PSE FAQ: Fluff

From: Wes
Date: January 9, 2001

There was another poly list I was on a while back that, like this one, started seeing a bit of traffic. Some of it was actual poly stuff... relationship issues and advice, website postings, get-together announcements.

Buuuuuut some of it was "me too's," gentle wisecracks based on earlier posts, posts that added another punchline to THOSE posts, people recommending their favorite CD's... you get the picture.

Now, this may shock you... make sure you're seated. Some people posted actual *complaints* about the non-poly related stuff. Seems they figured if they were gonna get three gazillion posts a day, they at least wanted it to be on-topic. 8)

So, the list admin, in a stroke of genius, made the following requests:

If you make a post that isn't about poly, put the word FLUFF: as the first thing in the subject line.
If a thread changes to the point where it's a 'me too' or a wisecrack, change the header by inserting FLUFF: as the first word.
If a FLUFF: post starts actually talking about Real Poly^TM stuff again, take the word FLUFF: out of the header so that non-fluff-reading people will know to pay attention to it and respond appropriately.
If in doubt about something being on or off-topic, put FLUFF?? as the first word in the header to make that clear. (For some reason two question marks stand out a lot better than one when scrolling quickly.)
Make sure FLUFF: is the first word, and in all caps if possible. This makes it much easier to see when scrolling.

This policy really balanced things out for people. Posters didn't feel like they were being censored, and readers had the choice of just skimming or deleting the off-topic stuff if they didn't have time for it. It turned into a very self-policing, generally-cool situation.

Wes

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