[extropy-chat] META: ExI List Quality & Future

[Natasha Vita-More]

“
 a wide-open forum is a relic of the Cretaceous period of the Internet.
The size of the net has probably grown by 8 or 9 orders of magnitude
since the Early Days when the list was open.  I'm grateful it was back then,
but it's time to change.”    Greg Burch, 2006

_________________

"I say: the List is dead! Long live the list!”  Max More, 2006
________________________________________________


Before you read any further, I would like you to know that ExI’s 2006 
formal Strategic Plan, which is being formatted for public viewing, 
indicates that ExI is currently undergoing a transformational change.  One 
of the initiatives of the Plan is restructuring and modernizing its email 
list.  The Strategic Plan is not public yet, and the initiatives are 
scheduled for implementing after March 1, 2006, although I believe we can 
expedite this initiative sooner.

Please read on 


The following are my thoughts about the current state of the email 
list:  It is evident that list members cannot or will not actively manage 
the list as they once did. This could be because of the list volume,  I’m 
not sure.

Years ago, list members did not want to be controlled. They carried on 
high-level discussions and, every now and then someone would cause a 
conflict, and the list would work though problems.   The list was a virtual 
team of extropians who thought about the future and their unified 
worldview.  Newcomers to the list were scrutinized and, eventually, 
welcomed into the forum.

Then extropians were criticized for being an “elitist” group and one had to 
be highly intelligent, enormously creative, and exceptionally knowledgeable 
about science and technology to fit in.  As the years passed and the ideas 
became more widely known, the list maintained its dignity and also welcomed 
more diversity and input from different disciplines.

There were several very difficult times when the list was unbalanced, 
attracting dogmatic posters on religion and politics.  It angered some list 
members and they left for a while, started their own lists, but eventually 
came back because they found something of value on ExI’s list.  That 
something is a sense of quality, depth, reasoning, dignity.  List members 
expected quality and they usually got it.

There have been ups and downs and time and time again, because the list is 
an open forum a few soapbox posters demanded that their point of view was 
right.  Then there were trolls who came onto the list to cause 
havoc.  Weeding out these posters with skill and tact, while at the same 
time valuing a non-censored sentiment and uncontrolled list environment, 
has been the job of list moderators.

Balancing these elements is not easy.  And for the posters, confidence 
wanes, conflict arises and discontent prevails, until a transformation occurs.

But transformation does not come easy. Conflict tends to shift focus away 
from the basic goals of the list posters, reducing productivity and the 
bottom line of “list quality.”  Surveys show that list moderators and 
managers spend about 20 to 50 percent (could be more) of their time on 
conflict resolution. And as a result, the list owners, such as ExI, have 
increased house cleaning tasks to empower list posters to move beyond the 
conflict.  This repeated loop reinforces confusion and distrust of list 
quality and makes the list more vulnerable to problems, annoyances and 
distrust than ever.

As the Internet grows, posters are “supposed” to continue to be 
self-directed, contribute their opinions, and communicate with a greater 
number of list members. List posters have to be focused on avoiding, 
accommodating, competing, compromising, and collaborating with other list 
members.  By this, the individual list posters need to be ready, at an 
instant’s notice, to access to their own conflict management skills.

This is asking a lot of list posters who are on the list to communicate - 
not manage.  Over time this reinforcing cycle breaks down the foundations 
of the environment, the extropy list, and the only choice is to terminate 
the list or transform it into something new.

Greg Burch commented yesterday that “a wide-open forum is a relic of the 
Cretaceous period of the Internet.  The size of the net has probably grown 
by 8 or 9 orders of magnitude since the Early Days when the list was 
open.  I'm grateful it was back then, but it's time to change.”

Max More said today: “When the Extropians e-mail list began 15 years ago -- 
an eon in Internet time -- posters were intensely enthusiastic people who 
clearly shared a core set of values and goals. Few people outside the list 
had the necessary information or inclination to participate. Years passed. 
Some time ago, we changed the name of the list to "Extropy-Chat" to reflect 
the much looser collection of posters and content.

”Now is the time to change the list again. Many other e-mail lists now 
exist where people can chat about any topic imaginable. Extropy Institute 
and its principals have moved on to more focused, solutions-oriented, 
practical thinking. A chat list fits poorly with that shift.

”It is time to terminate this list, or radically transform it, depending on 
how you look at it. I favor an invitation-only list so as to maximize the 
quality of postings. If feasible, read-only status will also be an option. 
I say: the List is dead! Long live the list!”

I look forward to seeing you in the future!

Natasha

The best defense is ProAction!


<http://www.natasha.cc/>Natasha <http://www.natasha.cc/>Vita-More
President, <http://www.extropy.org/>Extropy Institute
If you draw a circle in the sand and study only what's inside the circle, 
then that is a closed-system perspective. If you study what is inside the 
circle and everything outside the circle, then that is an open system 
perspective.
Buckminster Fuller

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