It's been a couple of weeks since I posted this; I think it bears repeating for newcomers.
MsLiz [email] ======================================================== With thanks and apologies to '[email],' who wrote elsewhere these excellent comments on netiquette that, IMHO, would also benefit the Seinfeld newsgroup. It is long, but everything Ms.Gibbs says is relevant, ESPECIALLY the part about TROLLS (#7).
In a previous post, I asked if we want this newsgroup to be like an elevator full of free farters. It's perfectly legal to fart in public but it is impolite. Not many of us would want to get stuck on that elevator. I figure that we will continue to enforce our individual standards by shunning and ostricizing those who offend us. While we can't stop some people from showing their butts, we CAN avert our eyes from the ugliest asses.
It's great fun to read alt.tv.seinfeld to get the latest scoops on the show, and everyone's fine opinions! However, with all the traffic in these newsgroups, it can be difficult to keep up with everything. There are a few things that would make reading these newsgroups easier, especially for those who read over a slow modem line, or who pay for their news feeds:
1) When you follow-up to an article (especially a *long* article), please edit out everything from the quoted article - including the quoted person's signature - except the points you're replying to. It's nice to see a *little* of a previous article for a reminder, but many of us have already read the whole thing before, and don't need to read it all over again. It can be extremely annoying to see a page or more of quoted text, and then only two original lines at the end of the article. If you don't know how to use your editor, ask someone at your site.
2) If someone asks if their post is being seen, and you want to respond, please email them directly, instead of posting your response to the net. In the same vein, if you want to respond to a post with something like "I agree" or "That was hilarious", this is best done through email.
3) If you want to do a poll or collect information from people in the newsgroup, please request 'data input' via e-mail, with the offer to post results later, rather than asking people to respond via posts. E-mail is much more reliable than usenet for collecting information -- e-mail gets to its destination (generally) more reliably than a usenet post gets propagated to all eleven kabillion usenet servers.
4) Try to keep your signatures of a reasonable length. Having your signature longer than the actual article is considered poor net etiquette, and longer than 4 or 5 lines isn't usually necessary.
5) Alt.tv.seinfeld is not an appropriate place for commercial posts.
Some people (usually those who don't even read these newsgroups)
do it anyway. Reporting these people to their Internet Service
Provider (usually [email], or [email] if
it's an AOL account) will often help - include a copy of the
offending post if you do this. If you feel you must follow-up to
one of these posts, please edit out the commercial (especially the
900 numbers), so as not to continue the advertisement.- Use the abbreviation TAN (for tangent) to indicate postings which don't necessarily have to do with the show.
- A Word About Trolls:
From time to time posts pop up on usenet that are not exactly what they seem. These are usually called "trolls." They can be divided
into three broad categories:
a. An individual posts something like this: "Seinfeld sucks.
People who watch Seinfeld are stupid idiots who have no life."
Such posts often contain numerous misspellings. This is *bait.*
The person who posted it is hoping to start an argument or provoke
an indignant reply. No matter how cleverly you annihilate this
person in such a reply, you will have played his game by replying
at all. These people are often those who have more internet
access and time than brains or goodwill. Your best bet is to
ignore them completely. b. A newbie will post to the group and make one or more egregious
mistakes that show s/he has not . . . or lurked in the group for
awhile before posting. Perhaps they will post a spoiler without
any space . . . or otherwise reveal their ignorance of the way
usenet and our newsgroup work. A gentle reminder to such a
person will sometimes provoke an extremely hostile and defensive
response, in which the newbie accuses the group of being a
"cabal," or an exclusive club with no consideration for the
ignorant. Sometimes other newbies will rally to this one's
defense. These people are not precisely trolls, but their
immaturity can detract from our enjoyment of [alt.tv.Seinfeld].
Your best bet is to email them . . . and not get involved in
any flamewars they start. c. The third type of troll is the most unpleasant and potentially
dangerous. This is a true provocateur whose greatest desire is
to start trouble, even if the troll him/herself gets immolated in
flames. Some common tactics of troll type #3 are: to identify
leaders/regular posters of the group and attack them
personally; to challenge the long-standing traditions of the
group; to post wildly false "spoilers" or highly controversial
material that is only peripherally related to the subject matter
of the group and wait for the flames. These people can make any
newsgroup a hellish place to hang out in. The *only* way to deal
with them is to ignore them completely. If you post a response
to their bait, no matter what it says, you will have satisfied
their craving for attention. If you email them, they will very
likely start up an email correspondence with you which may
include veiled threats (e.g., "I know where you live"), which
should be reported to their Internet Service Provider. Aside
from these threats, what they do is not illegal and there is no
reason to try to have them disciplined or to have their net
access denied. Your best bet is to KILLFILE these posters,
ignore them completely, never reply to them, and never even
refer to them in your posts, thus denying them the attention they
seek.Compilation copyright 1994-1997, Margaret D. Gibbs. Use and copying of this information are permitted as long as (1) no fees or compensation are charged for use, copies or access to this information, and (2) this copyright notice is included intact.