Why I like this list but not OT (long)

[Mary Arrotti]

Lately, I (like several people I privately heard from) have thought about unsubscribing. It's been hard lately to distinquish between on topic & random posts. I've been interested in a subject but ended up reading a lot of posts that - if properly identified - I would have skipped. 
   
  There are a lot of things we could discuss and it's not for me to define what topics are relevant or not relevant - or what should be discussed. Yes, employment, interviewing, management could be good & relevant topics. But what makes a post relevant & of interest to others & ON TOPIC is what's ACTUALLY in the post - not the subject line. 
   
  When a topic gets hijacked - changes from something of common interest to a dialogue of little interest to anyone but its participants (for example - personal exchanges or off-topic jokes) or veers completely away from tech writing - then I would consider that off-topic. Again, I'm not saying that people shouldn't post this type of thing. I personally wouldn't care if someone put their diary on techwr-l. I'd just like to be able to distinquish it from other topics. 
   
  A while back, I read a good article about what & when to post - it referred to speaking in an auditorium. Basically. the gist was to ask a few questions before posting - something along these lines...Is it relevant to tech writing? Have you added something to the topic? Are you saying something more than "me too"? 
  

James Barrow <vrfour at verizon.net> wrote:
  
 

 	
---------------------------------
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.