> I'm trying to figure out how to get the point of the FAQ across to the
> group. I've gotten few comments on the content on the FAQ, though it's
> incomplete and has a lot of open questions. But the same questions keep
> getting asked, and a noticeable percentage of the readers don't seem to
> have a basic knowledge of Usenet etiquette. The last time I perused
> new.announce.newusers, the only mention I saw of FAQ etiquette was buried
> toward the bottom of one of the postings.
You're certainly not alone. I think that FAQ awareness and Net etiquette in
general have the same problem: the stage at which one asks FAQs and the
like comes before the stage at which one is hip enough to read FAQ lists
and follow other Usenet conventions. I don't know of a good solution.
Some newsreaders have a new-user page which points one to
news.announce.newusers, and some might even say something about FAQs (did
anyone ever write FAQ retrieval into a newsreader, as has been discussed
here in the past?) but I doubt that someone hot to get their first glimpse
of the fabled treasures of cyberspace stops to read them.
I (and other readers of my favorite groups) do at least try to minimize the
time-to-hipness, by not letting an FAQ slip by without letting the poster
know that it was an FAQ. *Don't* include the answer, just a pointer to the
FAQ, to get FAQ access into their muscle memory. I use a script to mail a
(polite but firm) form letter, so it takes very little effort per FAQ post,
and I make a little cannon-fire noise with my mouth when I use it to enhance
the experience. It might be somewhat more helpful to novices if I posted
(presumably more than one novice would read the reply) but it would be
infinitely more annoying to regulars.
Cheers,
-- | Dave Schweisguth For purposes of complying with | | dcs@proton.chem.yale.edu (MIME OK) the New Jersey Right to Know Act: | | http://proton.chem.yale.edu/~dcs/ Contents partially unknown. | | Yale Depts. of MB&B & Chemistry Phone: 203-432-5208 Fax: 203-432-6144 |
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