Members Listing and missing email links

[Chance]

Jim,

I am wondering why so many people are deleting their email addresses? In this type of forum IMHO providing one is the absolute least one can do in order to participate. And I am once again mentioning my suggestion for a comprehensive Members List.

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Each man's given a bag of tools,
An hourglass,
A book of rules;

And each man's built,
'ere his hour's flown,
A stumbling block -
Or a stepping stone.

[Jim]

I have to agree with Chance. I don't know why anyone would be worried about having their email addresses posted. You're performers! Wouldn't you want people to ba able to contact you?

I wish people would leave their email addresses on their profile page. That way it would also be possible to contact you directly if someone felt the need to respond privately to something you posted.

As the administrator, I have access to the email address you register with, but no one else does. For the sake of the community, please give everyone else the opportunity to communicate with you "off forum."

RE: Full Member list...
Sorry Chance. There are scripts and plug-ins for older versions of this system that make the entire member list viewable. This version came out too recently. The old plug-ins don't work with the new system yet. Give it a month or so. I'm checking all the time and as soon as some hackers write new plug-ins, I'll make it them run on this version. (This goes for the world clock and other ideas, too.)

[Irina]

It is still not so easy to figure out how to e-mail somebody who posted a message... On the old billboard there was a blue URL under each post, just inviting to reply to the author...On the new site there are all these little grey icons, you have to scroll your mouse to figure out what they mean...It's actually easier to post a reply on the forum then to reply directly to the person who posted the topic....pure psychology of perception....There are so many things 'hidden' on the new site, it is quite a challenge to learn how to move here, like walking in the labirinth...I do like hidden treasures, and figuring out how other people's minds work, but for somebody new on the site it may be totally confusing...

[DRaven]

"It's actually easier to post a reply on the forum then to reply directly to the person who posted the topic..."

Well, yes, in a way that is what a forum is for! It is better for the rest of us if discussion is carried out in the open. Still, I have to agree with all of you, it is always good to have the choice to Email people individually.

Besides, there are so many different Email providers right now that will give you free Email addresses, that if anyone is afraid of the "commitment" of giving their address (which is understandable), they can just get a new Email address just for this type of thing. And if you don't want to be checking more than one address all the time, there are even servers that will allow you to receive mail from different accounts into one server.

It's good to be able to have anonymity, but we may be limiting ourselves of making deeper connections (or business contacts) with some of the other members of this forum.

DRaven

[This message has been edited by DRaven (edited 05-07-2001).]

[martin ewen]

"It's good to be able to have anonymity,"
What as in generally, as in here I am at the Cup Final or here I am at the Nurenburg rallies.
Specifically I'd like to know what positive advantage anonymity offers.
Its happened before.
We've had, 'the pursuit of justice' excuse.
The 'this person is a bad person cos he stole my lunchbox" excuse.
I'm quite willing to accept there could be good reasons and would be interested in hearing from people that have them but am pretty much of the opinion that if you can't handle being identified with your opinions then that automaticly invalidates you from sharing them.
Personally I'm not interested in what nobodies think.(although I've always had a soft spot for people abandoned in the forest as children and bought up by pack-animals)


[This message has been edited by martin ewen (edited 05-07-2001).]

[DRaven]

Ugh! This sounds like I haven't read as many argument postings as I perhaps should have

I definitely don't agree with posting criticism without leaving a reply address. Oftentimes (from what I've been reading), these just go back and forth until someone decides to pull out, and all the other members just spend their time being amused by the argument, but not really benefiting in any constructive way. This type of battle could easily be worked privately if people decided to write to each other individually instead of through the board (from what I've been reading, many do opt for this, and that seems to be the most sensible thing to do as it frees the board for other types of discussions).

Now, there also have to be some pros to anonymity. If a person is only putting up a topic for discussion, (as long as it's not of the "evil" kind), there really is no need to include your address.

I don't know. As I said before (on my previous posting), I keep my anonymity by having a separate Email address just for this type of thing. That way, I know where all the messages I get there come from, and if I feel my address is being abused, I can just get a new one depending on the circumstances let some people in the board know about the change and others not.

DRaven

[Chance]

The bottom line is that this board was designed to provide two basic services: to bring together a community of notoriously itinerant and hard to locate buskers and provide an equal voice to all, and then to provide easy access by festival promoters and other kinds of talent agents to these same entertainers (and vice-versa). If annonymity is what you (read: anyone) needs most, then how do you expect to fully participate?

[DRaven]

I guess I'm thinking more of a global anonimity, and not just a "virtual" one (internet related).

As I said before, I feel that I can give you my Email address and still keep my anonimity. Taking that into consideration, I guess I really can't find a reasonable excuse not to give the rest of the people in the forum at least one way to contact you outside of the forum. I don't know...

Anybody else has anything to say about this?

[This message has been edited by DRaven (edited 05-09-2001).]

[GlassHarper]

I never thought I'd need anonymity on the web until I made the great mistake of registering with a computer data base exposition here in New Orleans for further information. Almost immediately I began to receive tons of offers for erotic websites. At my age (and condition) I have no need for erotic websites. So every day I have to pay a cybercafe for the privilege of deleting ten or more spam messages.
I'll continue with the same e-mail address. however, since it's on my business cards and other promotional material and I do get job offers that way.
In my next life I'll know enough to get a "free" address that I can use for things that might result in garbage.

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Peter (the New Orleans GlassHarper) Bennett