Re: extinguish the extinction thread

["Norton, Patrick" <Patrick.Norton@state.me.us>]

I agree with Tom Hopp's comments about snuffing out discussions. I   
recently read an interesting paper (no cite available right now) that   
used content analysis to assess the dynamics of discussions on an   
internet discussion list. One of the conclusions reached by the authors   
is that threads seem to have a regular life-span, with a identifiable   
beginning, middle and end. No doubt the extinction thread would have   
died, or more likely have gone dormant, on its own. I question the need   
to prematurely stop a thread that still has some interested followers and   
where discussion continues on a professional level.

Perhaps as an interesting side note, the longest threads in the study   
mentioned above were those that involved "flame wars", and the longest   
thread was a flame war directed at one list member who others felt   
contributed too often!