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ACG Rants

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Newsgroups: aus.culture.gothic
Subject: The good old fscking days (long, ranting and largely
off-topic)
Poster - madi

OK - so I'm a fogey but...

What is it with usenet?  Back when I was a lad...and yes, thank you, 
I *know* how many days it is until I turn officially old...people 
could quite happily cop a LART and obtain some clue into the process.  
Now, when some jumped-up tick posts a load of shit to a group and gets 
LARTed for their trouble, then people stand up and say "hey, man, they've 
got rights too!"

Why?  Why should every group be free to fools?  Why should people not 
have to learn some netiquette before posting?  Why can't people take 
criticism with good grace?  Why can't people show a bit of respect.

I am not a dinosaur.  I've only been on the net since around 1988.  
And I've only been in the g*th scene since around 1992 - I haven't 
been here a long time.  Relatively, I'm still a newbie.  But I *have* 
been here long enough to notice the changes.

Ready for the "I remember when" section?

I remember when people knew how to use a kill file.
I remember when people knew how to alter the Subject header.
I remember when people knew where to send flames.
I remember when people knew how to recognise trolls.
I remember when people knew how to remove extra groups from
cross-posted articles.
I remember when people knew how to snip before replying.
I remember when people used to learn from their mistakes.

What surprises me is that so many people in *this*, of all groups,
don't seem to remember this.

I once made a joke to someone that we should start up a group called
aus.gothic.geek.roleplay.queer.sysadmin.bork.bork.bork - mainly
because most people in one of those categories belong to at least one of the
others.  In particular, the term "goth" and the term "net goth" have become
almost synonymous in the last couple of years.  And, of course, if you're
reading this then you almost certainly fit into the term "net goth".

So why is it that so many people on this group who just don't seem to
conform to - I hesitate to use the word "rules" - the guidelines of usenet
posts?

Well...there are some answers to that that I already know.

There's been a huge explosion in the number of people who have net
access in recent years.  Companies like One.Tel and (dare I say it) AAPT are
selling net access to the masses - along with the old "online service"
dinosaurs like AOL and CompuServe.  There's a huge flood of people who
not only know nothing about the net but who show absolutely _no_ intention
of even _trying_ to learn about the net who are becoming net connected.
And so there are far more newbies than oldies around - which makes it a
lot harder to LART.  When its 10:1 oldies:newbies then the newbies alter
their behaviour PDQ.  When its the other way round - the newbies behave as
though theirs are the only rules, and that their "breath of fresh air" is
what usenet has needed all these years.

And maybe they're right.  Maybe usenet needs to have its teeth knocked
out by people who care less about structure than they do about
accessibility.  Maybe usenet has become essentially useless because 
the concepts it tries to adhere to are designed for a much earlier 
paradigm of what the net was all about.  Remember, when usenet was 
designed there was no web.
There was no concept of every household not only having access to but being
able to create its own set of information.  There was no concept that the
net would ever be anything other than an information resource.

And now it isn't.  Now the net is so large an information source that
a great deal of that information is worthless to most users.  That is
not to say that the information is of itself worthless, its just that only a
very small percentage of the people on the net find that information
useful.  This means that things like usenet have to change the function they
fulfil.  Rather than being just an information resource, usenet has transformed
into a meeting place for people of a similar bent.  This is, IMHO, not in
and of itself a bad thing.  In face - I quite *like* the fact that groups
like this one exist and mainly act as long-term chat rooms rather than
discussion forums.  (And yes - there *is* a difference between chat and
discussion.)

This does not mean, however, that it should be a free-for-all.  I have
no problem with idle banter about inane topics.  I *do* have a problem
with things like discussion about bike helmets appearing under a topic that
suggests its about politics.  I don't have a problem with people
posting reems of shite poetry.  I do have a problem with people re-posting the
same shite poetry with the word LOL appended to the bottom.  I don't
have a problem with people expressing stupid POVs.  I do have a problem
with people who don't get the hint after being thumped around the head with
the clue stick.

Basically, I think what I'm saying is this:

At a party, you behave according to a certain set of guidelines.
At a club, you behave according to a certain set of guidelines.
At work, you behave according to a certain set of guidelines.
And on usenet, you behave according to a certain set of guidelines.

If you don't agree with them, then go elsewhere.  There are any number
of places to be.  There's IRC.  There's the web.  There's mailing lists.
There's ICQ.

This is usenet.  And usenet is none of these.

And, no, I'm not an authority on anything.  I don't have the right to
dictate how people behave.  But, as has been pointed out recently,
this is my opinion.  And I'm expressing.

-Madi (2c?  I never stop at 2c)

btw: While I was writing this I took a call from someone who took 8
minutes to find "My Computer".  This is the future of the net.