Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: buzzard@world.std.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: Time for rec.arts.int-fiction.moderated?
Message-ID: <Grs2Kq.59s@world.std.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 11:29:14 GMT
References: <RNic8.30280$Wd6.481490071@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com> <20020218231839.01016.00001104@mb-cu.aol.com> <3c71e568$0$22477$3c090ad1@news.plethora.net> <Xns91BA233A9CFB7cinnamononenet@209.249.90.101>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
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Xref: news.duke.edu rec.arts.int-fiction:100168

atholbrose  <cinnamon@one.net> wrote:
>This newsgroup has one of the highest signal-to-noise ratios of ANY
>newsgroup I read, and has for years. There is little to no crossposting
>(except with rec.games.int-fiction), few trolls, little flamage. I ask:
>what cruft?

The third word of that first line should be "had".

There has been a lot of trolling (or unbelievable incompetence)
over the last three or so months. There has been an unbelievable
amount of off-topic posting. Unfortunately my ISP doesn't keep
a very big spool, so I can't go and ennumerate the last two weeks
posts for you.

Instead, I went to google, and got the following results:
   Search Feb 1 to Feb 18, 2002: 3,380 posts
   Search Feb 1 to Feb 18, 2001:   660 posts
   Search Feb 1 to Feb 18, 2000:   700 posts

For the 2002 case, that's nearly 200 posts a day if it's accurate.
(If you go check this yourself, you'll see google display
'threads 1-10 of 3,380'--the latter number must be posts, not
threads, since there are only 208 threads.)

Google organizes threads by subject line, so it's difficult get
a thorough analysis, but here are some of the large off-topic
threads:

    the ultimate IF archive (365 articles)
    Click to Agree? (was Re: the ultimate IF archive) (60 articles)
    leaving the archive at the archive (12 articles)
    Best free code editors? (48 articles)
    Feminine Curiosity (195 articles)
    Pronouncing glulx (44 articles)
    AMERICAN SPELLING! (22 articles)
    This Newsgroup (13 articles)
    PLAYER, X THYSELF (34 articles, at least 2/3 are off-topic)
    American vs. British Spelling (186 articles)
    PUZZLES for your games (free) (27 articles)
    Philosphical COYA: "Staying Alive" (44 articles--really belongs
       in a philosophy newsgroup, but at least rgif not raif)

And then there's lots of smaller threads and pieces of
threads that wandered OT. If you just look at the threads
on google, most of them look on-topic, but then most of
the on-topic threads are short, and most of the OT threads
are long.

This is why I don't think drowning out the noise with the
signal is going to be effective; I for one don't want to
spend the time needed to read the newsgroup at 150 posts/day.

SeanB
