Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 11:28:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jon Beasley-Murray <jpb8-AT-acpub.duke.edu>
Subject: Re: List size and form


[please note the warning at the end!]

On Wed, 2 Aug 1995 glevy-AT-acnet.pratt.edu wrote:

> Have any of the moderators considered how the increase in list size and 
> participation (including the volume of posts) will affect our list in the 
> not-so-long-term?  

I think list size (ie. no. of subscribers) is fairly stable, though I
haven't really been keeping check.  There are at present just under 300
people subscribed, with just under 50 of those are subscribed via
marxism-digest.  (Though it is the Summer, and a number who left earlier
may well return.) Again, though I haven't really been keeping check,
participation does still seem to be increasing.  I thought we had hit some
sort of plateau with c. 700 posts a month, and now I see that in the last
ten days alone of July we had over 300 posts. 
 
> Obviously the current list is a transitional list that will *have* to 
> change as we get larger. As a fellow educator, I'm sure you are aware 
> that there is a relation between class size and the ability of individual 
> students to participate.  I fear that, at some point soon, the sheer size 
> of our list and the total (and immense) volume of posts will interfere 
> with our ability to communicate effectively.  

I find it hard to see how the list can grow any bigger in terms of 
participation; and if it does, I think the number of people will go 
down.  I admit, however, that I haven't been charting these things in any 
particularly scientific manner.  I know Chris Burford also took an 
interest in these matters some time ago.

I don't think the list is in "crisis" however: those who can handle the 
volume obviously appreciate the list, and I think it's very worthwhile 
for a whole number of reasons.  I did the marxism survey several months 
ago now, in part to see what people made of the large volume, and there 
seemed to be a fair number of satisfied lurkers.

Some people, probably a large number, however, are clearly likely to be 
intimidated by the volume of posts, and so we lose their potential 
contributions.  There are a couple of more specialized lists (eg. 
frankfurt-school) but they never seem to have worked out very well.

I don't want to offer any solutions, though I think it's helpful if those 
on the list realize the situation, and so that the more vocal 
contributors can think about keeping down the chat or the unhelpful or 
unnecessary comments.  On the other hand, I find the chat when it happens 
quite entertaining at times, and there's always going to be some "noise": 
and this list has relatively little of that compared to many others.  

Sometimes I think the list works almost optimally, and is self-regulating 
and self-sustaining.  Occasionally there are disruptions, but they get 
dealt with and either the disruptive force gets assimilated, often 
productively, and the list assimilates itself, or it goes away.  I'm 
still quite proud that no one has ever been censored or thrown off.

My current thoughts are to widen the extent of the resources associated 
with the list--ie. I think of a time when the email discussion list will 
not necessarily be the central part of this whole "project."  This is why 
I've been working on the WWW pages, encouraging people to put up papers, 
bibliographies etc., and so on.  I have other ideas, such as email 
conferences on specific issues and so on, all of which could be spin-offs 
from the list, and allow those who can't deal with the constant volume to 
be involved for a limited period of time (and we could specifically 
invite people to get on line for, say, an email conference on 
intersubjectivity or the labor theory of value or whatever...)

> Jerry
> 
> PS: As I was about to press the "send" buttons, Otto's post on 
> "information overflow" came through.  I don't think I care much, though, 
> for his solution since it assumes that the initiator of a thread can and 
> should be the one who summarizes and coordinates a thread.

No, and I don't think it'd work to formalize anything like this.  As it 
is, I think that private discussions do occur, and do feed into the 
general discussions, but also it's now possible to jump into ("butt in") 
a thread late, when you suddenly realize it is of interest to you, or 
that you can make a contribution or whatever.

*Finally*, however, this list is for the discussion of marxism, not for 
the discussion of the marxism list, so I'd encourage those who have 
thoughts about the state of the list, and who have ideas and suggestions 
(and I'm *always* looking for these, and for feedback), please to get in 
touch with me privately if possible.

Take care

Jon

Jon Beasley-Murray
Literature Program
Duke University
jpb8-AT-acpub.duke.edu
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~spoons


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