In conjunction with fol comments, it has also been my experience that the "business rules" I previously mentioned go hand-in-hand with active on-line moderation and facilitation--akin to a "community manager." The "business rules" cannot stand alone or they really lose their value. Note that I say moderation & facilitation, not direct control. And the meandering is not completely forbidden, but rather "contained" within some soft boundaries. The "community manager" can be a nearly full time job. Something to consider. Again, the question is, "what kind of community do we want?" -------------------------------------------------------- Mark Tempestilli Captain, United States Navy Director of Network Centric Warfare U.S. Naval Academy email: tempesti@usna.edu phone: 410-293-1458

"Those who will not risk, cannot win." - John Paul Jones

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KeithDoyon@aol.com 03/20/03 18:58 PM >>> sj wrote: <<The interesting question that Danny initially asks, that I've been interested in for a very long time, is to do with our expectations for community. Should we expect discussion of the war, silence about it, or ignorance of it, how do those expectations come about and how do they change?

and mt added: << In other on-line communities I have participated in, the communities generally had a set of "business rules" roughly governing online behavior and themes. >> I haven't previously posted on this topic, not because I don't share strong feelings, but rather because, in my strictly personal experience, I have never participated in any online community that didn't have something akin to "a set of 'business rules' roughly governing online behavior and themes" without sooner or later experiencing an acute time and attention/energy allocation conflict, due to large numbers of posts far afield from the "theme" of the list I was trying to keep up with. It's like attending a committee meeting with a weak chairman who lets discussion meander indefinitely ... such meetings are exhausting. So is keeping up with posts. Somewhere along the line, something else has to be sacrificed to do it. But they're fascinating and informing, so I keep reading ... lol Here's to a compationate victory, leading to a long, agreeable peace. Keith