From: esti@quads.uchicago.edu (Paul A. Estin)
Subject: Re: WELCOME TO REC.ARTS.COMICS (part 4 of 6)
Reply-To: esti@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: U. Michigan Cognitive Psychology
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 06:13:17 GMT

WELCOME TO REC.ARTS.COMICS (part 4 of 6)
written by lots of different people
edited by Paul A. Estin

[last update: 8/26/92]

4. guidelines for posting articles

	First, if you haven't already done so, read the articles in
news.announce.newusers, especially "A Primer on How to Work with the
USENET Community".  In fact, go read it even if you've read it before;
the article contains many helpful suggestions.

	After you've done that, read these r.a.c-specific comments:

* Think about your audience.
	Make sure you post to the proper newsgroup, as explained in
Part 1, on the r.a.c hierarchy and related newsgroups.

* Have something to say, and support your arguments
	Post because you want to say something about comics, or ask
a question about comics.  Don't post to satisfy your ego.  Respect
other posters' opinions, though you may disagree with them.  When
arguing a point, rational argument with examples is preferable to
sheer volume, or, worse, to personal attack.  Say something
substantive, that others would like to read and perhaps reply to.

* Never forget that the person on the other side is human.
	This is a generally a friendly, tolerant newsgroup, and we
like to keep it that way.  One of the things which can destroy the
pleasant atmosphere around here are "flames": inflammatory, insulting
posts.  People send articles saying things that they would never say
to one another in person, perhaps because of the anonymity that
electronic newsgroups provide.  Please refrain from doing this.  There
*are* people on the other end of your message, and they're likely to
take offense at your taking offense.  The result is called a "flame
war", and it wastes the time of everybody on the newsgroup.  When you
respond to an article, even one with which you vehemently disagree,
try to respond to the *article*, not the poster; give reasoned
rebuttal, not personal invective.  Also, try not to dash off a reply
in anger; you may regret it later.  Instead, wait until after you've
had some sleep and calmed down, before you reply.  Finally, note that
the best way to avoid a flame war with someone who is *obviously*
looking for "attention" is to *ignore* that person.

* Special note on "taste wars"...
	Of late, there's been an increasing amount of people bashing
one another's tastes, using such invectives as "DC fans suck", "I
hate you Marvel Zombies", "Marvel haters are a bunch of pretentious
jerks", and so forth.  The newsgroup r.a.c.xbooks was incorporated,
for example, in hopes of splitting off those who read and rave about
Marvel's X-titles from those who don't want to hear any more about
them.  Similarly, there seems to be an eternal war between the Rob
Liefield likers and haters.
	Consider this a special case of the above two categories.
Have something to say, support your arguments, and argue against
another post's substance or lack thereof, not to your assumed
perception of its author.  It *is* perfectly acceptable to post
something like "People who read nothing but Marvel comics should try
to look at some other comics; if you enjoyed <X> you might like <Y>
from company <Z>.  Here's why..." or "I'm tired of people bashing
those of us who read Marvel; I happen to *like* reading books <X> and
<A>.  Here's why..."  Either of these sorts of posts is a *lot* more
likely to convince people of the Rightness of Your Opinions than is
loud spleen-venting.
	Furthermore, as a general rule, either liking or disliking an
*entire company's output* is a position of questionable merit.  For
example, I myself have stopped reading most (but not all) Marvel and
non-"mature readers" DC titles.  Why?  Because, *to me*, those books
tend to be more concerned with fights, cross-overs, popular characters
as guest stars, and editorial/financial dictates than they are with
letting a writer an artist tell an interesting (to me) story.  I've
gotten to the point where I tend to follow favorite writers and (to a
lesser extent) artists, instead of characters or companies.  I
*won't*, however, assume that "all Marvel books are bad"; if someone
(with good arguments, especially one whose opinions I respect)
recommends a Marvel book, I may well check it out.  On the flip side,
though, I *will* tend to assume that someone who reads nothing *but*
Marvel comics (for example) is either unaware of the existence of the
wares of other companies (a position I myself was in, many years ago)
and may appreciate tactful "enlightenment", or is for whatever reason
unwilling to consider such comics.  It is *possible* that the person
has tried alternative fare and simply wasn't interested, but that, to
me, seems a less likely possibility.
	At the same time, though, people here *can* get awfully
pretentious.  The best thing to do, again, no matter which side you're
on, is to back up your posts with *substance*, and to reply to
specifics, because much of the arguing is due to misunderstanding
another's position.

* Be careful with humor and sarcasm.
	Subtle humor tends to be missed in text-only form.  There is a
standard net method for indicating sarcasm: the "smiley", a group of
symbols which look like a smiley-face on its side, like this :-)

* Use mail, don't post a follow-up
	Many types of replies are best given by private electronic
mail, not posted to the entire newsgroup audience.  This seems
obvious, but many people ignore this.  For example, if someone posts a
poll or a trivia contest, you should reply to them by electronic mail.
Don't post!

* Don't overdo signatures
	You can include a signature on the end of your posts.  (In
"rn", if you create a ".signature" file, it will be added
automatically.)  But keep it short.  Nothing is more boring than
wading through the same long signature repeated on multiple articles.
A maximum of four lines is suggested (and, on some systems, four is
the maximum possible). You may see some frequent posters use longer
.sigs. In general, these are people who include particularly interesting
quotes (or original writing) in their .sigs and change it on a weekly
or even per message frequency. Ascii art, borders, etc. is old hat to
most people, and multiple quotes in a single .sig are definitely frowned on.

* Read all follow-ups and don't repeat what has already been said
	This is especially important for answering questions that lots
of people know the answers to, such as "What's the name of that bald
guy who founded the X-Men?" or "When did Elrod last appear in
Cerebus?"  If you want to respond to an article or query, mark it (use
the "M" key in "rn"), make sure no one has already said what you want
to, and *then* go back and reply.  Or, just be safe and answer by
e-mail instead of posting.

* Don't repost just because there were no follow-ups
	Don't assume that, simply because there weren't any follow-ups
to your post, that it didn't go out. *Most* messages do not generate
any follow-ups.  If you go and post the message again, simply because
it didn't cause discussion the first time, you will simply annoy
others and make yourself look foolish. If you're really concerned about
whether your posts are making it out, you might email someone at a site
other than yours and ask if they'd check if they've received your posts. 

* Double-check follow-up newsgroups and distributions
	"Cross-posting" is the practice of posting the same article to
multiple newsgroups.  If you're posting a review about the Akira
movie, for example, then it would be relevant to the newsgroups
rec.arts.anime and rec.arts.movies.reviews.  Depending what you have
to say (perhaps you are comparing the film to the manga version), it
might also be relevant to rec.arts.comics.misc or rec.arts.manga.  But
try to limit crossposts as much as possible, and when you feel you
*must* cross-post, include a "Follow-up:" line to only one of the
newsgroups (in the sample case, probably "Follow-up: rec.arts.anime").
	"Distribution" refers to how far a post will propagate.  While
the majority of r.a.c. readers and posters seem to be from the United
States, there have been posts from Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Asia,
and Australia/New Zealand obviously meaning there are readers there as
well. For general comics matters, the correct distribution will be "world"
so as not to leave anyone out who isn't from your state/province, country,
or continent. On the flip side, if you're posting about a local event, 
post to "local" distribution or whatever is appropriate (e.g., "nj" for
New Jersey).  Sometimes it's hard to tell what's appropriate; thus, if 
you're telling people about a convention in the Boston area, and some 
people from outside Massachusetts might be interested (likely true), then 
you may wish to post to a wider area, like "usa" or "na".  But try to 
apologize in advance when you do. Also, distributions don't always work, 
so if you in California see a post for a small 1-day convention in Boston,
don't flame or otherwise admonish the poster without first checking that
the distribution line isn't in fact "ne" and the post has escaped its
attempted limitation.

* Cite appropriate references
	In r.a.c, this means that it's preferable to include your
source when stating "news" or "rumors".  For example, you might say,
"I read in Amazing Heroes Preview that John Byrne is leaving the
Avengers."  That's preferable to stating "I heard that..."

* Mark Answers or Spoilers
	Ever had someone tell you events in a movie that you wanted to
see, spoiling the surprise?  It's the same with comics.  If something
you say might "give away" information about a new comic, state
"WARNING: SPOILERS" at the beginning and/or header of your article.
Also, insert a "<ctrl>L" so that the article doesn't scroll.  In the
"emacs" editor, this is done by typing <ctrl>Q followed by <ctrl>L.
In the "vi" editor, type <ctrl>V and then <ctrl>L. Note that the <ctrl>L
must be the first character on a line for this to work. If you include
quoted text which includes a <ctrl>L, you'll have to remove the quote
indicator character(s) or space in front of it for it to work.

* suggestions for "subject prefixes and kill files"
	[deleted for brevity; ask Jim Drew or myself for a copy]

* suggestions for reviews

	There are several people who post reviews of comics
periodically.  Feel free to post your own reviews.  Jim Drew has
helpfully provided the following suggested guidelines:

Jim's Rules of Review (like Robert's Rules of Order, and followed as often B-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Don't review it if there is nothing to say about it.
2. Don't review *everything.*
3. Have a broad spectrum of reviews -- include something no one else will.
    3.a. Don't be *too* esoteric -- include something from Marvel or DC, too.
4. Develop a style for your reviews that is uniquely your own.
5. Discuss the plot/themes/art/etc.  "I liked it" is insufficient.

People can e-mail Jim Drew directly for the expanded discussion.
	jrd@frame.com

[end of Part 4]
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Feel free to send additions, corrections, suggestions, comments to:

Paul Andrew Estin
esti@midway.uchicago.edu  (best address to use)
Office: 330 Packard Rd.  Ann Arbor, MI 48104

and remember:
"There are no net.gods, just some people with bigger mouths than others."
	- Dan'l DanehyOakes, net.roach
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc