I really hated the idea of posting limits at first, but must commend the list mods for implementing it. Now that there is a specific cost to replies, I have scaled back on the amount of emails I have sent and prioritized based on discussion. Another possibility would be imposing a throttle on replies to threads, e.g. 5 per thread per day. ________________________________ From: Ryan Lomonaco &lt;wiki.ral315(a)gmail.com&gt; To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List &lt;foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; Sent: Sun, November 29, 2009 9:57:12 PM Subject: [Foundation-l] Housekeeping: One user on moderation today Per the new posting limits < http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-November/056032.html…gt;, each user is limited to 30 posts per month, after which they are put on moderation. Anthony has reached 30 posts. He has been placed on moderation for about the next 19 hours or so (until about Midnight UTC, or whenever one of us happens to be at a computer around that time). Continued input on these policies, either publicly or privately, is always welcome. Thanks, Ryan Lomonaco _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

Ryan Lomonaco wrote: I think the better approach is what the moderators have occasionally done in the past, which is to kill a specific thread. And the rest of us can call out those threads as being worthless, as several people have done, or ignore them (Thomas Dalton is right about that at least). But I expect throttling threads would be counterproductive. The beneficial effect of the current moderation is that it creates space for a more inclusive discussion, by restraining "post-early-and-often" behavior. A per-thread throttle would create an incentive to encourage that behavior, by privileging those who are quickest to respond. --Michael Snow

Ryan Lomonaco wrote: It might be interesting to combine that with a throttled number of replies from one individual to another. At least for me, the lowest-value messages are often ones where two people are arguing with one another, apparently forgetting the interests of the broader audience. With either of those, before creating a firm limit, an interesting step might be notification. E.g.: Dear X: I notice that in the last 24 hours you've sent 5 messages on the topic "Pedophilia and the non-discrimination policy", with 4 of them replying to person Y. That might be more than the average list subscriber wants to read. Before you reply again, you might consider taking a break, moving the discussion off-list, or asking list moderators how valualbe they're finding the discussion. Thanks, The Foundation-L Robot My theory here is that the problem may more be lack of awareness than intentional misbehavior, making feedback a reasonable substitute for control. William

Thats a great idea! The exchanges were the biggest clog previously, and this seems like a reasonable warning to use. ________________________________ From: William Pietri &lt;william(a)scissor.com&gt; To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List &lt;foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; Sent: Mon, November 30, 2009 11:57:21 AM Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Housekeeping: One user on moderation today Ryan Lomonaco wrote: It might be interesting to combine that with a throttled number of replies from one individual to another. At least for me, the lowest-value messages are often ones where two people are arguing with one another, apparently forgetting the interests of the broader audience. With either of those, before creating a firm limit, an interesting step might be notification. E.g.:     Dear X:     I notice that in the last 24 hours you've sent 5 messages on the     topic "Pedophilia and the non-discrimination policy", with 4 of them     replying to person Y. That might be more than the average list     subscriber wants to read. Before you reply again, you might consider     taking a break, moving the discussion off-list, or asking list     moderators how valualbe they're finding the discussion.     Thanks,     The Foundation-L Robot My theory here is that the problem may more be lack of awareness than intentional misbehavior, making feedback a reasonable substitute for control. William _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l