[Reader-list] a letter to Sarai admin

[Monica Narula]

dear Yousuf, Srikanth, Rakesh, Geeta, all

I agree that we need to find a technological solution to limit the  
number of posting of a person to 3 or 4 in a day. That will ease the  
traffic. (although shifting a list/server to a new situation is not  
something that can be done easily - we are looking into it)

But the larger question that begs some discussion is that commitment  
to one's ideas, opinions and thoughts is not being matched by people  
with a similar commitment to the idea of common grounds, or respect  
for the platform in which people are participating. This lack of  
thought about "common ground" is what makes the problem very difficult  
to solve merely by technological means.

The question is posed mostly as one of "freedom of speech". Its an  
easy stance as it speaks in simple binary.
I would say that it can be reformulated - and reflecting much more of  
the complexity of the kind of writing on the list - as one of "making  
common ground". It is the shape, texture and density of this common  
ground that needs some thought and investigation. It is an open  
subscriber list. Anybody can join and post. Its only a question of  
having a valid email address...
There are many on the reader-list who would have found it difficult to  
make a space on their own and invite others. A lack of reflection on  
what would they do if they had to build themselves and then invite  
others creates a problem of how they participate and intervene.

We in the middle class are known in society as people who will throw  
garbage on the street if it keeps the house clean. This percolates  
deep in our overall way of doing things. In my work I visit many  
workshops and production sites. What amazes me is how recklessly these  
places keep materials and instruments. The people who own it are there  
for 18 hours a day. They beautify their houses with great care yet  
keep the place where they spend majority of their time with utter  
callousness.

This needs to be thought through and engaged with. Reprimands, code of  
conduct, protocols and technological fixes are mere aides. (and except  
for the technical fix, everything else has been tried already) They  
can't solve the problem.

List Admin

Monica Narula
Raqs Media Collective
Sarai-CSDS
www.raqsmediacollective.net
www.sarai.net



On 17-Aug-09, at 11:08 AM, Srikanth Thunga wrote:

> I completely agree with Yousuf.
>
> I have a suggestion. Move sarai to ning network or something  
> similar. I am a
> member of open anthropology group on ning and I have found it to be  
> very
> versatile which makes a lot more sense. Please check
> http://openanthcoop.ning.com/
>
> I have a little bit of experience on ning & I can help the owner to  
> pilot
> it/test it etc...
>
> Keith Hart, who was the creator of OAC on ning is aware of this  
> group I got
> enticed to join this only on suggestion of Arvind and Keith Hart on  
> OAC.
>
> In my opinion, sarai still seems to be on decade old technologies of  
> mailing
> lists when internet has improved to a much mature platform.
>
> I had mailed the owner once a while ago, but never got a response. I  
> wanted
> to suggest a more mature platform to the owner as I was overwhelmed  
> by the
> number of emails I get everyday on this mailing list. I am still not  
> used to
> reading all emails on sarai and there are no alternate ways of  
> looking at
> the information. I happened to read this email also by chance only.
>
> Regards,
> -Srikanth
>
> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:43 AM, Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear Sarai readers, especially the admin
>> We have discussed this a million times, but the habit of a few  
>> people to
>> put the entire list (of 2000+ subscribers) on ransom by only  
>> discussing
>> their favourite topics day-in and day-out doesn't seem to stop. I  
>> am not in
>> favour of moderating or censorship (and I love freedom of speech),  
>> but those
>> of us who post 40 emails a day should at least think about the  
>> excesses they
>> are creating in the world.
>>
>> Sometime ago someone had suggested that each subscriber should be
>> restricted to post a certain number of mails a day (maybe 2 or 4).  
>> Why can't
>> we follow something like that. I wonder if the Sarai list has the  
>> technical
>> options to automatically restrict people from posting in excess, but
>> something needs to be done desperately. These days, whenever I have  
>> any
>> conversations about Sarai among friends, everyone seems to have  
>> grown fed up
>> with it - many are thinking of unsubscribing or already have. Simply
>> deleting or ignoring the mails or applying filters is not enough.  
>> Because
>> one usually is tempted to subject headers, and one opens the Sarai  
>> mails
>> with a lot of expectation. But many a times, one gets disappointed  
>> to see a
>> sort of personal chatting going on.
>>
>> Why are we doing this hara-kiri in the name of freedom of expression.
>>
>> Yousuf
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> Critiques & Collaborations
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