I suppose it's time for some comment from me about the length of the FML.
From what I can determine, most of you don't mind if it stays the way it
is now - in other words, once daily and as lengthy as it may happen to be.
That's certainly the easiest route, and not one I'm ruling out, but I'd
also like you to be aware of potential problems with this approach and
let you know that suggests and comments are welcome, though it might make
more sense to send them to me directly if they are not of general interest.
 
As for problems: well...
1) several people have written me saying that they can't read the FML *at all*
due to limitations of the software they are using to read email.  That's a
shame, since they'd love to read the whole bloody FML if only their software
would allow them to do so.
2) Many people pay for email access - sometimes character by character - thus
longer issues cost them more.
3) Along the same lines, long issues are just a plain waste of resources if
they are unnecessarily repetitive/wordy/trivial.  The FML and the back issues
take a heck of a lot of space already and I'm hoping CUNY doesn't lose patience
with all of this.
4) Long issues take me longer to edit. Some days I don't have to do any editing
all, but then there are days like today where things were a mess and I spent
an hour editing (and removed/consolidated some 150 lines in the process).
5) In the last few months I'd estimate that about 25 to 35 people asked to be
unsubscribed specifically because the FML was too much to handle - either
individually or because of limitations of their computers (or more usually,
the computers of their employers).  Of course, most people never give a reason
when they unsubscribe, so those numbers might not be representative of the
scope of the problem.
 
OK, so those are some reasons why we may want to consider shorter issues.  The
trouble though is that I think it's easier to identify the problems than it is
to fix them.  At least for the short term I'm doing a few things to keep things
under control such as:
- rewording the "welcome" message to strongly suggest the new subscriber reads
  the FAQs before posting
- replying to some things myself instead of posting them (that doesn't happen
  *too* often, but believe me, it's appropriate and you're not missing out :-))
- forwarding inappropriate postings elswhere
- tighter editing of attributed text
- holding some postings received on busy days to the hopefully lighter next day
 
But long term, as the number of subscribers continue to grow, I suspect all of
that won't make much of a dent.  Here are some ideas which I'll through out
randomly - feel free to let me your opinions about them:
 
-Send out the FML any time it reaches a certain size. This poses some technical
obstacles, especially with the numbering system - but probably it can be worked
out.  Or is the numbering system useless now that the FML comes out once a day
and the issue numbers should be scrapped?
-Rejecting postings asking questions that are answered in the FAQs
-I can investigate automatically splitting the FML into two pieces when it's
 sent - though there's no standard way of doing so which satisfies everyone.
-Eliminate all but the barest of signatures
-Enforce a size limit for posts
-Enforce a limit to the frequency of individual subscribers posting
 
I'd rather not get too heavily into the "rules" stuff - this is a fun list
with a great bunch of people and I think silly rules will change the character
of the list in ways I'd rather not see, but anyhow, those are some suggestions.
Now... what do you all think?
 
Bill
[Posted in FML issue 1158]