Re: Technical Question

In article <44f8aee8$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Pogonip <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Jane wrote:
K Barrett wrote:

Why would anyone post something not pertaining to mysteries on a newsgroup
called rec.arts.mysteries?

K Barrett


I suppose for the same reason they do it on soc.history.medieval,
and every other newsgroup (and e-mail discussion group) I've ever seen
that isn't strictly moderated. And I do mean strictly.

I think most people seem to post, or not, on newsgroups and e-mail
discussion lists less for the topic than for the people--I know an
awful lot of mystery writers, but even at conventions we don't spend
all (or even most) of our time discussing mysteries. People seem to
come together on Usenet and Listserv and all the rest of them mostly in
search of a community, and the topic is the point of common interest.

I don't think most people who come to these groups are looking to
discuss topic A as much as they're looking for people they can talk to.


It's often the same with Meet-Ups. I'm in the middle of trying to
put together a Meet-Up for people who speak (or want to learn to speak)
continental Portuguese (we have to do something about my accent here,
or shoot it), and I know from experience that if the group works, if it
stays together, it will NOT be spending most of its time discussing (or
speaking in) continental Portuguese. I have a friend who goes to a
group called Stitch and Bitch, for people who knit, and the name is
there because the woman who organized it just sort of accepted from the
beginning that they weren't going to be discussing knitting all the
time, although they do more of it than they would if they were a group
of people who came together with something else in common to begin
with.

There's an awful lot of OT on RAM and most of it isn't
political--recipes, food polls, travelogues, jokes, personal
information. And people get together offline and meet each other in
person, send each other food and candy and even books, try to help each
other find jobs or make moves.

And there you have it. Jane's Psychological Profile of the
Success Usenet Newsgroup.

Or something.

Jane Haddam
http://www.janehaddam.com


This strikes me as dead-on. It is the common interest in mysteries, not
the actual mystery novels themselves, that is the glue that holds this
newsgroup together.

I think that it is also the kind of thinking that mystery readers do
that extends into other areas of our lives. We tend to think of
politics, economics, food, travel, etc., a bit differently than "the man
on the street."

We see Rik's travelogues as adventures and explorations into the
mysteries of the locales he visits, so to speak. It is quite different
from, say, "on Tuesday we ate breakfast, then went to this art museum
and looked at the paintings.."

We explore ways to get chocolate delicacies from one country to another,
and experiment with marshmallow atrocities, and judiciously compare
mayonnaise and salad dressings.

We approach each situation, each idea, each event as a mysterious object
to be examined, explored, and perhaps even solved.

Yep, that's why I follow RAM and occasionally contribute, mostly to
books and movies threads. It really is a sort of neighborhood from which
one can learn. RAM seems very civil compared to some of the others I
have tried and simply quit because the flaming and moronic, chauvinistic
attitudes. It's fun to 'listen' to the regulars throw opinions back and
forth.

Certainly, I don't feel as if I absolutely MUST read each and every
thread - even though I usually do.

Thanks for being here.
***

--
Everybody is right.
-Rochefoucault
.

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