irrelevant messages
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: irrelevant messages
- From: t*@Lanl.GOV (Tom Tadfor Little)
- Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 12:28:52 -0600
Bob writes
:I'm sorry - I ignored the original message but now the reply comes
:through to the entire list. Number one - the subject line doesn't mean
:anything relative to the message. Second the message seems to be a
:private conversation. I had 82 messages this AM - I really don't like
:having to take the time to sort through private messages.
I believe the message you saw was indeed intended as personal correspondence,
posted to the list by mistake. However, we must remember that with 140
subscribers, some mistakes will happen. (I've made a few myself.)
Generally, nothing is accomplished by starting a discussion on the list
about the mistake - it just compounds the waste of time and bandwith.
Therefore, I'd like to suggest that if anyone notices a real pattern
of irrelevant messages of erroneous postings, please email to me about
it off-list. I can then look at the situation in light of the list
policies and make a posting about, if needed.
I have found, through subsribing to a number of mailing lists for more
than a year now, that the lists that work best are those where subscribers
are (1) tolerant of mistakes and occasional off-topic threads, (2) try
hard to give their own messages descriptive subject lines, and (3) expect
to use the delete key to sort through messages, rather than reading each
one and then feeling they have wasted time.
That said, this is a good occasion to remember some of these "golden
rules"--
1. Pay attention to where your message is going.
2. Pay attention to the subject line before you send.
3. SIGN your message with your full name and email address, at least.
Happy irising, Tom.
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Tom Tadfor Little tlittle@lanl.gov -or- telp@Rt66.com
technical writer/editor Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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