The following is a message from Jean-Marc Dupont that got lost in cyberspace
and didn't show up on CLICK4HP as intended on June 20th. The
co-facilitators appreciate JM's point that discussion should continue on a
topic for a longer period of time. We are working in an 'asynchronous'
environment, and are not all on the list-serv at the same time- unlike
chats, and do not have the opportunity of following a topic with all of its
responses. Discussion on any topic should go on as long as anyone wishes to
pursue it. - Alison Stirling <[log in to unmask]> or <[log in to unmask]>
*********************************
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 15:47:
Subject: Discussion of the week #1 - CMC
I want to start by thanking those of you who have suggested we work on
topics to see how it goes for a while. I trust people who wish to post
other comments not related specifically to the "topic of the week" will do
so.
One comment I have relates to the time factor to post and respond.
Personally, I would have liked to continue the discussion on the first
topic before moving on to the next.
I say this for a few reasons:
1) many of us cannot participate actively on the listserv on a daily basis
and thus lose the opportunity to join the debate before another topic is
started;
2) while obviously people can still refer back to a previous topics anytime
I presume, is this is done continuously, it may create some confusion for
those unable to keep track of which discussion is taking place at any given
time; and
3) we are all guilty at times of making too many assumptions in terms of
people's time, understanding and capabilities. We will never be at a stage
where everyone
on a listserv is at the same stage.
I may be actually moving on to topic two myself here ("The difference
between literal versus virtual communities"), but one thing I have noticed
is that literal time and
space provide us with a flow of communication we are born to understand
(some may argue) and socialized to accept (some may not). I suspect "left
brain" folks (y'know those of us who think conceptually first, always arrive
on time, rely on structure, etc) may have an easier time with CMC (I think
you mean computer-mediated communication here, right?) than the left
brainers.
I'm not sure of all this, but I can say that because of my time constraints
and busy schedule I have not been able to follow the CMC discussion as much
as I've wanted to:
I've had to "flag" the postings that have dealt with the discussion and
download them to read later;
then I decided one day I had to set my preferences to "digest" because my
in-box had over 140 messages in it;
then I had to read them in order so I could get an idea about what was
discussed;
then I felt a certain responsibility to contribute to the discussion;
then I had to make time to write a reply, etc...
This really doesn't say much except that for me, CMC, while critical in
keeping me connected when geography makes it difficult, has its pluses and
minuses. Just like in
literal communities, where I find myself overbooked for meetings and unable
to keep up, Here in cyberspace I also have had to make decisions around
"how much can I
contribute?"
Because of the huge potential I don't want to miss anything (yes, I'm a left
brainer!). However, while virtual space and time is different from literal
space and time, you
still need real time to contribute to the discussion space. I suspect this
may be a reason people decide to sign off certain listservs. Volume is
volume. For me, the
digest format at least reduces volume in my in-box.
This is quickly becoming too long-winded, so one last comment:
Thank you so very much Liz, Alison and Sam for your support and hard work on
Click4HP. If you could just give some of us a little more time to
contribute to your
"topics of the week" (good title eh) that would be great. As far as your
guidance,skills at summarizing, patience at explaining, etc... keep up the
great work.
JM Dupont <[log in to unmask] and http://www.web.net/~jmdupont... soon to
become
[log in to unmask] and http://www.web.net/~comsys>
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