Dear Peter, You should stress that one of the unique features of the Mudcat is that it has taken the old folk tradition of sitting around swapping tales and music and BS and adapted it to the Internet better than any other site I have seen. The rhythm seems to work, for reasons that are partly mysterious. Part of this community glue is the space provided to contribute to the Database, not to mention racking your brains for a wisp of an old tune. This is very important, as it gives people who wander in and out of the Internet a sense of a stake in this place (unlike clicking on to CNN). There are other interesting chat sites -- some of the classical music sites, chess sites, political sites, social justice sites -- but they don't seem to have much continuity. I don't know any other folk sites, because I already waste too much time here! Many sites tend towards having one or two strong people, and come to life only around an issue or two, or just meander, or turn nasty. Mudcat is odd in part because -- like the folk song ambiance -- it can be laid back, you can come on or go away, pick up your guitar (virtually) and join in, or not. There are always a few catters on the front porch, looking out at the Appalachians or the Hebrides or smelling something on the barbie. You can go back inside, do some work, and come back out again.

The great problem, which this site has, like many another on the Net, is that there are no physical signals being given off by people, just typed words; so it is very hard to assess tone, irony, and the rest. This makes generating a set of common manners (essential to any community) very hard and constantly on the verge of collapse. The Mudcat seems to have a critical mass of (to use a highfalutin word) guardians. One should also not for a moment underestimate the elegance of the design of the Mudcat site, and the work Max et al put in to making it work. This gives it a sense of a kind of quality which tempers the crap that goes on on other sites, which are crummily designed and unworthy of your contribution.

A curious thing also on the subject of Folk and the Web is the way in which the Web allows you to create a persona, but also subtley draws you in often without knowing it to reveal some interior space, which you can edit for public consumption (if you catch it in time, or want to edit it rather than letting it all hang out). In that way it is like a song, or a performance, especially in the folk tradition, which is always playing authenticity off against performance.

There is lots to say about Folk and the Net. Are you going to post your thoughts when ready?

Yours, Peter T.