Why no FAQ on Cyberpluckers?

Basically, there no longer is a FAQ on Cyberpluckers, because no one stepped up to host it or manage it, let alone contribute material to it on any ongoing basis. I believe that is partly because of a primitive interface and because there was so little encouragement taken from mentions of having appreciated the FAQ as it was. There weren't (m)any mentions of it being used.

Aside from Frequently [Asked] Questions (FAQ), we don't have Frequently [Answered] Questions either. Nowadays, responses to questions posted on Cyberpluckers are mostly private. That has been confirmed a number of times by public gratitude, without a word of an answer being posted on the list. A person might have received good information, maybe not.

Who knows whether the group serves well without awareness of what people are getting in response to questions? How is any conflict in information resolved? How does persuasion occur, proponents of one view debating another? It is the debate that is being avoided, a false sense of the information being more valuable than it really may be, sort of like writing a paper and grading it yourself...pride of authorship, etc. Apparently, the only welcome response is that it is wonderful. Apparently, being technically correct or the product of the power of more than one mind is less important.

The archives aren't worth much except for a few posts. For most, in between the throw away chitchat, Cyberpluckers has become a bulletin board for posting questions, not a place to look for answers. If this was a true, web based "forum", subscribers wouldn't have a choice for how they responded. All replies would appear on a web page in threaded context, public to at least those who subscribe. They could abuse "private messaging" but would probably hear about it. Not every forum has PM enabled. It's typically optional. Moreover, email addresses can be hidden and probably would be. We might know the person's email address or we might not, no option to have a private exchange, a stealth response.

I have a definite interest in maintaining copies of answers to questions, both those I have addressed before or material written by someone else that well addressed an issue or supplemented my effort. I find that I have to be independently protective of that product. A web host can unplug you or flat out lose all your work. You need backup. Observe that whatever was included in the old FAQ is gone...poof! So is any work in setting it up. I had adequate notice of the shutdown, no problem there. I just mean that any FAQ established is just how it looks today. Save your work.

With that in mind, I simply chose to establish my own resources. It was an easy call, because I maintain a website with adequate space and can find justification if I have to upgrade to get more space.

In the past few years, Cyberpluckers, mostly new people, have become rather abusive of the knowledge resources here, perjoratives and sniping mostly, apparently trying to purify the group or the vocal to "dummies like me". "It's okay to be better, smarter, or wiser than me but not by too much." I would counter with "don't let the small people tear you down." We have had our share of internet rudeness and people posting as if anonymous and not accountable for poor behavior or even reflecting behavior approaching sociopathic.

There are occasional gratuitous comments on the list about Cyberpluckers being friendly, but meanwhile more and more people become quiet or leave, we don't know which. I have checked a few times, and there are usually a little over 100 people posting each month. That is actually a relatively lively mail list as they go, but it is not this 700 number I have seen used.

There is also some sparring for alpha dog position at times, to include strong individuals being the subject of frequent sniping from various directions. Everyone's a wannabe sheepdog. We all "preach to the choir" as if there is this grand audience of new players not yet fallen in line, grist for our mill. Mixed metaphor maybe, but there just seems this fine line between a need to be helpful and a need to feel dominion over a following. When more than one ambitious person is vying for dominion over the same group, look out...maybe worse if the group of prospects is actually imaginary...but enough of the armchair psychology.

The people who would best be able to write a FAQ are wandering off or falling silent. "No good deed goes unpunished". It's not a friendly place, and it definitely is not a family. It is at best a community. You pick your friends and lock your doors at night. There are many strangers. We can only be assured of sharing some degree of interest in the word "autoharp", perhaps nothing else in common at all...a world, a culture, a generation, a religion, a philosophy apart.

There may be amenities and feel good rhetoric on Cyberpluckers, but there are problems that do not appear to get addressed in the absence of active moderation, and I suspect many feel a sense of malaise, which includes not caring enough anymore to bother with a FAQ. Most of the content would be from Bob Lewis (me) anyway, so one can just use his website and other resources or write to him directly, part of his business to address autoharp questions, hopefully with someone choosing to spend money with him but not necessarily. It requires time and patience, done as much as a service as a promotion. If someone asks a question and I believe I know a good answer, I don't refuse to answer. I am out there, and people find me. Others with web sites or other contact promotions experience the same thing.

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Bob Lewis