Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!philmtl!ray From: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn) Newsgroups: news.admin Subject: Re: Yet another thing smart feeders can do Message-ID: <793@philmtl.philips.ca> Date: 23 Oct 89 17:44:47 GMT References: <35837@looking.on.ca> <784@philmtl.philips.ca> <280@dbase.UUCP> Reply-To: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn) Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd. - St. Laurent P.Q., Canada Lines: 38 In article <36450@looking.on.ca> Brad Templeton writes: > All I suggested was a mechanism >to allow people to post in moderated groups without intervention from >the moderator. In article <280@dbase.UUCP> dveditz@dbase.UUCP (Dan Veditz) writes: >Brad was proposing a *tool* to help cut down some of the work moderators >must do. > Moderators currently *DO* reject articles with subjects inappropriate >for the group, with topics that have been rehashed many times, or with >objectionable content (flames and the like). Of course they do, but one hopes that they apply the same selection criteria (no matter how ill defined), to each potential posting. What is being proposed would clearly create different classes of usenet citizen. Those who are pre-"approved", and those who must subject their opinions to the current vagaries of the moderator. I do see "elitist" as being an appropriate word for such a system of semi-closed "clubs", and I do find that more insidious than straight moderation. That it would make it easier for the elite of such a system to post is not a justification of the elitism. Newsgroup moderation is a service. The "tool" being proposed here optimizes the organization of the service at the expense of the service itself. This is a common mistake of service organizations who lose sight of their mandate and see their work as an end in itself, not something I necessarily believe is at work here, but there does seem to occasionally be a lack of appreciation of the sensitive nature of the moderation process. -- Ray Dunn. | UUCP: ray@philmt.philips.ca Philips Electronics Ltd. | ..!{uunet|philapd|philabs}!philmtl!ray 600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd | TEL : (514) 744-8200 Ext : 2347 (Phonemail) St Laurent. Quebec. H4M 2S9 | FAX : (514) 744-6455 TLX : 05-824090