At 04:19 PM 7/5/98 EDT, Birders2 at aol.com wrote:
> Just as we dress
>appropriately for different occasions,

We do? Are you sure? Do you know who "we" are?

> we have to adjust our language for different occasions and places.

Of course. I don't swear in court, nor do I swear at police officers
who pull me over (not that it ever happens to me).

But ... this is tweeters. Free-wheelin' by definition.

If you find the list offensive, there's a simple solution, which I'm
certain you're bright enough to figure out without any help from me...

>What we forget on the net is we do not know who is going to be the end reader
>of our message.

Bullshit.

For starters, I hate it when relative newcomers to the net start pontificating
as though they know something about it. I've been online since 1980, or
thereabouts.

As for the "bullshit" bit, we know perfectly well who will be the end
readers of our message - it will be those people who willingly sign up
for tweeters and are willing to put up with a large volume of messages,
good and bad, relevant and not, civil and vulgar, each and every day.

> Remember, for every one of us who post to a BB

Let me repeat:

"For starters, I hate it when relative newcomers to the net start
pontificating
as though they know something about it. I've been online since 1980, or
thereabouts."

It's not a bulletin board, bub - it's a mailing list. If you're going to
pontificate, at least get the jargon straight.

>So remember what you would not
>say in front of a group of people that you do not know you should not say on
>the net, because most of your readers are unknown to you even if they share
>your interest in birding.

That's an easy one. I've never said a damned thing here that I wouldn't say
in a group of strangers facing me in an audience. Or, for that matter, that
I haven't at one time or another said to a group of strangers facing me in
an audience, in a class, or on a field trip.


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net