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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!qantel!lll-lcc!lll-crg!rutgers!topaz!ll-xn!mit-amt!mit-eddie!mit-caf!shers
From: shers@mit-caf.ARPA (Alex Sherstinsky)
Newsgroups: net.poems
Subject: Re: WHERE DID THEY GO?
Message-ID: <110@mit-caf.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 26-Sep-86 17:07:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-caf.110
Posted: Fri Sep 26 17:07:23 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 30-Sep-86 20:10:01 EDT
Reply-To: shers@mit-caf.UUCP (Alex Sherstinsky)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 39

I am very glad that someone has finally spoken about the poverty of
volume and content in net.poems, which I have been witnessing for a few
months.  I have been sending a posting regularly on a monthly or bimonthly
basis.  The replies had been many up to July.  After that, the number of
postings dropped to less than one per day, and I have not gotten a reflection
on any of my three or four poems sent in the succeeding months.

The three possible explanations are:
	1.  A bug in the software prevents all messages pertaining to the
	    news group from being collected at major gateways and distributed
	    to local machines.  This is quite likely, because several 
	    subscribers have noticed a big decrease in the number of postings.
	2.  The interest in participation has declined because the majority
	    of postings are dull, meaningless, and show little feeling and 
	    effort.
	3.  The drop in the quantity of daily postings can be attributed to
	    the possibility that the more active participants have posted all
	    of their work and are currently in the process of writing new 
	    poems.

Hence, if the malfunction of a program is the reason, the organization in 
charge of the news group should fix it sometime soon.  On the other hand,
if the loss of interest is to blame, the news group should be removed so
as save the subscribers the disappointment and frustration of not finding
the activity to their expectation.

Since the unavailability of material has not yet been ruled out, I suggest
watching the status of this news group for one month and then acting to 
either remedy the malfunction or to close net.poems.

Sincerely,

Alex Sherstinsky

{
	shers@mit-caf.mit.edu
	shers@oz.berkeley.edu
	horus!shers@isl.stanford.edu
}