[Reader-list] Free Speech vs Voluminous Speech

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

"drowning out" happens when there are so many repetitive posts by the
same names on the same topics, that readers start tuning out the
reader-list altogether. Also, some people may be finding the list too
similar to spam now and unsubscribing (my theory, but I do not know).
One solution is for people to start engaging on other topics as well.
Can we get discussions on other issues, such as the Baul statues in
Bangladesh, Asma Siddiqa's Military Inc in Pakistan, The whiteness of
Ralph Nader, the coming economic meltdown, the politics of Obama
appointees, etc.

On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 2:24 AM, Rahul Asthana <rahul_capri at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I did not intend to participate in this unending discussion about the polemics of communication and moderation etc but I am doing so only because of Mahmood's post.
>
> 1.If there is no desire to engage with some people because of the manner in which they respond then there should be no attempt to ridicule or make a crack on their posts.If you do that then indeed they will respond,in the way they choose.You can't keep needling them and support their banning at the same time,it has to be one or the other.
>
> 2.I do not get this concept of "drowning out".This metaphor probably comes from sound,that is, people shouting and drowning others voices.But is this completely applicable to electronic communication?Do people mean that emails of people they don't want to see suddenly spread like viruses on the computer and keep popping up and occupying their screen when they are reading something else?What is it?
>
> 3.I notice too that people have stopped engaging on other topics.Maybe they have limited time to access reader list or they have limited bandwidth.In that case these people should assume some internal locus of control and kindly explain why they cant block these people using their email client who are easily identifiable .This has been repeated so many times that I really feel silly making this point.
>
> 4.Is ignoring\blocking these people not enough and do they have to somehow be taught a lesson,and so they have to be banned?Is that it?
>
> Also, I would appreciate if people do not respond to this post just for the heck of it,unless they have some concrete response to my queries.I do not wish to contribute in prolonging this discussion,which I think is puerile.
>
> --- On Sat, 11/15/08, Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Naeem Mohaiemen <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Reader-list] Free Speech vs Voluminous Speech
>> To: reader-list at sarai.net
>> Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 11:49 PM
>> I'll add another aspect to Mahmood's point.
>>
>> The issue is not about free speech per se (even though I
>> appreciate
>> Lawrence's principled position and Shuddhabrata's
>> tireless efforts at
>> engaging in debates, with only a few glimpses of losing his
>> cool), but
>> about how that speech is drowning out any
>> usefulness/functionality of
>> this mailing list itself.
>>
>> When people write about a topic I disagree with, I am of
>> course free
>> to ignore it. But the problem is that a certain few topics
>> have now
>> come to dominate the entire volume of the mailing list.
>> Thus one
>> thread will generate 50+ replies, which will flood out
>> everybody else
>> on the mailing list. This 50+ exchange will not be between
>> 20+
>> individuals, but rather 4-5 determined individuals. When I
>> first
>> joined Sarai there was a multitude of voices on various
>> topics. Some
>> were about South Asia, some were about speech,
>> transvestites, art
>> openings, art grants, cyberspace, technology, etc etc.
>> These days
>> there is only one topic, and it just refuses to end. Does
>> that mean
>> people have stopped being interested in the other topics? I
>> would
>> argue that majority of people have STOPPED reading
>> reader-list. I open
>> my mailbox and find 5-6 digest versions emails, but when I
>> open them
>> it is the same 5-6 names, repeating the same arguments, and
>> absolutely
>> no sign of actually engaging in a debate or conversation.
>> So I scan
>> reader-list headlines in 10 seconds or less and rapid-fire
>> delete. I
>> suspect lot of others do the same. A once vibrant, useful,
>> interesting
>> mailing list has turned into a giant spam folder wormhole.
>>
>>
>> From: "mahmood farooqui"
>> <mahmood.farooqui at gmail.com>
>>
>> Responding tolawrence' heartfelt anguish--
>>
>> We must have conversations with people who are unlike us,
>> but not in this
>> fashion and not like this. Where I am I find barely five
>> minutes to search
>> through the reader list and since a lot of that is taken up
>> by hackneyed
>> protests, peurile protestations and cliched and false
>> righteousness by
>> people who claim to speak in the name of Hindus generally
>> and kashmiri
>> pandits more specifically, I am seriously considering
>> unsubscribing from the
>> list.
>>
>> If there are any who wish to engage with determined
>> filibusterers then they
>> can note down their personal emails and continue to pour
>> facts on kashmir
>> and muslims and secularism till the cows come home or are
>> slaughtered.
>>
>> Please do not present me this in the name of engagement and
>> openness.
>>
>> Thank god I am not a liberal.
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