On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 08:21:21 -0500, "jamesgangnc"
wrote:

Harry tends to reply to more off topic than start them. Harry really does
not start many posts at all. His only new post in January is the off topic
one about "bimini tops". Typically every morning it is another 6 or so off
topic posts from Tom. Seldom even remotely related to boating.


All true but most of us are willing to cut Tom a little slack because
he's basically a reasonable person and likes boats.

There are really very few on topic posts anymore. Newsgroups are declining
in use. Some of the others I frequent also have dropped off a bit over the
years. Unfortunately there is no way to tell in rec.boats if on topic
participation would pick up if the bs level dropped.

Interesting points with no ready answers. It's true that quite a few
of the old rec.boats people are missing in action, and no doubt part
of that is due to the hyperactivity of the off-topic crowd and the
uncivil nature of many discussions. The signal to noise ratio has
always been poor and it has gotten a lot worse in the last couple of
years.

What to do about it ? Darned if I know. Perhaps we should all
make a New Years resoulution to make no more than one off topic post
for every one that is on topic. It seems reasonable on the surface
and would definitely improve the group.