Taxonomy & Greek Life

[PhiPsiRuss]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=taxonomy
tax·on·o·my
1. The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural relationships.
2. The science, laws, or principles of classification; systematics.
3. Division into ordered groups or categories: “Scholars have been laboring to develop a taxonomy of young killers” (Aric Press).

If you got higher than a 400 on the verbal section on your SATs, you will probably get this. It works like this. When you create a system to organize information, you create something called "categories." You've probably heard of these. Categories are specifically defined divisions within a classification system.

The first division to organize information on GreekChat is something called a "forum." Can you say "forum?" Give it a try. "fore-uhm." That was fun, wasn't it? You can try it again if you want. Well, a forum divides GreekChat.com into areas of discussion. Each forum has many "threads." A thread is a discussion of a specific topic. Each thread is composed of "posts." Each post is a reply from an individual member of GreekChat.

GreekChat's taxonomy begins to break down when people start new threads where older ones of identical topics already exist, or where they start new threads in the wrong forum. When this happens, GreekChat's utility as a repository of information diminishes.

For example, if you want to start a thread on the differences between greek systems at land grant state universities and private liberal arts colleges, "Greek Life" is the right forum. That's right, you can create a "thread" right here in GreekChat.com and we'll discuss it. Just be careful that no one else has started a thread on this topic. You can use the search engine to see if that has happened. If it has, just post in the older thread, and we'll continue that discussion. This way, we can keep our information better organized.

Lets say that you want to discuss the new Star Wars movie. That's a fun thing to discuss. Everyone likes Star Wars. Greek Life is not the right forum to discuss it. You would create a thread, or post in an existing thread, in the Entertainment forum. If you saw a movie with a dozen of your brothers or sisters, and want to discuss the movie, that discussion is not about Greek Life. Its about a movie. It belongs in Entertainment.

If you want to discuss how your fraternity brought several prospects to a movie, and how that impacted your recruitment, that discussion is not about the movie. Although it is related to Greek Life, it is specifically about recruitment and that thread belongs in the Rush forum.

Lets say that you want to discuss politics because a governor was in your sorority. If the discussion is about her involvement in your sorority, Greek Life might be the right place, but if its about her present involvement in your sorority, Alumni Involvement is a better choice. If the discussion is about how your sister is facing a tough reelection, then it should be posted in the News & Politics forum.

Discussing "How much does the Domino's guy make" never belongs in Greek Life. If its about a cool web site that discusses this, then you would discuss this in Cool Sites. If its about a funny story, it could be discussed in Chit Chat. If its exactly about "How much does the Domino's guy make," it belongs in Careers & Employment.

I hope this helps, and may your GreekChat experience be enjoyable and taxonomically correct!