Klarinet Archive - Posting 000926.txt from 1997/03

From: Gary Young <gyoung@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: New member alert (MAYBE OFF-TOPIC)
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 02:20:23 -0500

Susan--

Thanks for your message, and welcome to the list! That's my main message
to you. What follows is a subsidiary comment. It's just coincidence it
takes up 95% of this message.

I didn't have the strong reaction Thomas Lankford did to your use of the
word "fucking" in your signature file. I thought the quote was provocative
and interesting, though I'm not sure I agree with it. (My anal compulsive
self was, however, very concerned about your spelling. I stumbled over
"pyched," and that wasn't your only error. On the other hand, Thomas's
spelling was a bit out of whack too, perhaps because he was upset. With any
luck, I have now managed to offend both of you. Now everywon will be
lurking four misspelings inn this massage.)

But I hope you will not pass off Thomas's reaction as of no importance.

My three kids are five to ten years older than you, and I am familiar from
living with them over the last two decades with the use of what many adults
regard as foul language by people your age, and know it is not necessarily
intended to offend (of course I'm not naive -- sometimes it is intended
precisely to offend, but I know that was not your intention). Indeed, I
used such language myself at that age, though not on the Internet, which
not even science fiction writers had imagined in 1952. Nonetheless,
however intended, such language can trigger very strong and hostile
reactions in others (especially older others) on the list, and that can get
in the way of what you're trying to communicate.

With people you know, like friends and parents, you can use such language
and predict the effect, but the list consists of strangers whose reactions
you can't predict -- well-intentioned strangers like Thomas Lankford and me
who love music and the clarinet but disagree significantly with you on
other issues, including when if ever it is appropriate to use words like
"fuck." I'm not telling you not to use such words, especially in the
context of statements like your quote, which has a strong claim to be
protected speech under the First Amendment. I'm just suggesting you think
about whether their use on this list might be inconsistent with some other
more important goal you have, such as engaging in discussion about
clarinet-related issues. In other words, there are unintended consequences
to using such words, consequences you might sometimes want to avoid, such
as irritating lots of folks for no particularly good reason.

Mark Charette, who deserves endless thanks for his devotion, industry,
insight and wit regarding the web site and the Klarinet list, has made
available some materials on "netiquette" you might want to read. I'll end
by attaching his message about how to get those materials. I found them
illuminating, and hope you will too.

And once again, Susan, welcome to the list! I'd rather have you on the
list, sig file and all, than have you off. (I feel the same about Tracy
Jay.)

(Yech! This really sounds like an obnoxious preachy adult wrote it. And
to think I was once thirteen. Or was I? Maybe not. Alas! I know this is
one of those late-night messages I'll regret in the morning. Maybe morning
will never come...)

Best wishes,

Gary Young

Mark wrote:

For those who may be interested in netiquette, I've set up an autoresponder
on sneezy which will send 4 articles taken from new.announce.newusers on
the Usenet. They are part of the collected wisdom of the anarchy called
Usenet, and have served the Usenet well. The 4 articles I provide are:

A Primer on How to Work With the Mailing List Community
Advertising on Mailing lists: How To Do It, How Not To Do It
Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Hints on writing style for Usenet

(As you may notice, two of the articles I edited to make them a little
more relevant to mailing lists). They're considered required reading for
Usenet "newbies" and it is highly recommended for "old-timers" (like me)
to re-read them on occasion.

To get them, send an e-mail to netiquette@-----. It's a long
message (around 65000 characters, 1400 lines). If you have any problems
receiving it, please send me personal e-mail and I'll split it up for you.

Mark Charette
charette@-----.com/clarinet

----------
From: susan[SMTP:rdelli@-----.NET]
Subject: New member alert

Hi everybody,
Well, I'm new here & just wanted to introduce myself. (I've
actually been on this list for quite some time now; I've had problems
sending mail..) I'm Susan from Scottsdale, Arizona. I'm thirteen years
old, and I've been playing the clarinet for six years now. I've
performed in many competions, concerts, and festivals, along with two
years being invited to play with the local collage :) I was way pyched
to find this web page & mailing list; I haven't had much luck finding
clarinet stuff on the Internet. I play on a Buffet E11 clarinet w/4
Zonda reeds, if anyone cares ;)(actually, I had heard that the E11 is a
pretty good brand name-anyone know?) Well, check my homepage if you want
to see the other
stuff I'm into..

hope to see everyone around,
Susan
--
//0-0//--
my Lennon inspired poetry-
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/johnlennon/poetry.html

"I'm the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries"
-Stephen King

"Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity"
-unknown

P.s. Someone let em know if this reaches the list..this is my fifth
attempt in writing to the list..

   
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