on getting a reply (or not)

• Life Cycle of Mailing Lists by Tatiana Matveeva (Inity), 11/26/98
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    • ideas by Dale R. Smith, 12/13/98
      
      

>>But I do think that what is perhaps a shortfall of this forum is that postings tend to be directed to a singular personality rather than to our collective experiences.

Yes, Dale, that does seem to be a pattern. It happens often in newsgroup style forums, and on some email lists as well. I'm very conscious of the fact that many of the exchanges in this forum are between me and visitors, rather than among visitors or to the general "audience." Sometimes I'll hold off for a few days before responding to a post in order to leave the door open for others to respond. But I don't like to let a post go without a response for more than a few days. No one likes to come back to a group only to find that no one has replied to your post. In fact, lately I've been thinking a lot about the effect of "no-replies" in forums and email lists. I think it has a subtle but powerful effect on the dynamics of an online group.

• Dynamics by Dale R. Smith, 12/23/98