The status of the duodenalswitch list

July 17, 2001

The list moderators (, and ) have been discussing

the status of this list, and here's the deal:

1.) We hate that we even have to consider changing anything.

2.) We do NOT want the hassle and mental stress of deciding

who can post what.

3.) We want the duodenalswitch list to remain a place of free

expression, including forceful opinions when they are warranted.

Is it even POSSIBLE at this point to keep the list unchanged and have it

be the helpful, generally peaceful place that it has traditionally been?

We have since the beginning felt that adults will work things out if

given the chance. We have had the occasional flare up, and in the past

these have died down fairly quickly and we got on with the business of

education and support. However, the duodenalswitch list is a shadow of

its former self these days. With over 1300 people on the list, it seems

there are more and more people spoiling for a flame war.

You all know the dynamic. Someone writes something that inflames people,

and the list explodes for several days while everyone gets their two

cents in. We have people speaking up against the offender, people

speaking up to tell others to shut up, people speaking up to defend the

offender. Who is " right or wrong " becomes peripheral to the fact that

the list is completely disrupted. The flame wars bother some. They

entertain some. They cause some people to leave the list. The bottom

line though is that it's happening more and more frequently as the list

grows.

Meanwhile, the DS education and support falls by the wayside. New

subscribers log in and can't find the good information. Post-ops who

visit the list to answer questions can't find any questions to answer

without having to sift through the off-topic debates.

For those who adamantly oppose moderation of any kind, I would ask you

to think about how you would proceed if you had to make decisions that

would affect the overall purpose and tenor of the list. Do you agree

that at some point, preserving the focus of the list must take

precedence?

As an alternative to going fully moderated, we could get more aggressive

about using private email to warn people who break list rules, and/or

actually banning those who continue to break the rules. I'm not sure

that this is the ultimate solution though, for many reasons. At this

point, we do sometimes privately email people when it calls for it, but

in general there is very little moderation going on aside from the

occasional " moderatorly " message to the list.

What do y'all think? Will it ever get better? Should we let the list

remain a free-for-all with increasingly frequent flames? Any other

ideas?

I'm going to be posting a poll to the list so that we can get a sense of

how everyone feels this should best be handled. You'll see an

announcement when the poll is available.

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the matter, please email

them privately to the moderators at

mailto:duodenalswitch-owner .

M.

---

in Valrico, FL, age 38

Starting weight 299, now 156

Starting BMI 49.7, now 26.0

Lap DGB/DS by Dr. Rabkin 10-19-99

http://www.duodenalswitch.com

Direct replies: mailto:melanie@...

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July 17, 2001