From: Nelson Goforth (ngoforth@earthnet.net)
Date: 12/14/00-06:41:45 PM Z
What I don't understand is the amount of acrimony that gets expended on
topics like this unsubscription business.
When I read Hollenbeck's SECOND unsubscribe, I sent him, via private
e-mail, the instruction page that arrives after you first subscribe. Note
that I did NOT send this to the list.
When his THIRD unsubscribe (labeling us 'sanctimonious') showed up I
replied, again privately, with a bit of vigor, that he should perhaps
actually READ his e-mail and also save messages that say "PLEASE SAVE THIS
MESSAGE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE".
I then figured it'd just be easier to spell it out for him (I wish that I
was a Republican so I could toss the obvious barb here) and sent a brief
but detailed letter saying EXACTLY what to do, and also WHY his mail was
going to the wrong address in the first place - he's hitting REPLY instead
of addressing the mail properly.
I've probably belonged to thirty mailing lists over fifteen years online;
but other people have not and aren't so familiar with the way things work.
Yes, they should read the instructions, but how often have you skipped the
"Read Me" file that comes with your software? And, yes, some people really
should stay away from the computer if it doesn't do what it wants them to
(only what they tell it - see verse below) - or take their medication or
whatever. And some of those folks look a bit like me, at times.
But there's another problem, and that's on OUR (those wonderful folk who
know absolutely everything) end: it's very simple to hit the REPLY button
and fire something back, even though it benefits (or targets) only one
person. The rest of us have to read it, and some people feel BOUND to
respond and then we end up with some eternal thread and people begging for
it to end. It's almost as bad as on AOL or Compuserve (or Rush Limbaugh)
where people use up space to say "Yeah" or "Cool" or "Ditto". There's no
information conveyed, and in the case of Mr Hollenbeck he's seemingly so
mad that he can't see straight to read the instructions - even after I
mailed them to him.
The only reason that I replied personally to him to begin with was that I
knew, from the way I used my e-mail at that moment, that he'd sent his
message only moments before - so it wasn't like I'd be the tenth guy to
respond.
I never did receive a reply from the fellow, and I've no idea if he was
able to follow my instructions. However, I think that a personal, private
response is far better than 500 people (or whatever) having to read
continued call and response to meaningless issues, when there are so many
juicier topics that we can bicker about.
So if you see someone trying to "unsubscribe" - and if their message was
sent in the last hour or so, just reply with a simple message or forward
the instructions. Please.
Regards,
Nelson Goforth
I really hate this damned machine,
I wish that they would sell it.
It never does quite what I want
But only what I tell it.
--- one of those clever things on the internet
_________________________________________________
Nelson GOFORTH Lighting for Moving Pictures
+1.303.322.5042 pager +1.303.634.9733
resume at: http://www.earthnet.net/~ngoforth/film
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