jason wolfe wrote:
>As to why some questions go unanswered, from what I have seen, the overall
>level of technical experience on this list is somewhat low. There is a
>core group of members who are quite knowledgeable (Terrin, Wes, Kenichi,
>etc), and there are a couple who are automotive experts (Mike Kojima,
>Robert Legere), but overall
>it seems like a majority of people on the list are mostly concerned with
>trying to wedge 18" rims on their cars, lowering them to the ground and
>street-racing against "Honduhs". I am not dissing the list, as I have
>received lots of help and good advice in the past, but I, like the guy to
>whom I am responding, find the list somewhat devoid of real content and
>pretty high on fluff and stupid flame wars.
>Sorry if this pisses anyone off, but compare this list to the SE-R list
>sometime--it's a night and day difference, and it really bothers me that
>the SE-R guys have so many brilliant experienced list members, whereas we,
>as a list, have only a few sources of reliable information.
I don't see it as criticizing the list by telling the truth. I sometimes
get a bit discouraged with the list myself because I don't really see much
of a difference between now and when the list was new two years ago. It's
just bigger now. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I had kind of
hoped it could evolve over time into a more productive/technical oriented
list, like the SE-R mailing list.
This mailing list was created for the purpose of allowing subscribers to
become more familiar and knowledgeable about their cars. I think it has
been successful in that respect, but we do not seem to be retaining
subscribers. There is a group of a few dozen subscribers that post
regularly, but for the most part we have people that just pass
through. There have been over 2000 people that have subscribed and then
left, sometimes within hours or just a few days of subscribing. Many
people don't seem to take the time to take a closer look at the list before
subscribing either. Even though I suggest on the web page to take a look
at the archives first before subscribing, many people are not prepared to
receive 20, 30, or even 50 messages a day. Then in their desperation to
leave they don't read the instructions and get even more frustrated because
the mail keeps coming. I remember getting an email from someone all pissed
off because he didn't understand why he was "getting messages from all
these other people. That's not why I signed up." I have no idea what he
thought a mailing list was. Because of the continually changing subscriber
base often the more knowledgeable people get tired of the BS and
leave. That seems to be the biggest problem. Robert Legere actually left
months ago.
I don't really know how to make the mailing list more successful. I've
tried a number of ideas. Anyone else have suggestions?
--
Scott Ashley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
