It is proper to remind those on this list that they will be quoted for two reasons: 1) to compliment them and inform them that their comments will in fact be quoted and 2) to honor the integrity of their input and respect their contribution by asking whether it is OK to quote reproduce their statements (this encourages future contributions perhaps more than the first point, which is more professional, rather than personal). I don't believe that "much of the Internet resembles face-to-face communication." Web 2.0 in fact rests on eschewing that paradigm, I think, reminding people that they are coming together for public discourse, not private. Perhaps in the early days of Usenet, communication was still private, but these days individuals gather around digital places online, domains known to certain circles, open to the world, regardless of whether viewers have registered with the service. I call "private" what can't easily be traced by higher powers to me. I call "public" what can be traced to me without my consent, and thus, if I were a conspiracy theorist, I would watch my tongue in the coffee shop and not in the woods, when conversing with a good friend of mine. This forum is designed in a way, let's be honest, to propel our own ideas outward, through others, into perpetuity. I don't think anyone Internet-savvy enough to be on this listserv needs to be reminded that many others can and perhaps will view their comments. I do think, however, that at list a few people here would get satisfaction from being asked whether their comments may be republished. There are instances when I think certain individuals operate under the assumption that communicating digitally through unsecured means is "private." I don't think anyone on this listserv subscribes to that delusion. Christian Nelson wrote:
On Jan 18, 2008, at 12:08 PM, Alex Halavais wrote:
While I think it may be a nice gesture to ask an author's permission before quoting them, those posting to the list should recognize that it is a public forum, and the things written here are published to the world.
Perhaps this quote is the most useful for supporting Pam's thesis (one I've been working on, too) that much of the Internet resembles face-to-face communication. Why else would Internet researchers have to be reminded that posting emails is a form of publication unless, of course, Internet posting is so pervasively considered to be something other than publishing--e.g., f2f communication.
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