Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: chucko (Chuck Fry)

As of this afternoon, there are over 450 of you Fordnatics out there.
Had I known the list would get this big, I might not have started...

This is not a moderated list, and it's not going to become one. I have
better things to do with my time than ride herd on a bunch of
hot-rodders. (I'm not sure it's possible, anyway.) But there have been
some complaints about content, so here again is a posting I put out a
while ago at another time when there was lots of "noise" about noise on
the list. New subscribers should definitely read this, and old hands
should at least skim it.

If there's one rule among the bunch to emphasize, it's #3: Think twice
before sending *anything* to the list. Please be sure you're adding
something to the discussion before posting, and if not, consider whether
you should be sending it to anyone.
-- Chuck

- --- begin repeat of netiquette message ---

Before anyone asks, NO, I'm not singling out anyone.

The guidelines below can be summed up in one sentence: Would I want to
receive the message I am about to post?


1. DON'T SEND ADMINISTRIVIA TO THE LIST!!

By "administrivia", I mean:
- requests to subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your address;
- meta-discussion, e.g. whether a particular message is/was appropriate
for the list;
- commentary on delivery problems.

In any of these cases, the messages don't talk about Fords, so by
definition they aren't of interest to Fordnatics. The right place to
send this sort of mail is:

(email redacted)

If you have trouble remembering this address, it's in the headers of
every message on the list, as shown here:

X-Info: Accepted by fordnatics distribution list at Thu Sep 8 16:18:39 GMT 1994
X-Info: Submissions to (email redacted)
X-Info: Change requests to (email redacted)
X-Info: Authors retain implicit copyright to their material
X-Info: Obtain permission from the author before redistributing messages


2. KEEP INCLUDED QUOTATIONS TO A MINIMUM

It is rarely appropriate to quote an entire message when replying. If
your editor permits, please cut down quotations to the minimum necessary
to establish context. Or don't quote at all if quoting doesn't add
content or context to your message.

Digest readers are especially sensitive to this issue. Please don't
make them wade through an entire posting twice to see your comments.

If your mail software automatically includes the full text of a message
to which you're replying, or (worse yet) includes *every* header of the
replied-to message, please ask a local guru to reconfigure the software
so it doesn't do this! This behavior is common to a lot of PC mail
software, and frankly I find it rude. I don't expect everyone to become
an e-mail wizard, but I hope every contributor to Fordnatics understands
the basics of how to use their own software.


3. THINK TWICE BEFORE HITTING THE "SEND" KEY

Consider the following before you send something to Fordnatics. Some of
the questions I ask before sending anything, anywhere, include:

- Does this message really say what I want to say? Can I make it
clearer or more concise?
- Do I really need to send it to the list? Is it more appropriate to
reply privately, or to the administrative address? Or is it appropriate
to another list (e.g. Mustangs, Hotrod, etc.) instead?
- Am I adding anything to the discussion? Or am I just venting my
spleen, or showing off?
- Am I going to regret sending this message later?
- Have I done my homework? Are the "facts" in the message really
correct?

Always think twice before you send, to avoid second thoughts later.


4. CROSS-POST ONLY WHEN IT'S APPROPRIATE

By design, there is a lot of overlap between Fordnatics and other lists
(notably Mustangs). Remember that many Fordnatics readers also receive
Mustangs and/or Classic-Mustangs. If you cross-post to these lists,
they'll receive multiple copies of your message.

As a Mustang owner, I ask myself: Is my mail specific to Mustangs? Or
is it generic to small-block Fords, or cars in general? The more
general issues I'll post here; Mustang-specific stuff I post to Mustangs
instead. There's a large gray area, but I prefer to target one list at
a time.

Substitute your other favorite car lists for "Mustangs" above, and see
if this rule of thumb works for you.

- ---

That's it for the guidelines. Here's my view of what the Fordnatics
list can and should be. You can skip this part if you like.

When I started Fordnatics, I wanted to establish a place where we could
speak our minds without looking over our shoulders: a virtual car club
of the Net. I wanted something like John DeArmond's Hotrod list, but
with a Ford flavor -- freewheeling discussions, occasional tangents into
uncharted territory and ancient history, and cross-fertilization of
ideas between '60s gearheads and the EFI set, road racers and
hotrodders, the V8 crowd and the smaller-is-better bunch. I also wanted
to provide a place where novices could learn from experts and vice
versa, without discouraging either.

My best hopes for the list have materialized. As of today, October 21,
Fordnatics is just short of 300 subscribers, and still growing. I'm
pleasantly surprised at the breadth and depth of the discussions here,
and proud to have so many knowledgeable folks contributing to the list.
Fordnatics is a success because of its contributors -- thank you all!

But success brings its own problems, and people are again dropping off
the list because of the volume. So let's focus the discussions a bit.
Keep the guidelines above in mind, and we can keep this party going a
while longer.

-- Chuck Fry, Fordnatics camp counselor