|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
At 09:34 AM 2/21/98 -0800, you wrote:
>My thought is that a mail list forum would be preferable because it takes no
>effort to see all the postings when retrieving mail. But that's just my
>preference. Others may want a web based chat.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>Steven Buss
>Walnut Creek, CA
>sbuss@xxxxxxxxxxx
Some years ago, I moderated an email-based discussion forum that tried to
move to a chat format. I offer the following observations. YMMV.
Chat suffers from the "synchronous" problem: everybody has to be on at the
same time. Mailing lists are more effective for many people in different
time zones.
Social skills are less important in email based discussion than in chat.
The "signal" in chat frequently deteriorates relative to "noise".
I also find that mailing list forums tend to include more thoughtfully
composed remarks than do web-based chats. Plus, maintaining multiple
"conversations" is more difficult in chat than in email.
Cheers,
rld
Richard Leighton Dixon
rldixon@xxxxxxxx
Disclaimer: Nobody agrees with me.
|