If you think of it as a game, we would have the following rules:

1) You get 1 point for sending an email to the mail list

2) If you start a thread and it grows up to N emails long, you get N points

We’ll distinguish two types of contributors: the ones who start the threads and the ones who send replies.

To use another analogy, we’ll call them architects and builders. Architects come up with some design specs, the master plans (starting new threads) and the builders implement it (filling the thread up with emails).

Some master plans might never be implemented (no replies for your threads). So we’ll treat all architects as builders and we’ll count the thread starting email as a reply. Of course, the builders can be architects as well.

What’s the goal of the game? To make some noise, of course! Let the subscribers see how smart you are, what a great speaker you are and how many brilliant ideas you have. Whatever it takes make them remember your name!

Let’s just say the goal of this game is to get more points. Some hints for the winners:

1) Be a good architect.

You can start a few, but very provocative and controversial threads, making a lot of contributors participating and, eventually, earning points for you. Or you start a lot of not-so-provocative threads – if anyone replies you’ll get at least one extra point per thread.

2) Be a hard working builder.

You send tons of emails joining as many threads as you can. There’s a new thread? Jump on it! Keep it alive as long as you can.

3) Use 1 and 2 at the same time

One more thing: thread hijacking. Every contributor has probably experienced it once: you start a new thread, someone replies changing the subject and there it goes – it’s not your thread anymore. But hey, if you didn’t start that thread, it wouldn’t have been hijacked. No worries, here you get the points.

It’s a fair game. :]

Ok, please scratch that irony and sarcasm out. Even though that’s how I got myself into this research – by getting curious why I remember some names and don’t remember others. But there are thousands of really useful mail lists. So many projects wouldn’t succeed or even survive without one. We could still use this model here to cheer the most valuable contributors.