On 05:32 AM 9/28/00, Alan S. Harrell wrote:
>On 27 Sep 2000, 23:30, Margaret Levine Young wrote:
>> Most list managers I know don't hold this view, and allow postings
>> that provide value to the subscribers.
>
>We travel in different circles. Most I know do hold the same view as
>I. Most listmanagers I know would have removed you as a subscriber or
>at the least, sent you a warning letter.
>
>> That's the rule I use -- would a subscriber gain valuable information
>> from this post?
>
>Moi aussi, but an addendum to that rule for me is in looking if the
>poster is trying to gain monetarily or otherwise some consideration.
>When that is the case, they lose credibility. It also is not allowed
>on my lists.
Everyone is always trying to gain: money, prestige, publicity, you name
it. There's *always* a personal ulterior motive. IMHO, to separate money
from all the other motives is rather silly. What it comes down to is "Does
it provide value to the subscribers?", not "Does the poster get some value
out of this?". The poster always gets some value out of it, that's why
they post.
On all the lists I manage, and on most of the (numerous, industry and
hobby) lists I subscribe to, if a valued contributor posts something that
is commercially valuable to the poster, but ALSO of substantial on-topic
value to the list subscribers, then it's welcomed and permitted. (As such,
the book tour post that started this thread would be welcomed and
permitted.) If a new subscriber joins the list apparently to solely and
specifically to hawk their wares, then they are larted. If a valued
contributor puts a small .sig that mentions an on-topic product for sale,
that's welcomed. If someone has an obnoxious .sig and posts repetitively
primarily to push their .sig in front of people without really adding
content to the list, that's larted.
While spam of this sort may be hard to clearly define, it is not hard to
determine. As US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said "I shall not
today attempt further to define the kinds of material... I know it when I
see it."
jc (I'm not trying to sell anything, therefore this might be to gain me
prestige, or publicity. Then again, it might not. :-)
