Re: META: Enforcement of mandatory subject labeling

From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Sat Mar 29 2003 - 14:52:49 MST

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    > John K Clark wrote:
    > > There has been a request to label posts that deal with certain events in
    a
    > > country whose name must not be spoken. I'm happy to comply but I am
    curious,
    > > what's the big deal? The time it takes to set up elaborate filters and
    write
    > > posts complaining that other posts are not properly labeled is much
    longer
    > > than just hitting the old delete button. Is it really the end of the
    world
    > > if you happen to see a few words of it in the fraction of a second
    before it
    > > enters electronic heaven?

    ### Another argument in favor of post labeling is that the poster does it
    only once, taking about 2 seconds of his time, and the post and all
    subsequent replies are filtered without the need for human interaction.
    Shifting the burden of filtering on the readers would mean multiple persons
    having to scan and delete posts on their own, duplicating (and
    multiplicating) effort, adding to perhaps minutes in person-time.

    From the efficiency standpoint, labels are a clear win, just like most cases
    of dissemination of true and useful information.

    Rafal



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