and make it into a request-for-
>> help , which while a good format, is not the sort of thing that air-l
>> has been, nor the thing that it is at its best.   At its best it is a
>> group of people working together to establish a body of knowledge
>> that we all share in common, and thus the 'common' or communal space
>> overrides the individual.  at least, ... that is why we made an
>> organization didn't we?
>> On Dec 15, 2006, at 8:44 PM, Richard Forno wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> On 12/15/06 4:02 PM, "David Brake" <d.r.brake at lse.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>> Good points to mention, David.
>>>
>>>       
>>>> 2) Please make sure (for your own sake as much as anyone's!) that
>>>> your private responses are sent directly to the person and not to  
>>>> the
>>>> list? If you hit 'reply' any response will go to the list
>>>>         
>>> As a list admin for several lists myself, may I suggest that our
>>> illustrious
>>> list admins here consider changing the default AIR-L "reply-to" so
>>> that such
>>> replies go directly to the sender of the original note as opposed
>>> to the
>>> entire list?   That way, if you hit "reply-to-all" you know
>>> everyone will
>>> get it, but if you hit "reply-to" (as most folks do automatically in
>>> responding to e-mail) it will only go to the sender of the note  
>>> you're
>>> responding to.   Granted, we *want* to facilitate discussion here,
>>> but it's
>>> just a suggestion offered up for consideration.
>>>
>>> I know in my case a few times I've sent stuff meant as a reply to
>>> someone
>>> and watched it going to everyone.  :(  Many times, both here and
>>> elsewhere,
>>> I go so far as to place something like "Off-List" in the subject
>>> line so my
>>> intended recipient(s) know it's not coming from the list.
>>>
>>> Anyway, just a thought.
>>>
>>> -rf
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>       
>> jeremy hunsinger
>> Assistant Professor
>> Pratt Institute
>> www.cddc.vt.edu
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>>     
>
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