[pct-l] On Topic/Off Topic
Wayne Kraft
wayneskraft at comcast.net
Sun Oct 1 19:35:23 CDT 2006
I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but this venerable e-mail
list appears to be terminally ill. Only bland posts relating to the
PCT nuts and bolts (water here, none there; saw so-and-so in Section
E yesterday; can you buy Heet at El Cajon? etc.) seem to pass
muster. With this obvious exception, I've stopped posting to this
list. Even though I've been monitoring it for 3 years, I can't tell
what is acceptable and what isn't. Any humorous banter or
controversial subject matter is subject to censure by the nattering
nabobs of negativity. Recently the topic of forest fires was banned
on this list. This is inconceivable to me. I can't imagine a topic
more relevant and pressing to anyone who hikes the PCT. At the
moment, I would say that the banter initiated by Reinhold and
Switchback is about all that keeps this list alive. Data is useful,
a chuckle is priceless.
The email list format is just about deceased everywhere. I think
only the glory of the PCT itself and the vast personal store of
knowledge possessed by some of the subscribers has kept this email
list alive so late in the game. The PCT, as a topic, could certainly
support an internet discussion forum and a few rather lame attempts
have been made to create such a resource in the past. The only one
with a half-decent format was created by a person whose contributions
to this list have been so incessantly negative that apparently no one
has any desire to participate.
What the PCT needs is something like this, but I haven't the
technical expertise to create it:
http://portlandhikers.com/default.aspx
Wayne Kraft
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