BumpList is a mailing list aiming to re-examine the culture and rules of online email lists. BumpList only allows for a minimum amount of subscribers so that when a new person subscribes, the first person to subscribe is "bumped", or unsubscribed from the list. Once subscribed, you can only be unsubscribed if someone else subscribes and "bumps" you off. BumpList actively encourages people to participate in the list process by requiring them to subscribe repeatedly if they are bumped off. The focus of the project is to determine if by attaching simple rules to communication mediums, the method and manner of correspondences that occur as well as behaviors of connection will change over time.
The rules of this game of musical chairs, where you cannot unsubscribe when you want, are forced to re-subscribe on a schedule you don't control, seem more simplistic than simple. You are supposed to conduce conversations with people on that list and there can be only 6 subscribers at a time. The rules are anything but community friendly, there is no incentive to subscribe (less to re-subscribe), you can discuss anything (the current trends are less attractive than the lamest Minitel rose service), your discussion mates will change randomly as they (and you) get bumped out at anytime from this little online torture chamber. I suggest S&M.