On 11/25/2012 2:15 AM, Julia Mosman wrote IN PART: > > Hello - > > My list was experiencing flaming ... > Anyway, how have other List Admins handled this? Do you leave > moderation on for all the list? Do you decide which persons are the > main offenders, and only moderate them? ... Julia: Don't beat yourself up about this, but I think you waited *WAY* too long to moderate the list. (Call it a learning experience.) If I get one personal attack on list, I moderate the author. If it's bad enough, I moderate the list immediately, as well; with the appearance of a second, I moderate that person and ALWAYS the list. Depending on the severity, after the first or second offensive post I send a polite but firm reminder to the list that a) this behavior is not acceptable, and why; b) I am handling it; and c) *NO* further comment about the incident is permitted ON LIST. Of course, since the list would then be on moderation, all that c) tells me is who isn't grasping the concept. I invite discussion with me, personally and off-list, with NO consequences. I have never received anything so bad I would have reported it to the author's ISP, which would be the only exception to the "no consequences" rule. My lists are accustomed to my "no discussion of admin matters on list" rule, but when I first instituted it it could take as long as 36 hours for my reminder to take effect. (Many people wait a while to check their e-mail, and read and answer messages in the order received.) I usually leave the list on moderation for two or three days, depending on what is coming through pending. Here are two of my list rules that are relevant to this discussion. I have eight rules overall, which haven't changed in ages. You can see them at: <http://home.sprynet.com/~darrellm/list_rules.htm> --------------------- 4. Be polite. You may contradict any idea expressed on this list as vigorously as you like, if your language is cordial and non-personal and you are not disrupting the list as a whole. Another way of putting it, is this: if you flame, you’re gone. It doesn’t matter who you are, or how much you believe you have contributed to the list. 5. Praise publicly, complain privately. Except to provide evidence correcting statements of fact, all criticism of others or their messages should be sent to me, privately. Another exception: if I should happen to say something you like as admin, don't clutter up the list with the e-mail equivalent of the Parliamentary "Hear, Hear!" --------------------- For what it may be worth. Darrell