Too lazy for listserves
A little over a year ago, I subscribed to the Conservative Movement's Shefa Network--see the comments here. I'm sorry to say that my enthusiasm didn't last long, but that's my fault, not Shefa's.
Here's my problem:
Someone sends in something interesting--an article, some commentary, etc. Later that day, someone responds. There's another response the next day, and the next. And for each response, I have to open yet another e-mail.
I'm a blogger. I publish a post, and all the responses can be seen by clicking just once. No matter whether the commenter posts that day, the next day, the next week, or even, occasionally, months or even years later, all the responses end up in the same place. Even when a far-better- known blogger publishes one of his/her more popular posts and gets over 200 comments, they can all be read with one click.
With apologies to Shefa, I'm just too much of a blogger for listserves.
Here's my problem:
Someone sends in something interesting--an article, some commentary, etc. Later that day, someone responds. There's another response the next day, and the next. And for each response, I have to open yet another e-mail.
I'm a blogger. I publish a post, and all the responses can be seen by clicking just once. No matter whether the commenter posts that day, the next day, the next week, or even, occasionally, months or even years later, all the responses end up in the same place. Even when a far-better- known blogger publishes one of his/her more popular posts and gets over 200 comments, they can all be read with one click.
With apologies to Shefa, I'm just too much of a blogger for listserves.
posted by Shira Salamone at 8:32 PM
12 Comments:
Too bad - when the listserv heats up there can be some very interesting conversations. OTOH, most good stuff eventually gets collated into a single pdf document, but by then the discussion is over.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of my experience is long before blogs existed, so this seems normal to me. OTOH I can hardly say "you kids today" to you, can I. :>)
I create special folders for listserv stuff, and filters to direct mail automagically to those folders. Within the folders a threaded view allows me to see everything posted by subject. This is just stuff that dates back to my USENET days, so its pretty second nature to me.
"Listserv." ? Nu, what happened to the e? I guess I'm just old-fashioned.
Larry, maybe eventually I'll develop some patience in my old age. :)
" . . . second nature . . . " Lucky you, Reform BT. I'm so low-tech that I needed help setting up my blogroll.
listserv is more common, but listserve is also acceptable. They're also very 20th Century. If it's not on Twitter, it's not worth discussing! ; )
For example, see the Tech-Tonic discussion. (Warning: pdf)
So, instead of subscribing to the emails, which I agree are a pain, unsubscribe to the emails and check the list's site every few days, and catch up on all the posts. Or, even easier, subscribe to the RSS feed, and never have to open a shefa email again.
Let's face it, there's an interesting discussion there sometime, but its nothing that ever requires immediate attention. Most of it leaves a lot to be desired anyway.
Just go to the Message Board. The listserv isn't actually a listserv anymore, it's a message board with email updates. In other words, if you click to the link you can see full threads on any topic, just like on a blog, and read each topic with one click.
JDub, me, on Twitter? I can barely keep up with blogging! Beside, I talk too much for a limited-word-count format. :)
Larry, re the Tech-Tonic discussion concerning improving the Conservative Movement website, any improvement to that unwieldy dinosaur would certainly be appreciated.
Don't laugh too hard, Steve, but I don't know how I'd benefit from an RSS feed because I have absolutely no idea how an RSS feed works.
Rejewenator, thanks for the link to the Shefa message board. I'll try that.
I mostly agree with you. Some of the articles provided are great but blogs are more convenient. (I receive the shea newsletter too).
IlanaDavita, how does one sign up for the Shefa Newsletter? That might be interesting reading.
BTW: the term is (was) listserv
The reason being, the originally the "daemon" (background process) ran on Unix machines, and the traditional Unix systems capped account names at 8 characters.
I might be showing my youth, but I presume that VAX and other machines from the minicomputer era have the same limitations.
So the listserv process ran as listserv... CP/M and DOS file systems had 8 character limits on file names as well, not sure which others did.
However, it's a common computer convention to cap names at 8 characters for historical reasons, although I don't know that any systems running out there have this limitation, so it shouldn't affect new stuff...
Ah, yes, the file-name length limit, rememeber it well (not fondly, but well). My file names are way too long, these days. :)
Post a Comment
<< Home