Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!decwrl!greipa!pesnta!hplabs!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwrba!cepu!ucla-cs!reiher From: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Article on Computer Message Systems Message-ID: <6257@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Sat, 6-Jul-85 04:21:48 EDT Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.6257 Posted: Sat Jul 6 04:21:48 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jul-85 04:49:05 EDT Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 23 Those interested in the ongoing debate on how Usenet should evolve (Stargate, nuking net.flame, moderated newsgroups, kicking sites off the net, newsgroup proliferation (hi rlr!), etc.) might find an article in the most recent Communications of the ACM (July 85) interesting. The article is titled "Structuring Computer-Mediated Communications Systems to Avoid Information Overload", by Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff. The systems they discuss are slightly different from Usenet, but most of their observations apply. Briefly, they seem to favor using the computer to do some filtering (in particular by keeping the discussions/participants divided into reasonably sized groups), multiple levels of control over what is seen for different levels of user experience, societal pressure to keep "outlaws" under control, and avoidance of throwing stuff out because some feel it to be "junk". If I read correctly, they would oppose removing a group like net.flame or preventing certain people/sites from posting. Their fundamental argument is that it is inappropriate to draw analogies from postal systems or phone systems. They also have something interesting to say about user perceptions of "overload". The article seems to me particularly well timed, and I urge interested parties to read and interpret it for themselves. -- Peter Reiher reiher@ucla-cs.arpa soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher