NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: what is a "list owner"?
From: Greg R_
Date: 2008 Jul 13, 17:10 -0700
From: Greg R_
Date: 2008 Jul 13, 17:10 -0700
As someone who's also managed a few mailing lists (and other online discussion groups, forums, BBSs, etc.), I can appreciate a lot of the "thankless" work that goes on behind the scenes - so consider yourself thanked and appreciated. :-) -- GregR --- frankreed@HistoricalAtlas.net wrote: > > Some members of this group are still confused about the concept of > the "list > owner" so I feel I should take one post to describe what it is and > what it > is not. > > Myself and Dan Allen are the "managers" of NavList. Technically, MY > position > is "list owner" though it is not significantly different from list > manager > (except that I have the 'nuclear option', see below). > > The expression "list owner" dates from the early days of the > Internet. A > "mailing list" was one of the earliest forms of online collaboration > and > group discussion. Mailing lists are now somewhat archaic though still > > relatively popular in academia. Note that NavList is a "mailing list" > only > in part since it is quite possible to follow every discussion and > contribute > without using email, and there are many group members who do just > that. A > "mailing list" was nothing more than a system for distributing plain > text > messages to multiple recipients by sending and replying to a single > "list" > address. Mailing lists are hosted on a particular server which > handles the > traffic and makes sure that only members can send messages out to the > group. > The list management software (sometimes "listserv") on the server has > > various settings which are controlled by one or more managers. The > settings > are simple addministrative functions like allowing "digest emails" > and > attaching the group name at the front of each message (for example, > the > "[NavList nnnn]" tag on messages can be turned on or off). The first > manager, usually the one who signs up for the list initially, is > called the > "list owner". There is no actual "ownership" involved and list owners > do not > get any special powers (except on fully moderated lists where > messages must > be approved before they distribute). > > A list owner is not a sheriff, not an overlord, not a chairman, not a > > president, not a leader, and not an "owner" by any normal English > meaning of > the word. > > The managers of any online community, including "list owners", have > responsibilities and work to do. This consists in helping members > manage > their memberships (for example, I get about one request per month to > swap a > member's email to a different address, and I am happy to do that), > trying to > ensure that 'spam' does not get distributed (the server does most of > this > but Dan and I have to slog through some of it), interacting with the > software, and rarely people, who manage the servers where the > community is > hosted, investigating and attempting to resolve any anomalous > behavior (e.g. > a message on 4 July which carried no message number but should have > been > number 5688), and trying to arrange the few optional settings that > are > available so that they are convenient for the group. In other words, > it is > an UNPAID position of "I.T." management and support. > > But wait, can't a list owner 'spank' members when they're bad? No. > There are > no powers of punishment, no powers to enforce any rules. In an > unmoderated > discussion group, there are no such powers. > > But wait, can't a list owner "ban" people? No. In the VERY early days > of the > online world, this was possible since email addresses were difficult > to > acquire (and expensive) and generally uniquely associated with one > individual. But this has not been the case for well over a decade. It > is > technically possible to ban an email address, but this serves no > purpose > since anyone can sign on in less than two minutes with a new email > address. > > But wait, can't a list owner annihilate the group? YES! The nuclear > option! > This is such a powerful power. Actually, if you think about it, it's > a > purely administrative power, useful only when the group transfers to > a new > server. Some might imagine that it could be used to destroy the > entire > discussion group. That's not the case because it is trivially easy to > > re-launch. Picture this scenario: a list owner throws a fit, kills a > group, > and takes his ball and goes home to sulk. List members soon discover > that > their group is GONE! Then someone with a brain realizes that the > group > consists of the members, not the server. So whoever thinks of it > first > simply starts a fresh group (this is trivially easy on googlegroups, > just to > name one example). That individual then signs up all the email > addresses > available from the previous list (this would miss lurkers and passive > > members who would have to find their own way, presumably by emailing > people > that they know in the earlier group) and the discussion group is back > in > business in a few hours. So even that seemingly important power, the > nuclear > option, is no power at all. > > But wait, can't a list owner control attachment policy? This one is a > 'yes' > with qualifications. Some software for managing groups provides > extensive > controls over this sort of thing. The software driving googlegroups > (which > currently hosts NavList) does not. But in any case, I consider this > something that group members will manage all by themselves. There has > been a > steady rise in the size and number of attachments in the past few > months. I > haven't seen any complaints. If anyone is bothered, speak up and say > so. > That's your best defense against an overstuffed mailbox. From my own > perspective, unless you think that everyone on NavList deserves their > very > own copy of some large document, it's a good idea to save big files > for > private emails. > > But wait, isn't the list owner also in charge of the archive at > www.fer3.com/arc? That is something that I do on my own without any > connection to list management (and btw, you can thank Dan Allen for > storehousing messages from the early days of the group which are now > incorporated into the archive). > > But wait, didn't the list owner use his "powers" to organize two > Navigation > Weekends at Mystic Seaport? That is something that I have done on my > own > without any connection to list management. > > So that's that. Sorry to be off-topic. I do not need any replies to > this > message, and I am sure that other group members would be annoyed by > further > discussion of this sort of "administrivia." > > By the way, I do understand that some folks accustomed to traditional > > hierarchical organizations find this concept of a list "owner" who > owns > nothing rather confusing. Hence this message. But a few of you have > had this > all explained to you SEVERAL times, and you still don't get it. It's > your > responsibility to learn, not anyone else's. > > -FER > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc To post, email NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---