Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Ah, if only they did  . You only see where the posts end up, Rich. You don't see the dozen posts a day from such people that we MOVE into that forum, because the poster has posted them elsewhere: News, Reading Recommendations, or whatever. |
Thank you, Harry (and the other moderators) for the nearly invisible work that you do that makes MR an enjoyable virtual community to move about in. Many of us just show up and research or play in the setting, without perceiving or thinking about all the labor that goes into creating it, including Neil's hearty welcomes to newcomers in the Introduce Yourself forum.
I very much doubt that Neil was taking a stand about pre-emptively excluding people who don't list devices from joining the community. Rather, the absence of a device is a clue, especially when combined with a self-identification as a writer, that MAY signal a pattern of future non-participation. This pattern is likely to be far more visible to those who pay the closest attention, often those who are themselves putting in the most effort.
Such a pattern was invisible to me, until this discussion. Precisely because of the housekeeping that the moderators do, it's possible to easily avoid the authors' self-promotion forum, and I therefore have very little sense of their participation levels over time. But I trust Neil's and Harry's judgment in this matter, due to their very sensible voices, their roles, their length of experience, and the degree of care that they exhibit at and for MR. They are positioned to have a perspective that is not as accessible to the casual observer, and they are doing a lot of the work.
What I sense from Neil's initial post is frustration and a questioning of the value of spending his (very limited free) time welcoming newcomers who really have no intention of ever contributing anything to the community beyond announcing their book titles. Maybe I'm overempathizing from a feminist standpoint, but this would seem to call for sympathy with the frustration, appreciation of the past work, and brainstorming ways to distribute the workload more equably -- for example, by having those who appreciate indie writers' appearance in the forum do more greeting! (This is not a jab at anamardoll, who contributes in numerous ways.)
Unfortunately, the whole issue of who are "good" community members cuts a little close to the bone for many of us who lurk more than we contribute (like myself). This thread has thus raised many concerns that people not be excluded, e.g., because of an inability to afford a device. My default position is also to encourage inclusion, but it feels terribly lopsided to me not to also recognize that advocating on behalf of wide-open inclusion creates costs for the community that freeriders don't contribute towards paying.