SEELANGS, R.I.P.?

[Alexandra Popoff]

I want to thank Prof. Eliot Borenstein for sharing useful information 
and discussing some alternatives to SEELANGS.

Alexandra Popoff

Eliot Borenstein wrote:

> Dear Comrades in Slavdom,
>
> The current exchange of screeds about Pussy Riot has finally 
> crystalized something for me:  SEELANGS, in its current incarnation, 
> has outlived its usefulness.
>
> When it began in the 1990s, it was a fairly innovative, unprecedented 
> means for Slavists to communicate with each other.  In the nearly two 
> decades that I have been on SEELANGS (may Veles have mercy on me!), 
> I've observed a fairly predictable climate pattern for this list.  For 
> weeks or even months at time, it will be used to exchange information 
> about what might be called "important trivia": details about 
> translations, textbooks, online resources, and breaking news about the 
> fall of the yers.  Then something vaguely political, ideological, or 
> controversial comes up, the trolls come out of hiding, and flame wars 
> ensue.  The the fires are put out, and we're back to discussing stress 
> patterns and pedagogy.
>
> But as the Internet has evolved, much of what has always been annoying 
> about SEELANGS has become almost unbearable.  Because SEELANGS, as an 
> unmoderated list, simply should no longer exist.
>
> I submit that the age of mass-subscriber, unmoderated lists has long 
> since passed.  Many of us are also on the various H-NET lists 
> (particularly H-RUSSIA), and those are largely non-intrusive: they 
> amount to announcements, research queries, and the like.  While 
> complaining about SEELANGS is a common pastime among many Slavists I 
> know, H-RUSSIA doesn't usually excite as much animus. 
>
> The solution is not moderation (at least, not in the administrative 
> sense of the word).  The solution is moving to an entirely different 
> platform. 
>
> Consider this: in the best of times, most of the information exchange 
> on SEELANGS is of an interest to only a small subset of its 
> subscribers.  But we stay on, because we don't want to miss something 
> unpredictably relevant. Eventually a political topic emerges, and, 
> for  a week or so, the list degenerates into competitive victimology.  
> And many of us get annoyed that our "inboxes are being clogged up" by 
> this stuff.
>
> The problem here is that the material is irrelevant, but not 
> irrelevant enough.  Personally, I read this material with a morbid 
> fascination, and then berate myself for losing time on it.  And I 
> suspect I'm not alone. But think how different the Pussy Riot 
> discussion would have felt if it had been a thread on a blog. On a 
> listserv, it feels like spam.  On a blog, it's just another thread.
>
> A blog would rid us of the many minor irritations that listserv 
> technology inflicts, to wit:
>
> 1) Endlessly embedded message threats (really annoying on a portable 
> device).
>
> 2) Cyrillic encoding problems (messages that turn into a series of 
> question marks)
>
> 3) Painfully embarrassing misaddressed messages (replying to the list 
> instead of the to the post's author)
>
> The objection might be raised that people are unlikely to visit the 
> blog, and will miss valuable information.  This is easily addressed by 
> retaining the skeleton of the SEELANGS list and linking it to the 
> blog.  The blog could, by default, send out daily or weekly summaries 
> of the topics on which there have been postings (not unlike the table 
> of contents in the "digest" setting of the list). 
>
> Social media would be an even better solution, but I don't think the 
> time has come yet.  I suspect there is a significant portion of 
> SEELANGERS who hate Facebook, and would refuse to join (I share their 
> feeling--I only joined Facebook so as not to feel like Grandpa 
> Simpson). Google+ looks to be about as popular as the Microsoft Zune, 
> and if there is no critical mass, there is no point. 
>
> I send this out for consideration--I don't really know how such a 
> thing would be decided or approved.  I'm planning in the 
> not-too-distant future to announce what I hope will be a vibrant and 
> useful web presence for NYU's new Jordan Family Center for the 
> Advanced Study of Russia, but this would obviously not be an 
> appropriate home for an endeavor like SEELANGS. Somehow, the AATSEEL 
> membership should consider the possible options.  But in any case,  I 
> really think it's time to put this creaky old technology to rest.
>
>
>
> Eliot Borenstein, Acting Chair
> Collegiate Professor
> Professor, Russian & Slavic Studies
> Provostial Fellow
> New York University
> 19 University Place, Room 210
> New York, NY 10003
> (212) 998-8676 (office)
> 212-995-4163 (fax)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription 
> options, and more. Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at: 
> http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/ 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/seelang/attachments/20120320/cb8181ba/attachment.html>