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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