[Air-l] Air-list

[Matthew Allen]

Dear all

There have been some vibrant and important discussions lately on
air-list and I, and am sure many others, have been following them with
interest, appreciating the time and effort people put into free
scholarly discussion. This has always been the case with air-list and I
hope that it continues in that vein.

All of us will be aware, after more than a decade's research into online
communication, that from time to time, the freedom of the means of
communication and the lack of co-presence can limit the effectiveness of
the overall communicative process or produce unexpected and
counter-productive damage to that process.

As has been pointed out recently on the list, air does, like most lists,
have a stated etiquette (http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/5). The etiquette
is deliberately open to interpretation so as to enjoin each list
subscriber to think carefully about the manner and content of their
communications via the list as well as their reaction to others'
communications. Balancing enthusiastic, engaged and productively
antagonistic discussion with respect for others and their views does not
happen because of the etiquette but because of people's commitment to
those outcomes, guided by the etiquette. May I ask subscribers to
utilise this guidance please. 

I would also remind subscribers that air-list is a service provided by
the Association as one of the primary means of achieving the
Association's primary objectives concerning scholarship of the Internet.
Management of the conduct of the list, including permission to
subscribe, conditions under which subscription is permitted, conduct of
subscribers etc., remains at all times the prerogative of the
Asssociation whose affairs are conducted by the Executive.

Finally, the Executive is currently reviewing the etiquette statement
and will be discussing whether or not it should be revised and if so, in
what manner, at the Brisbane Executive meeting.

Best wishes
Matt

Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies 
President Association of Internet Researchers
Faculty of Media Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)