| Tips & Hints For Posting To The Newsgroup |
Here are a few other items that you can look at:
The AFR FAQ is the first thing you should read before posting to the NG!
The Troll's Bane Song (By Kathleen Songsmith) is a fun song to read when you're being harassed by a Troll :-)
| Helpful Tips For Reading/Posting On AFR |
| By Stephen "The Forester" | Updated : May, 2004 |
Well Met To One & All...
I just thought I'd re-post some helpful tips that I've scraped together over my time on AFR...
I think it might help some people out...
Note:
This is not specifically pointed at anyone!
All references are generic!
It should NOT be interpreted as Regulatory or Censorship!
( Hopefully that covers all the bases ;> )
| Posting - General | Goto Top |
Just some pointers that I try to live by :
| Posting - Slams/Flames/Retorts | Goto Top |
Forgive & Forget!!!
Re-Read the Post in a different tone, aloud if necessary, and see if it still means the same thing.
( Hell, I re-read some posts using a 'Kermit The Frog' voice! )
Try to understand that everyone has bad days, so chalk it up to that, unless it's very VERY obvious that they're hammering you, by name, specifically.
I've never been flamed yet, well this one might cause some, but I see a lot of posters just jump on the Flame Band Wagon, even when they've done similar things in the past themselves.
( Ya, sometimes it's very hard, especially when everyone else is doing it... )
If you've got the urge to slam someone, then think about how you'd feel getting bashed by the post your about to send.
( Not so Nice is it... )
Take that Slam Post and try to change it into a polite post that helps them to understand what they're doing wrong.
Make it informative not malicious!
(Isn't that a better, more constructive, use of your energies? ;>)
| Posting - Pouncing Newbie | Goto Top |
These pointers should keep you out of trouble :
ie:
< AFRInfo > See the AFR FAQ if you haven't already @ - http://member.aol.com/jmcathcart/afr.html See who we are & what we look like @ - http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=afrinfo;list See where some of us live @ - http://www.wolfandmoose.com/Otters/otters.htm See what all the Acronyms mean ( well most anyway ) @ - http://members.tripod.com/~WBarstow/lingo.html < /AFRInfo >
I only post the FAQ, since a lot of other links are contained within and updated regularly.
Plus I think that you really should read the FAQ for the NG's that you read/post to, that's what they're there for!!!
Hopefully this came across right...
I would gladly take any comments about this post/topic...
I'm sure the vast majority of you must have one...
Grammarcy for your time...
Stephen.
Who hopes that we can get back to having FUN in our playground...
Oh ya... & remember... *g*
+----------+
| PLEASE |
| DO NOT |
| FEED THE |
| TROLLS |
+----------+
| |
| |
.\|.||/..
Don't forget to sing The Troll's Bane Song when you do encounter a Troll! :-)
By Kathleen Songsmith
| AFR Reality Check (Mostly A Bunch Of Aphorisms) | Goto Top |
| By James Sweetland | Updated : May, 2004 |
There seem to have been a lot of postings lately from people who feel that they have gotten short shift. Many appear to be in the vein of "I posted something and got no reply"; others along the lines of "I posted something, and someone didn't like it". But, in either case, the response seems to be sadness, anger, a feeling of being ignored, and similar feelings. So--
AFR (like other Usenet groups) is not a membership organization-- anyone can post, anyone can read. And, anyone can ignore or be ignored.
AFR has traffic on a typical day of 200-600 or so postings. Many AFR readers do not have easy access to computers; many are very active during the faire season, and do not check AFR every day. Many other AFR readers have other demands on their time (such as reading usenet during lunch breaks), and thus do not read many posts-- they rely heavily on the headers. Other readers have access systems which require them to download, at relatively slow speeds, merely to see the messages at all. Or, there are a number of reasons why a given AFR reader would not read your post.
And, of course, many newsreaders (ie the system, not the person) do not get all postings; many others do not get them at the same time.
Since Usenet is a wholly textual verbal environment, one must be more careful than in conversation to be clear--both in content and meaning, and also in tone.
There are different specific behavioral expectations in different subcultures: Usenet is different from list servers are different from chat rooms, etc. And, different Usenet lists vary as well. When joining a new culture, it never hurts to find out something about that specific culture first. Or, check the FAQs, and maybe lurk awhile before posting.
Some of the people on AFR are very experienced computer users, but not all that great on the Internet; others are experienced Internet but not experienced Web users; others are experienced at both; some really don't know much at all about computers, let alone the Web. If youre hung up on computer expertise, there are a number of other Usenet groups that may be more congenial.
Similarly, some AFR people eat drink and sleep faire--some of these also make their living at faires, others don't. Some go to lots of faires; some go only to one. Some spend several months a year at faire (whether officially working there or not); some dont. Some people on AFR have yet to go to a faire; some have been heavily involved in faires for over 25 years (i.e. more than one generation). There is a big variety of people here; the only things we really have in common are that we have some interest of some kind in the European Renaissance, particularly as it applies to a phenomenon known as "renaissance faires", and we have some access to the Internet.
If you act like a jerk, you will be treated like a jerk. If you act like an inexperienced person, you will be welcomed and possibly given some advice (whether you need or want it or not). With any luck, you will eventually meet some of the cleverest, kindest, most intelligent and creative people that you will ever know. You will also meet a few people you cannot stand--but then some of them won't be able to stand you either. You will eventually get to meet some of the above, and with any luck, will develop some really cool/neat/faboo friendships. If you hang around long enough, you will become an old timer.
Just like the rest of life, no?
Disagreement, or even criticism, is not a "flame"--trust me on this one.
No one is entitled to be "pounced," no one is required to pounce, pouncing merely is a form of welcome--others are possible.
No one knows who you are, except as you tell them.
Just because you posted something doesn't mean that you can expect, nor are entitled to, any reaction whatsoever.
People can, and often do, misunderstand what you said--you will also occasionally misunderstand what is said to you.
Summary of this point of view:
Some (most?) faires have a semi official gathering place for staff and crew afterhours, usually one of the pubs. Nearly all faires also have various other gathering places, usually someone's booth. And, for those not still on the grounds, there are usually a couple of nearby pubs or restaurants where playtrons and performers gather after hours.
I see AFR as essentially the same sort of thing: a virtual bar. In this place, there are people who hang together all the time; those who work the same faire once a year, but otherwise don't see each other; those who just met this year and may or may not ever see each other again. There are also brand new people who just came in (including some who may have worked the faire for years, and just found out about this place)--they may also be part of one of the above groups, or not. And, not all the groups necessarily are friendly to outsiders, while others are very much so.
Conversations can vary within one group from very serious to utterly ("otterly"?) frivolous in a matter of minutes; others will stay on topic for weeks. Some are relevant to the current faire; some to faires in general; others to other topics entirely.
There is no official leader of the larger group (at the pub) and rarely any of the individual groups. People come and go. Some become regulars in one or more groups, others don't.
Now to my major point--being a regular participant in the pub scene, or even in a given group does not, by itself, insure that you are a member of any other group/club/clique, etc. whatsoever. This is not a failing either of the group or of yourself, it's just the way things are.
To continue the bar analogy--some people will set up a softball team and get t-shirts or satin jackets with the bar logo on it; some will rearrange their lives to meet every Monday to watch WWF or play chess at the bar; some will do both; many will do neither. This is neither good nor bad--it just is.
Oh, and for some reason feel I have to make this last point: some of us here are blatant nonconformists; some of us sort of generic nonconformists, and some of us are probably very models of the 1950s well-adjusted corporate type--so what?
Let's just learn and play (as each of us sees fit), and be happy that we have another way to meet people along with RL's previous ways.
James Sweetland, Bristol gamer, AFR deity of knowledge, High Priest of pushmonkeys, and KinderHunter of Sarcastica, not even children are safe from wisecracks, and SCRIBE Associate.
