This is an editted version of something we sent our list subscribers in response to a review of why we changed our list definition from * REPLY-TO= LIST,RESPECT to * REPLY-TO= SENDER,RESPECT This response was written by Bob Quinn of Penn State From: "QUINN.ROBERT" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Responses to the list To: Multiple recipients of list xxxxxx-L <[log in to unmask]> In-Reply-To: The letter of Thu, 22 Feb 1996 22:16 EST A couple of thoughts on the "reply issue" since it has been coming up again lately: One subscriber wrote, in part: >I am a newcomer to the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx - less than 6 months. I started >several months before the change to stop replies to the entire list. I hope this thought is perhaps misstated. Replies to messages posted via xxxxxx-L are not prohibited. We've simply altered the default reply address. That means, in most cases, that your email system will direct your replies (by default) back to the original sender of the message rather than the entire xxxxxx-L list. We did this in order to reduce the number of non-relevant postings made list-wide by individuals who chose their reply function without really thinking about where that reply was going. Under the "old way", nobody knew for sure whether or not a given reply was actually intended to be list-wide. Under the "new way", you can feel reasonably sure that the sender intended the message to be sent to 2800 subscribers (there are a few exceptions; ie. some mail systems will still reply to xxxxxx-L by default because of the Sender: label). In general, my observations of this change are positive. We don't appear to have the volume of off-topic posts to xxxxxx-L these days, so I would judge that our objective has been met. Unfortunately, the price we pay is (1) missing some postings that ideally should have been posted list-wide and (2) some of us being unable to differentiate xxxxxx-L and other mail in our inbaskets. And, of course, it can't be both ways. I want to emphasize the concept of this being a reply DEFAULT. You retain the ultimate reponsibility as to your reply destination. It's only in the absence of you upholding that responsibility that your reply potentially goes to an inappropriate destination. As a LISTSERV list subscriber, you must exercise these responsibilities each time you send or reply to the list. As with any other responsibilities you shoulder, you also have to use good judgement in doing so. As a SENDER to a list, you should try to anticipate how other subscribers might reply. If you are conducting a survey, you should certainly INSTRUCT other subscribers to reply only to you and you should commit to providing summary results list-wide. The rest of us don't want to see 85 postings that read: 1. yes 2. no 3. Twice If you aren't doing a survey, but anticipate you might get a number of replies, you may want to follow the "reply to me" strategy. If you are posting a "what do you think about this?" type of message, then the burden of how to reply rests with the replier. If you are a replier, you should be considering your intended audience. Has the original poster asked that you reply directly to him/her, and have they offered to summarize the results? Does the nature of your reply suggest that a large portion of the xxxxxx-L membership would benefit, or should it really be directed to just the original poster? Again, there's judgement associated with these decisions. All I would ask is that you think about it. One final note: Some of you have indicated that your mail system doesn't tell you who the original sender is, and therefore you are forced to reply list-wide. If that applies to you, you can send the following command to [log in to unmask]: Set xxxxxx-L Dualhdr Please note the LISTSERV address and not xxxxxx-L. Dualhdr will place header information (Sender:, Reply-To:, etc) in the first few lines of the body of your mail message. You'll always know the origination of the message. Thank you for your cooperation and support! Have a great weekend. Bob Quinn xxxxxx-L Owner [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message | Submissions [log in to unmask] was sent via | Subscribe/unsubscribe [log in to unmask] the xxxxxx-L | List owner (Bob Quinn) [log in to unmask] mailing list | backup (Pete Weiss) [log in to unmask]