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3.3: The "TAN:" Subject Header (rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan)




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This article is from the Robert Jordan FAQ, by John S. Novak, III jsn@concentric.net with numerous contributions by others.

3.3: The "TAN:" Subject Header (rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan)

It is inevitable that there will be threads that do not directly
pertain to the books, and it is inevitable that this sort of thing
will annoy some people. In order to keep things civilized, it is
suggested that such discussions be labeled "TAN:" for
"tangential." For example:

Subject: TAN: Warder Applications
Subject: TAN: Plot Contest
Subject: TAN: What did Lanfear give Roy for his birthday?

Please note that this is as official a sanction as is
feasible regarding tangential, or off-topic discussions.
This document makes such a sanction because, on observing the
newsgroup since day one of its inception and having canvassed
the newsgroup members publically, the FAQ maintainer firmly
believes the regular participants of the newsgroup prefer
it this way. Therefore, please do not complain about the
amount of off-topic conversation; especially during the
long periods between books, it is a fact of life.

However, as always, the first rule of newsgroup etiquette (as
pointed out in Section 3.1 above) is "please read the newsgroup for a
while." Analogizing the newsgroup to a sports bar, you can be sure
that striking up an on-topic conversation (about a current basketball
game, in the sports bar; about Robert Jordan, here) is going to be
safe and well-received. Trying to branch out into off-topic
conversations will probably not be well-regarded (in fact, will
probably be ignored) if begun before you have gotten a feel for the
personalities around you, and vice-versa. It's human nature.

This is not a call for drive-by postings, as it were, and it is
MOST CERTAINLY NOT a sanction on SPAM. Thinking back to the
sports bar concept, no one likes people who walk in off the street,
shout something and leave, or try to address the whole bar about, say,
Tolstoy, when that person has never set foot in the bar before. And
annoying salesmen are ejected swiftly and painfully.

 

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