Archive-Name: support/loneliness/welcome
Posting-Frequency: Twice Monthly.


IMPORTANT: We have moved everything to a new address at netsoc.org.nz. 
           Everything seems to be working now and we are back up and running.


                   Welcome to Soc.Support.Loneliness.


     1.  What is Soc.Support.Loneliness?
     2.  Why is S.S.L. moderated?
     3.  What is the moderation policy?
     4.  What sort of posts are not acceptable?
     5.  What about anonymous posts?
     6.  Who are the moderators?
     7.  How do I join the S.S.L. newsgroup?
     8.  How do I post to S.S.L.?
     9.  What happens when I post a message?
    10.  Anything else?


1. What is Soc.Support.Loneliness?

  Soc.Support.Loneliness (S.S.L.) is a Usenet newsgroup created to  
provide a safe area in which people may post about their experiences with
loneliness. On this forum, participants can read about other people's 
experiences, offer advice, and give comfort to one another.


2. Why is S.S.L. moderated?

  Unmoderated newsgroups  particularly those of a sensitive natur are 
often subject to disruption by flame trolls, sex-for-sale advertising 
blitzes, and other disreputable members of the Internet community. S.S.L. 
is moderated in order to filter out these advertisements, flames, and 
other off-topic or otherwise disruptive messages.


3. What is the moderation policy?

  The duty of the designated moderators is to ensure that all posts to 
soc.support.loneliness fall within the accepted parameters for discussion 
as defined by the newsgroup's charter. An automated script is used to 
share postings among the newsgroup's moderators. Posts which are rejected
are returned to the poster with a reason for the rejection.

  Posts may be edited to remove excessive attribution and/or poor formatting.
The moderator is required to make note when this is done. User's signatures 
(.sig) may also be trimmed, but the moderator is not required to note when
this is done.

  Moderators are expected to process articles within 48 hours of receipt.
Moderators who will be temporarily unavailable for longer than one week 
will notify the newsgroup and the other moderators so that their names
may be removed from the list of active moderators for the duration.

  If the number of moderators falls below three, volunteers will be
solicited by the current moderators in consultation with the newsgroup
participants.

  New moderators must have both the majority approval of s.s.l participants 
and unanimous approval of all existing moderators. A moderator may be 
relieved of her/his position by majority approval of the newsgroup
participants and/or unanimous approval of the other moderators. Upon 
moderator resignation or removal, the newsgroup will be solicited for a
replacement moderator.

  In the event of an unresolvable controversy amongst the moderators, all 
moderators will submit to binding arbitration by moderators-advice at UUNET.


4. What sort of posts are not acceptable?

  Unacceptable posts fall into at least one the following categories:

     o Ad hominem attacks (AKA - "Flames")
     o Advertisements (Commercial or Personal)
     o Blatantly controversial topics (AKA - "Flame Trolls")
     o Excessively cross-posted articles (AKA - "Velveeta")
     o Excessive multiple-posted articles (AKA - "Spam")
     o Forged addresses in article "From:" field
     o Off-Topic articles
     o Surveys*
     o Test messages

   * Certain types of surveys may be permissible. E-mail 
     ssl-request@netsoc.org.nz for clarification.


5. What about anonymous posts?

  Anonymous posts are permissible on soc.support.loneliness. However, 
forged addresses in articles are not allowed. If you wish to remain 
anonymous in your posting to S.S.L., it is recommended that you utilize 
an anonymous remailer.

Please note that the anonymous remailer at anon.penet.fi is not currently in
operation. However there are other remailers that are still running.
Further info on the subject of anon remailers can be found at:
 
http://www.c2.org/
 - Community ConneXion [anon remailer & WWW pages stuff]
 
http://www.stack.urc.tue.nl/~galactus/remailers/index.html
 - Anonymity, remailers and your privacy
 
http://www.obscura.com/~loki/Welcome.html
 - Lance Cottrell Home Page [has loads of stuff on anon remailers,
   especially Mixmaster remailers]

http://www.strassmann.com/pubs/anon-remail.html
 - Anonymous ReMailers


6. Who are the moderators?

  The founding moderators of the group are:

      o Jay D. Dyson <jkdyson@point-to-point.com>
      o Simon Lyall <simon@darkmere.gen.nz>
      o Logan VT <loganvt@ix.netcom.com>

  In May 1996 they were joined by:

      o  Daniel Mancoff <Daniel_Mancoff@Brown.edu> 


7. How do I join the S.S.L. newsgroup?

  Though moderated, soc.support.loneliness is nonetheless an open forum.
Anyone can join in the discussion. Introduction messages are nice, but not
necessary. In fact, about the only prerequisite for participating in S.S.L.
is that the user is either experiencing loneliness or can offer some 
insights on overcoming loneliness. If either of those apply to you, consider
the Welcome Mat to be out on the doorstep for you!


8. How do I post to S.S.L.?

  You should be able post to S.S.L. much like any other group. Most news
reader programs (such as Agent, trn, tin, Netscape, etc.) will report that 
your post was re-routed and e-mailed to the moderation address.

  If your news server reports an error and cannot complete the posting 
procedure, contact your news administrator regarding the local newsgroup 
misconfiguration. While your news admin addresses the problem, you can 
still post to soc.support.loneliness by directly e-mailing ssl@netsoc.org.nz.


9. What happens when I post a message?

  Your message will take the following route:

     1.   The post is routed to the moderating system at ssl@netsoc.org.nz.
     2.   The message is re-mailed out to one of the moderators.
     3.   An acknowledgement message is sent to the author of the message.
     4.   The moderator reviews and either approves or rejects the message.
     5.   The approval/rejection notice is sent back to the moderating system.
     6.   The moderating software handles the approval/rejection notice.
          (If approved, the message is then posted publicly.)
     7.   Acknowledgement of approval/rejection is sent to the original poster.


10. Anything else?


- If you wish to email in an article please send it to ssl@netsoc.org.nz NOT
ssl-requests. If you send it to the wrong address it will be delayed while
we get you to send it to the correct one.


- Please do not try to make your posts anonymous by just changing the 
"From: " line. This does not work very well and causes problems with the 
moderation software. Use an anonymous service instead. Posts sent using 
this method may be rejected by the moderators.


- If you are interested in helping out with soc.support.loneliess please
talk to us, we are especially looking for people able to put the time
into making a good job of any of the following:

     o Writing and maintaining a more general FAQ on loneliness.
     o Gatewaying the Newsgroup to a mailing list.
     o Helping with Moderation.

  If you feel you might be able to do any of these ( or otherwise help 
soc.support.loneliness ) please feel free to contact the moderators.

The S.S.L. homepage is on the Web at http://www.point-2-point.com/ssl
Thanks to Jay for maintaining this.


Contributors to FAQ: Jay Dyson, Simon Lyall, Jean Atkins.

