Framingham E-mail Lists: Community

Contents

  1. Framingham E-mail Lists: Community
    1. WIKI: What is it? How do I get to it? And why do I care?
    2. Mailing Lists
      1. Are these list moderated?
      2. What are these lists good for?
      3. What is this list not so good for?
      4. What is an inappropriate posting?
      5. A note to the press:
      6. What are some tips for writing better e-mail?
      7. How many subscribers are there?
      8. What is the privacy policy of the list?
      9. Are commercial postings allowed?

WIKI: What is it? How do I get to it? And why do I care?

We are running a wiki that is implemented by a project called moinmoin here on the server. (We just call it moin for short. Moin rhymes with coin.)

So what is a wiki, you may ask? A wiki is a system of web pages that members of the public are allowed to modify. (Feel free to google up the word wiki to learn more about what they are. Also, here's a great wiki explanation in plain English in a video format). This means a number of things. It means that:

Where is this wiki of which you speak? I thought you'd never ask! You will find the wiki at http://frambors.syslang.net/nicciwiki/ where we defined the FraminghamWikiFrontPage to be a good starting point to most of the things that are there.

Ok. I'll bite. How do I make modifications? Well Grasshopper, the answer is simple but the ability to fully understand might take more:

To help you get started, besides reading all of the Help pages, here's a simple Slide Show to get you started.

Also, we have a short (3:52) and fun youtube video explaining wikis.

Ok. But I still have a simple question: Why does a wiki actually work?
Great question! The answers can be found here and there's even a version that comes with moin. The short story is that it is not very much harder to make the explanation for how to use a wiki a bit easier to understand. But if they did that then everyone would do it, and the results might not come out as well. We really want people to figure it out so that the end result will have demonstrably better content. AND if you want to participate and need help, I guarantee that we are here to help you. Everyone asks for help and everyone who knows how is more than willing to give advise. Yes, you should look at the wiki and click on the HelpContents button. You can spend months reading the whole Help section, but the idea is to learn how to read the Help section so you can find what you're looking for when you need it.

If you are looking at a wiki page, not just the frambors wiki, but any moin wiki in the Whole Great Big Wide World, you can simply click the Edit button to see how they did it. You can always Cancel your edit and sneak away with the stolen knowledge.

Mailing Lists

We have some mailing lists here.

Are these list moderated?

No, not in the technical sense of "moderated", which would mean that there is someone approving each and every message to the list. We manage the list, which means that we deal with subscriptions and answer questions, but we normally do not exercise any control over the content of the list as long as what people say conforms to the rules for what is allowed.

Having said that, we do have certain controls available which we make use of:

Occasionally, it happens that non-members will try to post messages to the list without first subscribing. All messages that are sent by a non-subscriber are automatically trapped.

What are these lists good for?

Here are just a few of the many good things that people use these lists for.

The lists cover a wide range of topics. You will almost certainly find that some topics interest you more than others. You should skip over or delete messages or topics that don't interest you. Doing so will probably make the list much more interesting and useful to you. Don't be surprised if some days nothing seems of interest -- topics you find more relevant will probably crop up again in a day or two.

What is this list not so good for?

Here are a few of the things that we'd all be better off if you didn't do. Nothing significantly bad will happen if you do them but you'll probably get some feedback from the operator(s).

In addition, the following are not allowed:

What is an inappropriate posting?

The following types of posts are inappropriate:

If you do one of the above things, you're just about guaranteed to get e-mail from one of us asking you not to do it any more. If it persists then you're subject to being put on list probation. Being on list probation means that all your postings will have to be individually approved by us until the probation is over.

We don't like policing the list and we'd rather not have to do it, so please just don't do any of the above inappropriate things. We also don't claim to be perfectly objective, or perfect in any other way, and we don't always read every single message on the list. But we do have some firm ideas about what makes for a good list, and we think they're pretty good ideas.

A note to the press:

This mailinglist is run for the express purpose of building community. As such, it is important for people in the community to learn of the list's existence. Therefore, it is important for newspaper articles to explicitly provide the following URL when making reference to these lists so that more people can know to subscribe. The required text is either

with preference to the first form.

There are regular references to frambors in newspaper articles and it is important that when those references occur they explicitly provide the necessary information instead of referring to, for example, "a local email loop", or "a local Framingham mailinglist".

Your cooperation is both expected and appreciated.

What are some tips for writing better e-mail?

The principles that guide these tips are simple: we want our e-mail list to be interesting, civil, and manageable. Interesting means posts that are on-topic and make for good reading. Civil means posts that treat list members with respect, though it doesn't rule out a good argument once in a while. Manageable means fewer e-mails are better than more if they say the same thing. We all have enough noise in our lives. Posts that simply agree with a previous message without contributing anything new to the discussion are called MEETOOs and are not welcome.

PLEASE EDIT YOUR POST. When you reply to a message, please don't quote the entire previous message. Please take an extra few seconds to edit the amount of quoted material down to the bare minimum so that your reply will make sense. This especially helps the digest version of the list, where one long reply thread might fill a whole digest message.

REMOVE THE UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS FROM A REPLY. This is very important. The mailinglist software traps all messages that contain embedded commands, even if those commands are inadvertent. The word "unsubscribe" is a valid Majordomo command. So, if you don't remove the instructions from the bottom of the message, the message will automatically reject and your message will be sent back to you with an explanation why. If you read the rejection you will know that it is sent by a robot.

CONSIDER ASKING FOR REPLIES TO GO TO YOU. If you're asking a question that is of limited interest, you might consider asking people to e-mail you directly. When you do this, you provide a very helpful service to the entire list, because you consolidate all the useful info into one message which can be saved if it's of interest, or skipped if it's not.

IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR A RECOMMENDATION check the wiki first. Do not ask people to reply to you directly. If they have something to say that is recommendation oriented then it won't ever get to the wiki unless they post it on the list.

IF YOU ARE OFFERING A RECOMMENDATION do not give a name and an address. There is a difference between a directory entry and a recommendation. We are not running a directory. We are running a wiki of recommendations.

ASK YOURSELF: WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? Think about whether your message is of interest to the whole list, or just the person you're replying to. If it's just the person you're replying to, consider sending it just to that person rather than the whole list. Note that when you reply to a list message, by default your reply will go to the individual person; if you want it to go to the whole list, you'll need to edit the "To:" field of your reply. In any case, please note who your reply is going to and make it a conscious decision.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH. Did someone just say something that annoyed the $#@! out of you? Don't you just want to write back to the whole list and tell them what you really think of them? Well, go ahead and write it! Just don't send it for a few hours or a day. Re-read it before you send it. Rewrite it so it's civil. We'll all appreciate your efforts.

Don't write in all capital letters. IT'S COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS SHOUTING. PEOPLE WHO READ IT WOULD ALWAYS PREFER TO READ MESSAGES THAT CAPITALIZE IN A PROPER FASHION. There. Isn't that better?

WHEN IN DOUBT? ASK! We're happy to answer questions of style, form, etiquette, or even spelling :-)

How many subscribers are there?

As of September 1 2009, there were exactly 1238 subscribers on both frambors and on framcom. There were 1005 who were on both.

Update: Jan 2012: 1714

frambors had one special person, Bob Moore, who was designated with the special status of weekly columnist. This meant that whatever rules all of the rest of us have to follow do not apply. Bob could say anything he wanted about any candidate who's running or any topic that may or may not apply to the list. If you don't want to read it, just hit the Delete key. You may or may not agree with his views but you have to respect his perspective.

Bob is retired from writing, but anyone who would like to take over the job of being the official frambors columnist should let us know.

You can read all of Bob's past columns here.

What is the privacy policy of the list?

Here is the current privacy policy of the list. It describes your rights to your postings, the way the list software handles your private information such as your e-mail address, and the topic of anonymity.

Definitions:

List owner
the person who runs the list, plus anyone who is designed to run the list while the list owner is on vacation or otherwise unavailable.
Lurker
one who subscribes to the list but has never posted a message. Post:" to send a message to the whole list by e-mailing the message to a syslang.net list
Subscription
your voluntary agreement to receive list messages Subscription information:" your e-mail address and certain preferences such as whether you receive individual messages or digest messages

You have the right to remain a lurker

Until you post a message to the list, your identity as a member of the list is almost a secret. The list software only allows other list members to know who is a member of the list.

You have the right to subscribe anonymously

The only personally identifying information the list software stores about you as part of your subscription is your e-mail address and some preference settings such as whether you prefer individual messages or digest messages. The list software does not store personal information such as your name, unless your name is part of your e-mail address. There is no policy that requires you to provide your real name as part of your list subscription except if that list requires it (e.g., tmm), and as long as you never post a message, you will never be asked for your name. If you post a message anonymously, you should expect that fellow list members will ask you for your name, because there is a general expectation among the list that providing your real name makes your words more credible and adds to the level of civility and community that we expect from each other. You will never be removed from the list by the list owner solely because of your anonymous status, but you may be removed from the list without prior notice if you anonymously post messages which violate list policy or otherwise cause harm to the list in the judgement of the list owner.

Personal information retained by the list software

The list software retains your e-mail address, a number of non-identifying personal preferences such as whether you prefer individual messages or digest messages, and the contents of all messages you post to the list. No other information is retained. All messages you post to the list are archived and available to anyone who subscribes to the list. The archives are protected from access by the Internet at large, but anyone may subscribe to the list (except for tmm) and then access the archives. Information in the archives may not be modified.

Access to your subscription information

Access to your e-mail address and your preferences is password protected, so others are prevented from accessing it. Only you and the list owner are allowed to access this information. This information will never be shared with anyone without your prior permission.

Risks of spam

If you never post a message to the list, there is no way for anyone, whether a member of the list or not, to obtain your e-mail address, so there is no risk of getting spam as a result of your list membership. If you post a message to the list, it is possible, though unlikely, that another member of the list will use your e-mail address to send you spam, or will forward your message to someone else who use your e-mail address to send you spam. If you join the cast of characters, a public web page, you expose your e-mail address to the public, and your e-mail address may be obtained for the purpose of sending you spam.

Ownership of your postings

By posting a message to the list, you retain your copyright but grant (1) a non-exclusive license to all list members to forward that message by e-mail to anyone, and (2) a non-exclusive license to the list owner to maintain an archive. These two rights you grant by posting to the list constitute the only exceptions to the normal protection afforded by the copyright you retain to your words, so any other use of an e-mail you send to this list requires your prior permission. Any use of your posting without your permission, beyond the two licenses granted here, is a matter between you and the person who uses your posting improperly, and you agree to hold the list owner harmless.

After you leave the list

Your subscription information is destroyed when you leave the list. Archived messages previously posted by you are retained indefinitely and continue to be subject to the above "ownership of your postings" policy.

Best efforts of the list owner

The list owner makes best reasonable efforts to enforce the above policies. However, the list software may contain bugs which compromise your privacy, and the password protection of secret information may be compromised by a determined attacker. You agree to hold the list owner harmless in the event that your privacy is compromised.

Your privacy is mostly under your control. Note that you do not have to provide your real name to subscribe to the list, but you are required to sign your postings with your real name. Messages must have your name in the body of the message. Your full name in the From line is not enough because some people have mailers that won't display the full name.

The list owner <majordomo DASH owner AT syslang DOT DATATATA net> would like you to provide your name, address and phone number for the purpose of being able to make contact if there are problems with mail delivery. This information is not given out.

People are allowed to see the list of subscribers by executing a who command. You are allowed to prevent people from seeing your name in the list of subscribers by setting the hide attribute.

No one else on the list can see your e-mail address or discover that you are a member of the list until you post a message to the list.

Are commercial postings allowed?

You are allowed to make commercial postings to the list as long as they are relevant to Framingham and relatively infrequent. "Commercial" means that the primary purpose of your posting is to advertise something about your business or service -- advertising to sell your car, for example, doesn't fall under this guideline unless that's your business. "Relevant to Framingham" means that, for example, your business or service is located in Framingham, or you live in Framingham, or your posting is very likely to be of wide interest to Framingham residents. "Relatively infrequent" means that postings from your business or service should occur no more often than every twelve months or so.

Since one of the primary uses of the list is for residents to exchange recommendations for and against local businesses, you should expect that advertising your business may spark discussion, both pro and con, about the business. Civil criticism of or concerns raised about your business will not normally be considered a personal attack.

These are guidelines, and, as always, the final judgment as to the appropriateness of a commercial posting rests with the list owner.

When supplying a recommendation for something, please remember that you're talking to a lot of people.

"I like Joe the plumber off of Waverly" just ain't gonna do it. Please specify some sort of reasonable contact info: A phone nr, an address, a website, preferably all of the above. Given the chance, and without that information, we'll just send it back and ask you to resubmit.

As appropriate, please consider asking people to send you their recommendations privately so you can summarize to the list in one concise message. On the other hand, second hand recommendations will not be put on the wiki.

And remember that recommendations will end up on the frambors wiki .

Not only are recommendations read in email; they also end up trying to get into the wiki where hoards of people from all over the world will hear about these resources and jump for joy that they now have information on how to contact a good aroma therapist.

FramFAQ/Community (last edited 2012-01-02 19:18:39 by StevenOrr)