Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
From: tneff@bfmny0.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: Re: In Moderation: A Moderator's Re
Message-ID: <14403@bfmny0.UUCP>
Date: 17 Jun 89 01:10:52 GMT
References: <3300@epimass.EPI.COM> <197600001@inmet>
Reply-To: tneff@bfmny0.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Organization: ^
Lines: 36

I, for one, would like to see some examples of what IN MODERATION 
would *keep* and also some examples of what they would *discard*. 

In the groups I regularly read, the stuff I kill instantly is usually 
'legitimate' discussion on a topic I'm simply not concerned about. 
Since a service like IN MODERATION would have no way to tell which 
'legitimate' topics I'm interested in and which I'm not, I don't see 
how they could be of benefit. 

If all they did in sci.space, say, was filter out the erroneous BITNET 
'remove me from this list' messages, of which about 10 per week 
appear, the benefit would be microscopic. Almost no bandwidth is spent 
on those mistake messages, despite the fact that everyone is aware of 
them. If, on the other hand, IMN removed every vestige of debate and 
discussion, leaving only things like the weekly Orbital Elements 
posting and Peter Yee's transcribed NASA Public Affairs press 
releases, then sci.space would become a dessicated kiosk for 
institutional handouts, devoid of user interaction. 

If IMN simply wants to 'digest' every newsgroup and distribute the
results periodically, that's OK but no substitute for real netnews.
And where to users wishing to RESPOND to things they read in an IMN
digest go to post?  Would we be faced with a new flood of messages
ending in 'Please respond via EMAIL, I don't [really] read this
group'?

I would reiterate a position I previously stated elsewhere: IMN can
only get in the way on the low volume, highly specific newsgroups;
and there seems little useful it can do for zoos like news.groups
or talk.whatever.  Its natural target groups are frequently already
available as digests via mail at no extra cost.
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Tom Neff				UUCP:     ...!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
    "Truisms aren't everything."	Internet: tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET