Several members have resigned recently from the list, citing the volume of email and the amount of 'chit chat' and other messages that are low in information content.

I'm not referring to any specific individual in this message. Every day several new people join and several people leave. I see their subscribe and unsubscribe requests.

PSG is an email list. I have (wrongly, I now think) described it in the past as a community. It seems to be a community, but I'm thinking that it might be a tool rather than a community.

A community is: 'A class or group with similar interests' -(Webster's New Riverside Dictionary)

The people using the PSG are the community, and that includes all of you. The common interest is a love of Poodles. The tools we have allow us to communicate over the Internet, forming a community. Those tools may be very specific and sharp-edged or they may be very general and blunt. A tool is sharp in relation to how well it performs the task you are using it for. The community has many tasks it's members want to perform, and multiple tools may allow us to perform these tasks more efficiently.

As the PSG email list has grown, reading the messages every day has become very difficult. The task of managing it has grown as well. I've been thinking very hard about this and how to solve it.

The problem is this: How to provide access for the community when the tools available suggest that in order to participate, you must participate at the level of the most energetic member.

Imagine your 'Real-world' citizenship depending entirely upon your dedicated review and response to the daily events in your country. This includes the birth, death and any illnes of all other citizens and their families. I submit that many of us wouldn't be citizens in our own country if this were the requirement.

So, I've been looking for tools that are easier to manage and that respect the fact that people bring different levels of committment to the communities they belong to.

My recent 'Bold new experiment' is one attempt to get different tools into use by the group.

If you'd like to respond to this message, you can also do so in the new forum. I've posted it there as well.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 1998

Answers

PSG as a community

Greg, I think as with most groups, this group is going through another transition phase. This occurs whether one is online, working with a group in an office, church, or organization. It's inevitable. IMHO I prefer to hit the "delete" key when I see something that either offends or doesn't interest me. I learned the lesson, very hard, that some people have their perspective and they don't see others perspective very easily. You've done a marvelous job.

-- Anonymous, September 15, 1998

Greg, Thank you for your community and communication post. You reminded and assured me that we need a mix to creat a nice balance of show, obedience, rescue, service, foster, and just plain dog owners. (let's see, what did I miss?!) For example: this list is not just a show dog list, it is about people who own poodles and the support we all look for in creating fulfilling lives with our dog/s. Thank you for keeping such close watch on the daily happenings of the PSG.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 1998