The Accidental Webmaster by Julie M. Still

Author:Julie M. Still [M. STILL, JULIE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781573879750
Publisher: Information Today, Inc.

E-Mail Discussion Lists

Another factor is whether you want to send out only announcements that originate with the group or if you want to offer an e-mail forum in which members can communicate directly with each other. If so, will you have a moderated list or an unmoderated list? Will you act as a filter or just let anyone post anything? Granted, a freewheeling democracy is a wonderful thing, but an unmoderated list may not be. An unfortunate tendency for people in a group with shared passions is to pontificate on their beliefs. It is preaching to the choir in the extreme. Do people want to read emotional (and often lengthy) postings from others in the group? If there is an internal debate, this sort of communication can be very productive as people sort through the options and see who thinks what and why, but generally it is bad for business and people will tune it out. A moderated list may be more appropriate, but the same factors will still come into play.

Also keep in mind that a critical mass of people is required to maintain a reasonable level of e-mail conversation. As in most things, a small percentage of the people actually do the work. In this case, less than 10 percent of the people in an e-mail group can ever be counted on to contribute. Most simply “lurk” and read what others have written. Thus, if you have 100 people on your e-mail list, only 10 of them are ever likely to post anything. Fewer will contribute regularly. Do you have enough people to keep a discussion going? If that is the primary purpose of the list—to produce a lively conversation, rethink it if you don’t have a large number of people to start with.

Even if all messages will originate from the group or go through you as a filter, some general guidelines are needed. Regardless of how focused a group is, there will be seepage from other interests, both related and unrelated. Having guidelines will help prevent hard feelings later on. For example, assuming your group has a mission statement (and if you don’t, stop reading this book, sit down, and write one), build your guidelines around that. Saying that you won’t circulate notices on someone’s child’s school’s candy sale or a church food bank (unless that is part of your focus) would be off-putting, but saying that only messages directly relevant to the group’s mission will be distributed takes care of it. There will always be exceptions, but make them few and far between. Even if everyone in your group is in general agreement about the focus of the group (and having everyone in agreement about anything is tricky), very divergent opinions are likely to exist on almost everything else. Thus, regardless what you send out, someone will disagree or be offended. You will be the one handling the fallout. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, one of the folks on the Abington Trails e-mail list asked me to remind everyone to display the American flag as a show of patriotism and solidarity.

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