Should I Be Running a Mail Answers Column?
Matt Yglesias runs a mailbag; should I be doing so?
Matt Yglesias runs a mailbag; should I be doing so?
And he is revising its format:
Matt Yglesias: A New Mailbag Era: ‘The new process will have two parts: a Sunday evening thread to submit questions and a Monday evening thread to vote on the three finalists. The Sunday thread will function, essentially, in the same manner as the old Monday mailboxes: You can submit questions or topics you’d like Slow Boring to cover and engage with the suggestions from other readers that you think are most interesting. Our hope is that, because we’re ultimately only writing on one topic, we’ll get more substantive submissions and fewer jokes and questions asked in bad faith.
The Monday thread will feature a poll that includes our favorite three suggestions for subscribers to vote on over the next 24 hours. Our top-three selection process will not be scientific or transparent, but the winner of that poll—whatever is ahead at 5pm Eastern on Tuesday—will be our Friday topic…. So, what should we write about this week? Let us know below…
Please tell me yes or no (or maybe)—and what kinds of questions I should answer—in the comments below:
No. The power of your voice is , in part, because you are not caught up in the hour to hour mania and bullshit.
Yes, I think you should.
You have a readership that should bring in some interesting questions.
I would avoid a "reader vote" system on what questions to answer, though. You should exercise that judgment yourself (with as much good faith as you muster toward questions sceptical of your views).