Most of us do apply the rule "will this info be of value to the members"
before posting, not to mention teaching our members the same rule.
I have sometimes observed, though, that when WE have something to sell, or
something to boast of having created (for sale or not), our internal "will
this be of value"-measurer tends to slide open a notch or two. Whereas when
the other fellow has something the sell, the meter might actually tighten a
notch.
Margaret's post was fine of course. It's not like there's a new book on
managing communities published every week so we have to worry about being
inundated. On the contrary, it's a rarity, so this is good news. (I
haven't seen the book yet.)
I disagree with (and dislike) the comment that we're all here to advance our
own agendas, or else why come? We are here (or we should be here imho) to
share stuff we've learned with others, to learn from what others have to
share, and to debate new stuff of concern to us all as list managers. In
many cases we do this for years without ever "plugging" -- or even
mentioning -- the specific lists that we run.
On our own lists, we're often tired at the end of the day from wielding the
machete against jungles of spam, cranky members, software annoyances and so
on. It's a pleasure to be a "mere member" on a list where we know we have a
common interest uniting us -- and very little to try and sell to each other.
:)
