A far greater percentage of members are lurkers. Like Kang and Kodos (Perplexed by this reference? GOOG "Kang and Kodos"), they stay just outside of radar range, watching list proceedings via Observo-scope.
I've received email from some of these cyber sprites. They're eager to discuss list events and topics, but only privately. One quietist has repeatedly asked me to write about my "posting method". "You seem to follow certain rules", she wrote. "Would you share them?"
I will, but only because I'm a pushover for Veronica Lake lookalikes who read Baidou, wear fashionable eye glasses and rock killer high heels. It's a very specific sort of fetish but I embrace it with wild, unapologetic glee.
What follows is an attempt to fulfill my promise, have a bit of fun and maybe share useful information.
Intro.
This is a brief (or as brief as possible) description of how I approach LBOTalk. It works for me and might for you too.
There are four sections:
1.) Notes on Composition
2.) Argumentation: You're Doing It Wrong
3.) Fragmentation: A Fact of Life
4.) Tactical Emotional Assessment
One. Notes on Composition
Patience.
As far as I'm concerned. Patience is the single most important compositional skill. From patience flows greater accuracy, measured tone, reasonably crisp grammar, correct spelling and as much style as you can manage.
Patience prevents you from replying too quickly to another member's post, inspired to action because you missed the sentences that pre-addressed your high minded questions and accusations.
Typically, I write several drafts of a post (unless of course, they're very short). I walk away from it, returning to work or taking care of the kid or fooling around with my wife or going for a bike ride or playing Killzone 2. Whatever duty or diversion calls outside of list life.
Often, as time passes and the thread moves on, I delete the post, like a Tibetan monk destroying the Mandala sand painting he spent days creating.
Research.
Do you have a vague memory of Napoleon Bonaparte giving a speech in New Orleans? You're probably wrong. To double check, Google your assumption before posting. Yes, all of us clever boots laugh at how supposedly terrible Wikipedia is. Attention: it's just fine for basic fact checking.
Readability.
Before pressing send (about which, see the next sub section), read your post. Ask yourself: am I getting my point across? Am I throwing too many words at the problem? Probably yes. Take words out. Make it simple. If the topic is very complex, strive for maximum simplicity.
Don't compose in your email reader.
Write off line. Use your favorite text editor or word processing app (editors are preferable because they run in a text native mode.) This eliminates the embarrassment of sending messages before they're done or before you've removed lines which you re-think after reflection.
Give credit where credit's due.
For god's sake don't be afraid to name names. If Carrol Cox said something, quote Carrol; don't write, 'somebody said' if you know precisely who wrote the text you're quoting.
Clean the outgoing email of superfluous text.
Header info, multiple copies of your and someone else's sigline...delete all of it before sending. The post should only consist of, at top, the text you're addressing, followed by your reply below.
Two. Argumentation: You're Doing It Wrong
There are a lot of arguments on-list. A lot. Some of these are about genuine -- and clearly expressed -- differences of opinion. These types of arguments tend to stay more or less civil and, in their course, reveal a good amount of information that might be of general interest.
But many other arguments are essentially shouting matches, exchanges of insults and declarations of moral superiority. This isn't *that* big a deal; at any given moment, anyone can behave like an unreasonable asshole. It's a hazard of being human. Still, for the sake of your mood and blood pressure and relations with friends, co-workers and significant others, I suggest learning to recognize the difference between a real exchange of clashing views and a poo fling fest. The former can be exhilarating while the latter is bad for your health.
Avoid the poo fling fests by laughingly bowing out of a thread.
Three. Fragmentation: A Fact of Life
Let's say you've written a nice post on a complex topic. It's long but moves with a certain elegance, taking your reader on a pleasant trip through your thinking. Along the way, you use a colorful image; for example: 'I'm as vain as a hairless cat, outfitted with a gold necklace, nestled comfortably on Pharaoh's lap.' It's only a throwaway line. You don't think much of it. It has nothing to do with your main point. And yet, someone focuses on it in their reply, making that minor line the only part of your post they're apparently concerned with. 'I don't think the Egyptians used gold necklaces on their cats...' or some such non sequitur, becomes the source of a thread within a thread. A sub thread which obscures the original post's argument.
It's only natural to be a bit pissed about this. Get over it. It's going to happen. Sometimes it happens because the person replying isn't really paying attention, skimmed through your post, saw something familiar and riffed on it. Other times...well, I haven't a clue why it happens other times. The point is to accept that this happens all the time. Think of those hard working Tibetan monks and the sand painting they're scattering to the wind.
Four. Tactical Emotional Assessment
Some -- such as Carrol -- consider it to be bad form to guess a debating opponent's emotional state. I disagree. There are times when a person is arguing *because* of their emotional state. They just lost their job or they're prone to depression or their lover just announced that the sight of them inspires projectile vomiting. Whatever.
Rationally, you'd stay away from a contentious forum if you were in a bad way. But we're only partially rational creatures. Every day, we do many things which are not in our best interest. Learn to recognize the signs of an unhappy pissant (which I would go into but I see that
.d.
-- "I am Hannah Freakin' Montana and I didn't have to take this."
Miley Freakin' Cyrus
.............................. http://monroelab.net/blog/