Public & Private Groups Compared

[Gar Willis]

On Tue, 08 Jun 1999 10:40:26 -0700, Sandy Ganz <sganz at pacbell.net>
wrote:

>Gar good to see that you back by the way! Now if we could get people to
>stop BS'ing about traction devices and other non related topics this list
>might become useful again... this was the DIYEFI list or something.
>
>Sandy

Uh, thanks, Sandy. But don't hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel. B)

Seriously, dood, the "chat phenom" in public newsgroups and newslists,
IMO, is a necessary lesson to be learned from cyberspace. We have the
SAME problem in the aviation community, and I'm sure it's no different
in any other "arena" of special interest. The public forums almost
always decay into chat groups, sooner or later. I'm sure it's the same
EVERYWHERE. Make a public place, and the bums eventually 'occupy' and
pee in every nookNcranny.

That's why in XA (eXperimental Aviation), most of the serious stuff goes
on via private newslists, which can establish a set of rules and
maintain focus. Instead of the boogieman "censorship" that the
chat-monkeys always bandy about, you usually end up with a much nicer
environment. After all, IF it were to happen that someone(s) became
Hitlerian on some private forum, everyone DOES have the option of
bailing out, and even forming a NEW list of their own in protest. So the
end result is, if you wanna get something serious done, you pull
together a group of founders (hopefully well-known from the public
forum), establish a private newslist via one of the many free services
for doing so, and go about yer merry way. Sure, keep the public meeting
place for "concerts" and even an intentional place for the transients to
alight, but if you need to focus, there's nuthin like a private venue.

The group I'm affiliated with, an XA group whose special interest is
experimental engines/powerplants for small aircraft, has been in
existence now for three years, and as I've alluded to before, we finally
last year decided to incorporate as a non-profit corporation, and now
are even leasing a building that the corp's shop occupies. There is NO
reason why the same thang cain't be done by a group of pals working in
ANY special interest area, including automotive DIY_EFI. If you don't
like the diffuse "shop chat" or in our case, the "hanger prattle", then
you get yerself a meeting place that's got a door on it. Funny thing is,
all it takes is the most minimal screening/governance policy, and most
all the rabble just disappear into thin air. The thing about the PUBLIC
internet is that is attracts transients and wackos like you-know-what
attracts flies. Put a simple door on the building, and have a gatekeeper
who requires everyone to announce themselves and their applicable
interests upon entry, and loNbehold, most all the transients give it a
miss. I think of it as the cockroach phenomenon. :)

Bottom line is, I've learned it's truly futile to expect these public
forums to be anything but a public park, where ANYONE can drop in and
blather away to their heart's content. As you can tell, I'm not a fan of
total anarchy for every venue. Public parks are fine for public
gatherings or meetings, announcements, and so-forth. If I wanna enjoy a
productive collaboration between friends/pals, I look for a private
meeting place with a door or gate on it.

Cuz the fact is, there ARE alot of noisy bums in the world. And they're
EVERYWHERE! The internet is one perfect existence proof of that.

So if you're discontented, Sandy, consider testing the waters for a
private/governed newslist. You'll find as we have, that although the
numbers of "members" diminishes dramatically, the productivity also
increases pretty astoundingly. Not saying there shouldn't be a DIY_EFI
as presently constituted, so don't let's hear THAT accusation, please;
but just tryna answer Sandy's laments about the inevitable lack of focus
in a totally pubic group. Whoops, I meant public, of course. :)

Gar

P.S. As a vendor, I'm now more sensitive to the need to maintain a
diplomatic profile, as you can see from the above. Heh.