time to moderate bionet.virology

[Steven_H Harwood]

On 15 May 1995, Caryn Swensen wrote:

> Amy Lotto wrote:
> 
>  
> > With all the traffic that has hit this group in the course of the last
> > week, maybe a new group should be considered temporarily specifically for
> > those who wish to discuss the goings on in Africa.  I have non idea how
> > this is done(the creation of a new newsgroup) but I would certainly
> > appreciate it.
> > 
> If this is done, the group would be filled with conspiracy
> theories and posts from people who have a passing interest in
> the current outbreak. I came to this group long before this as
> a lay person (and I still am), and THIS is where I get the real
> information from people who are studying this professionally.
> 
I think the problem lies where when a sensational event like an outbreak 
of Ebola (following just weeks/months after a book and sensationalist 
movie about such a virus) occurs, lots of people tend to chime in without 
spending more time reading the existing posts and also not carefully 
considering if what they are saying really contributes anything to the 
discussion. Listen and read, first, and then post if you have something to 
add or a question that hasn't already been asked.  I got 195 messages 
from the Virology and Promed newsgroups over the weekend, and at least 80% 
were repeats or rehashes of previous posts.

Steve> > >