Silence is Golden

So why am I posting this, you may ask!

I was in Bristol yesterday and came back to see a whole mailbox full of messages from a forum on which I moderate a quiet backwater, concerning a new member who .... oh - it doesn't matter who she was or what her history was or what she did ... and I wondered how I should react. I have some views, some thoughts. But - it's not my forum, she wasn't even posting in my backwater ... better to write my views and post them to /dev/null.

There's often times when I'm training that I'm asked a question that could be given a very long and highly involved answer and I have the technical knowledge to give that complete answer. But it's quite usual for the questioner to be much better served by a shorter answer like "Yes" or "No" ;-)
(written 2004-08-26, updated 2006-06-05)

Commentator	says ...
Cait:	Your views are as important as others that have expressed theirs, so why not give your 2p? (comment added 2004-08-26 10:07:55)
Graham:	Cait, that's an excellent and worthy challenge ;-) The direct answer in this particular case is a) Because I'm on that forum much less that the other moderators (perhaps 20% of their time according to the logs, though I do "guest visit" when I'm on line) so that my views are based on a poorer understanding of the situation. b) Because the forum's strategy is to provide a service and support for a specific category of people which I am only on the periphery of. I'm (1) male (2) British (3) over 50 (4) slim and (5) financially "in order" ... and that profile does not match the vast majority of "customers" there - it's not even close. Therefore I don't feel - in this case - that my views are as important ... But - hey - I learn from such situations and I've set down for my own clarity my thoughts on moderation for opentalk - where I do know what's going on and fits the profile. And, please rest assured, I'm not advocating the total silence of a Monk. Look at that other board this morning and you'll find I've posted a moderation view that I felt I could contribute with (comment added 2004-08-27 06:50:20)

2f23

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