List Standards

THE HOW-TOS OF POSTING ON SHARED WEIGHT LISTS
The Shared Weight listservs (email groups) are online communities for traditional dance, music, and song enthusiasts.  Listserv members ask for advice, share information, and discuss issues common to each of our communities.  These lists are also helpful in planning gatherings, workshops or anything else that helps to build our communities.

To minimize spam, you must be a member to post to the list.  Requests to join the list are approved by a moderator.

FIRST AND FOREMOST – we are supportive of each other!
As members of Shared Weight, we treat our fellow list members with kindness, understanding and support.  
We enjoy lively debate but prize civility.  Be conscious of the difference between facts and opinions.
Language that puts down the ideas of others or that is aggressive will not be tolerated. However, it’s also important to remember that most people do have an occasional bad day and are capable of change.

PLEASE SIGN YOUR POSTS – including your location is even better!
We deeply value the community aspect of each list and want community members to be able to easily identify each other.  You do not have to use your legal name, only a consistent name that other list members can get to know.  
If you are also willing to add your location and organization/group to each post, all the better!

ENSURE YOUR CONTENT FITS WITH THE LIST
Each list has outlined the scope conversation that is welcome and encouraged. Please make sure that your posts fit within the scope of the list your are posting on.  For instance, none of the lists are used to promote specific dance, music, or song events unless they support leader learning (e.g., individual dance weekends are not promoted; gatherings for dance organizers are). Please mind the law when citing copyrighted material, etc.

BRAND NEW FOLKS WELCOME!
The Shared Weight lists are full of folks with lots of experience.  However, those of us who have been around for quite a while certainly don’t know it all and there is always more to learn!   Just to say —> brand new leaders, organizers, callers, musicians, singers, and dancers are especially encouraged to join and pose questions.  No question is too “simple” or “basic”. 

**PLEASE** USE THESE STEPS WHEN YOU REPLY TO MESSAGES:

  • When you reply to a message, remove the original post. (This will make a BIG difference, especially to those that receive the digest version of the list.)
  • Make sure that the subject heading for your response matches the subject heading from the original email so that readers can follow the story line.  However, if  you are taking the discussion in a new direction and the original subject heading no longer applies, make sure to change the subject heading accordingly.
  • Don’t try to send private messages by replying to list postings or you may end up sharing your comments with everyone on the list.

HOW TO ACCESS THE ARCHIVES:
The archives for each list are on this website and can be searched by words in the subject line.  To make sure your messages are findable in the archive, make sure that your subject headings are relevant. 

QUESTIONS/CONCERNS?
If you have questions about a particular list or concerns about content that is being posted, email the individual list moderators. (See the list section of the website for the moderators’ emails.)