Xref: sloth rec.arts.startrek.info:820 Path: sloth!pagesat.net!warp10.smartdocs.com!news.rain.org!news5.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!xcf.Berkeley.EDU!griffith From: trek-info@scam.berkeley.edu (Jim Griffith - Moderator) Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.info Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA: State of the Newsgroup Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc Date: 4 Feb 1995 01:18:26 GMT Organization: Vulcan Science Academy, Tau Ceti Sector Lines: 133 Approved: griffith@scam.berkeley.edu Distribution: world Message-ID: <3gukl2$si6@agate.berkeley.edu> Reply-To: trek-info-request@scam.berkeley.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: xcf.berkeley.edu Originator: griffith@xcf.Berkeley.EDU Advance warning - this article is chock-full of opinion while containing little or no Star Trek information. But I figure once a year, I'm entitled. If you don't approve, well, you've been warned. Rec.arts.startrek.info is now five years old, and I always like to post a brief "state of the newsgroup" message at the beginning of every r.a.s.i. year. Unfortunately, this one isn't exactly brief. But it's been an interesting year (thankfully quieter than the last one...), and I have a few things to say about r.a.s.i. in particular and USENET in general. Five years ago, I didn't expect I'd be sitting here, still moderating. Actually, I had planned to hire Bill Gates to do the job, since by now, my company would have driven Microsoft into bankruptcy and established UNIX as the dominant operating system for the next few decades. Oh well. Maybe next year. At the beginning of last year, r.a.s.i. was rated around #100 with an estimated readership of 110,000. The latest numbers estimate r.a.s.i. at 28th in popularity (out of 3180) with an estimated readership of 200,000. That's quite a jump in one year, both in number and popularity, and I wasn't expecting it in the least. I'm not sure whether to attribute it to the job I'm doing or the job Paramount's doing, so I'll just take it for it's worth. It's somewhat daunting to know that 200,000 people read the newsgroup I moderate, and it makes me even more aware of my responsibility. I hope I've continued to do a good job, and I trust that you folks will make it painfully evident when the quality of my work declines. These numbers actually mean a lot to me, both as a "performance appraisal" and as an ego-feeder. I'm not in this job for the fame and fortune - I just want fame. I've got a career to backstop my fortune. But on a personal note, this year has been good for ego-stroking as well. I was quoted in _INTERNET WORLD_ this month. A recent USENET book referred to r.a.s.i. as "the definitive information newsgroup" with no qualifiers. And prior to his recent Terry Farrell interview, Bob Frost actually called me to get background information and possible questions (the questions about Spiner were my suggestion). So on a personal level, this year has been very satisfying, indeed. So what do we have to look forward to in the new year? Well, it's off to a somewhat rocky start with the reappearance of the "move r.a.s.* to the sf domain!" discussion, but I'm hoping that's a momentary lapse on someone's part. I think the upcoming year will mark the largest percentage growth of USENET to date, and I think it is going to be a challenge to see if USENET can survive the increase in readership. I think moderated newsgroups will play a major role in USENET's continued viability, because they are the best example of USENET's ability to propagate ideas to the masses. The problem is that Canter and Siegel have dispelled our image of the way the world is by showing us that greed, malice, and naivete are becoming an increasing element of USENET. USENET has traditionally been a place of honesty, idealism, and cooperation, because its user base has consisted mainly of engineers, who are, by their nature, honest, idealistic, and cooperative. But the increasing popularity of the Internet among both the average human and the business community is quickly turning USENET into paradise lost. The question is whether or not USENET can survive the birth of the information superhighway and continue to exist in a meaningful form. I think the biggest problem USENET faces is its ability to teach new (and current) users to use USENET responsibly. A certain amount of responsibility can be enforced by both software and pressure from "people in authority" (news admins, the Cabal, and moderators). But certain traits have to be learned, and if USENET faces the sudden surge of new users without developing ways to teach responsibility to new users, then public newsgroups will quickly become unusable. Most of you are "lurkers" - people who read articles but never write them yourselves. In many ways, that's the most responsible way to use USENET. But any user who wants to post an article outside of his own domain should know and accept the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, most new users merely see USENET as this magical thing where you can write something and have someone in Sweden or Japan or Kansas respond to you! And that's irresponsible use of the medium. But naivete isn't limited to new users. Many of you continue to read USENET without the faintest clue of how it works or why certain things happen the way they do. Users of USENET have the same responsibility that voters in a democracy have. Much happens behind the scenes to ensure that USENET continues to operate smoothly, and you the user have a responsibility to see to it that your views are represented among those who make things work. How many of you are aware of what USENET "spam" is or the fact that it's cancelled out from under you without you knowing it, so that your newsgroups remain less cluttered and more readable? One of the best things you can do to educate yourself about how USENET works is to read news.groups, news.admin.policy, and news.admin.misc. There are many machinations which take place on a daily basis, and knowing about them may help you to become a more responsible user. To a certain extent, I think part of the solution lies in educating the legal community about USENET and the Internet. USENET does its best to enforce responsibility, and considering its user base, it enforces responsibility pretty well. But in my opinion, the purpose of Law is to enforce responsibility when individuals fail to assume it on their own. And much of what is currently happening on USENET calls out for legal protection. But I'm digressing. What does r.a.s.i. have to look forward to? Well, for now, I plan to continue doing what I've been doing. If I accomplish one thing in the new year, I'd like to educate Paramount about USENET in general and this newsgroup in particular. Paramount has adopted a hands-off policy towards USENET, and it hurts them and it hurts us. Within the guidelines of the charter, they could instantly reach 200,000 of their viewers if they ever wanted or needed to. They've long complained about the ease with which USENET propagates bad rumors, and they're right. But they've never considered that USENET can be used to spread good rumors just as quickly. R.a.s.i. has taken a hit for the sins of the other Star Trek newsgroups, and it's not fair to either Paramount or r.a.s.i.'s readers. And if there's any way for me to fix the problem, I'll do so. Mr. Berman, if you manage to read this (yeah, right), I'll make a standing offer to fly down to you on my nickel so we can hold an honest discussion about USENET with no obligation or risk to you. In the larger scheme of things, I've gradually become more of a lurker over the past five years, posting rarely outside of r.a.s.i. I haven't even participated in a CFV since that r.a.sf debacle. But the growth of USENET means new challenges for those that make the rules. And I'm not content to leave the rule-making to others, because I'm no longer sure that I know and trust those "others" to do what's best for USENET. Being a moderator gives me slightly more clout than most users, and if I fail to use that clout to promote and improve USENET, then I'm not acting as a responsible user. So those of you who are active in the maintenance of USENET will be hearing more from me this year - especially when I think you've screwed up. I'm also going to try to do something about the issue of responsible use of USENET, even if that means educating new users one-by-one. USENET has a lot of potential going forward into the new century, and I'm not going to let it get ruined because its users fail to deal with the problems USENET faces in a responsible fashion. Well, I've wasted enough time. Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to make sure you continue to have something worth reading. And keep sending me the information. Jim -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Selected by Jim "The Big Dweeb" Griffith. Email submissions to trek-info@scam.berkeley.edu, questions to trek-info-request@scam.berkeley.edu