History Forum / General / British History / March 2007

There generally seems to be at least one person in each newsgroup who is a
real nut about nagging folks not to post to more than one newsgroup at a
time.  These people are apparently anally retentive to an unusual degree.

So, blame it on a failed experience of toilet training in infancy, or
whatever.  But above all, do not take these people too seriously.  They
really don't deserve the exaggerated attention they sometimes demand.

Some of these Nagging Neds or Nellies may well be academics.  Categorization
is a disease that academics live and die, by and for.

I have heard very experienced and Ivory Tower battle-hardened academics
refer to this phenomenon as, "The Hardening of the Categories."  They know
whereof they speak.  Often they have Hardening of the Arteries as well --  
and concomitant Brain Damage.

Let me give an example.  Let's say a sociologist wants to initiate a new
college course in the Sociology of Sociopaths.  A psychologist may counter
that the course should best be taught under the rubric of Abnormal
Psychology, Social Psychology or even The Psychology of Psychopaths.
Do you see how that game works?

However, it is not really a game.  This is academic warfare at the
departmental level.  Who gets the dollars, the faculty chair, the grants for
this position --- and the students --- the Sociology Department or the
Psychology Department?  Empires may shift on their foundations over such
seminal academic issues.

So, when the academics come to newsgroups they get rather persnickety about
your sending a post to more than one newsgroup.  Occasionally they become
outright aggressively stentorian and vociferously foolish about it.

Here are some practical guidelines that will prevent you from becoming too
intimidated by these rascals.  They are, of course, only the personal
opinion of their author.  Others' mileage may vary and there are always
valid exceptions driven by situational dynamics, tactics and strategy:

1.  As a general rule, only send your post to one newsgroup.  Pick that one
carefully according to the criterion of relevance, content, readership and
the discrete subject matter of your specific post.  It is virtually always a
mistake to post to eight or ten newsgroups, as some spammers are wont to do.

2.  However, if your post genuinely crosses over lines of separation between
categories --- and after you have carefully considered your logic --- post
with confidence.  Generally, this should be a relatively infrequent
occurrence.  Posting to more than three newsgroups simultaneously would
almost always be a bad show and charges of spamming will be thrown at you.

3.  Followups can be set to one group, if desired.  If the content of a
subsequent post in the thread does not justify multiple posting --- cut the
followups accordingly to include only the relevant groups.

4.  If you cut groups off the distribution of the followups --- tell your
audience clearly in your first paragraph what you are doing.  People are not
mind-readers and will not know what you are up to unless you tell them.

5. Following these quite simple guidelines will ensure you that you reach
the audience you desire and do not cast your net too widely.

6.  All such sets of rules have valid exceptions -- driven by situational
dynamics, tactics and strategy.

7.  Post intelligently, with confidence.

Again, these guidelines are only the personal opinion of the author.
Others' mileage may vary.  But don't let the Nagging Neds and Nellies
intimidate or dissuade you from making the right decision in your particular
case.

D. Spencer Hines

Lux et Veritas