[nabs-l] NABS List Manners

[Antonio Guimaraes]

Mary and all,

This is not the first time list etiquette and civility has been brought up.

People would think twice, or otherwise no longer have the opportunity to be inappropriate on list if there was enforcement of guidelines which suspended or banned people from list for violations.

I have been threatened once for one spam sent to NFBNet lists, and I never did it again. The specifics do not concern the NABS list and are not relevant to the discussion at this time, but you bet I could have been banned by moderators, and as stated above, would no longer have the chance to polite the list in whatever way deemed inappropriate by the moderators.

Some off topic messages to NABS irk me, but are infrequent enough that they don’t bother me. I don’t complain, hit delete ad move on.

One much example are the periodic announcements from David about internet radio. It takes me a few seconds to see the topic and decide the announcement does not interest me. I delete, and move on with no stress. I’m sure David’s programs are interesting to some, and I accept a member’s self-promotion as  a part of the supportive NABS community.

I am not as tolerant of messages with personal information about others, or messages filled with self-disclosure on very personal and sensitive topics.

We would be a better list if we were expected to act civilly, stay on topic, and so on, and be wormed, and disciplined when we do not.

Antonio

On Aug 10, 2014, at 8:55 PM, Mary Fernandez via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Good evening all,
> I hope everyone's weekend was very enjoyable.
> I am writing because I am deeply concerned about the manners, or lack
> thereof, which are more and more frequently being displayed on the
> list serv. I'll quickly remind you that the list is supposed to be a
> resource for blind students, of all ages, young professionals, parents
> and teachers. The list is "public" and "archivable", which means that
> anything we write on here is easily brought up when someone, anyone,
> conducts a Google search.
> When someone inquires about software, or help with anything, which
> relates to blindness, or has a question and asks that you contact them
> off line, it does not mean that you can be disrespectful to that
> person. The list is NOT here for insults to be thrown back and forth,
> for inappropriate comments, or for general disrespect towards others.
> So, here is my question, how can we improve communication among list
> members? Does this list still have value, and if so what are the
> values and how to we maintain them? Let's have a discussion about
> issues and solutions. I'm probably opening a can of worms, but I'm
> truly concerned about the tone of the messages on here, and the
> frequency with which they have been occurring. Please, be polite and
> respectful when responding to this message, and if you have strong
> feelings you do not wish to make public, simply click on my email
> address: trillian551 at gmail.com and reply to me directly.
> 
> Thank you,
> Sincerely,
> Your list moderator,
> 
> -- 
> Mary Fernandez
> "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
> forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them
> feel."
> --
> Maya Angelou
> 
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