Re: [cobalt-users] List Impropriety? (long)

[Carrie Bartkowiak <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 23 Aug 2001 16:17:35 -0400, Steve Werby mumbled something 
like:
>> I make no apologies for that. 

You shouldn't! I don't. I search the archives for the client, give 
them copies of posts that I've saved, point them to URL's (if 
available) that I feel can help them, even write long detailed 
instructions if necessary. I don't mention payment.
Sometimes they go through the process themselves, sometimes they are 
happy to have all of the info at hand but still would be more 
comfortable with me doing it and offer payment. At that point, I am 
satisfied that I've helped them as much as I can without doing it 
myself, so taking their payment and performing the service doesn't 
warrant an apology.

That isn't trolling the list, or spamming with advertising services; 
it's just being available.
And I've never seen you spam the list, Steve, not even with a 
detailed sig line saying what you do. To find out what Befriend does, 
someone actually has to take the initiative to seek out your web 
site, and *then* they find out what services you offer.
 I also don't consider sig lines to be spam (unless they're 
uneccessarily long, lol) - many email clients can strip a properly 
formatted sig line right out of a post so people don't have to see 
that anyway.

>>Back to my point - I am quite
>>sure there are others on this list with mult-faceted motivations.
>>IMO, the motivation of a list member is irrelevant so long as the 
>>list member's actions do not jeopardize the integrity and 
>>effectiveness of the list.

Most definitely. My motivation is to give and receive help when 
needed. Some days I have more time than others, some posts are so far 
over my head I don't even try. 
I unsubscribed once, missed the comraderie terribly, and then had to 
go and sign back up again when I couldn't find an answer in the 
archives and needed to ask a question - so I figured I may as well 
stick around, I can always filter out people I don't want to see 
posts from or even ignore the list for days if I don't have time 
available.
I wish more people would use the filter option...

>>see the email that was sent to you, but this is definitely a topic
>>that I'll
>>be thinking about at more length and I'm interested in what others
>>think.

I have no problem with someone emailing me directly and politely 
asking me a question, or with someone emailing me directly with a 
solution to a problem I'm having. 
*As long as* someone who provided a service emailed me directly with 
instructions or help on how I could do it myself, I wouldn't mind if 
they added a little "if you're not comfortable doing this, I could do 
it for you for $X" at the bottom.
But if they just emailed me saying "I can fix your problem for $X" 
then they'd go straight to my filter AND I'd warn the list that there 
was a troller with full details on who it was and what email they 
spammed me from. Probably a copy  of the email itself, so people 
could make their own judgement on whether or not to solicit services 
from that person/company in the future.

>>I know that several prominent list members who were regulars
>>on this list over the last 2 years have stopped participating for
>>just that reason.  

Another reason is that with the business coming in, they don't have 
time to post as they used to. Take Jeff Lasman for example; right now 
he's posting, but that will probably drop off in a week or two as the 
bored college students get back into their dorm rooms and start 
browsing for exploitable machines. He comes and goes in short bursts. 
;)
--
CarrieB
"I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and 
violence, I would advise violence." --Mahatma Ghandi