Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Dec 29, 2012, at 9:04 AM, Rob wrote:

> I woke up this morning wondering what happened to the homestead list.
> 
> An e-mail list is (was?) a new type of community, a group of people 
> with almost instant written communication drawn together around a 
> common theme. In this case a the concept of homesteading.
> 
> For many years this was an active & vibrant place to be and then it 
> wasn't....
> Did everybody give up the homestead dream? Did the world change so 
> much that the group was not necessary?  I think "not" to both of 
> those, there are still active groups in the internet world and 
> somewhat on facebook. The dream (or necessity) of doing it yourself 
> is still there.
> A lack of leadership? Maybe, leadership on a list is hard to pin 
> down. The leader could be a knowledgeable regular poster or a list 
> owner who both posts & keeps order it is rarely the totalitarian who 
> rules with the iron fist, lists have to be at least a little fun to 
> keep people.
> Did one person manage to poison the well? That is possible, people 
> left the list rather than deal with the poison.
> 
> I think enough people left (for whatever the reason, I'm guessing 
> poison & no leadership) that the dynamic of the list fell apart and 
> the community that was people, their words and ideas collapsed & is gone. 
> Sad.

Rob, I agree with all you have written above. Lee was the owner but she did 
not care enough to manage. The unrestrained political garbage posted by two 
members repelled me.

Gene