>Anyway, one of the items of advice that came up a couple of times was
>subscription by owner (it is now public).  I am just wondering why and
>how this would make a list more decorous.  It seems to me that, unless I
...
>Am I missing something?  What's the point? How would it help control a list?
>Peace,
>Anthea Tillyer       City University of New York       [log in to unmask]
 
It controls the list in two ways, Anthea.
 
First, the fact that you take your list and its purpose seriously enough to
ask that the applicants give you some indication of their interest in it
will prove at least some level of psychological barrier.  To joy riding
trouble makers, the ones who do it for a lark, it's probably just too much
trouble.  To the deliberate trouble makers, the ones who sign on
specifically to YOUR list (e.g. because it espouses a cause at cross
purposes with their own), it is a warning that you have some sort of
personalized profile on file.  Yes, they may lie to get their way in.
Still, no troublemaker wants to have that much identification lying around
from the git-go, before they even make their move.  Filling out a profile
will also prove a bit too much, like as not, for those who are just
sampling lists and have no especial interest.  It also is a sign to serious
applicants that they are likely to have a good, serious forum for their
postings, not a quibblesome chittery chattery list of obnoxes and idiots.
 
Mind you, there are no absolute guarantees.  It simply improves the odds
for you immensely.
 
Second, should a listmember prove obstreperous and not amenable to polite
warnings, you can always simply yank the cord on him.  Once he's
unsubscribed, he knows very well he can't get back on, and he can't
continue to post to the list (if you set the options so that only
listmembers may post, i.e. make it a closed list).  If you, on top of that,
set it for review = owner, no listmember can use your subscription list as
a private e-mail mailing list for troublemaking.  Only those people who
have posted to the list while he is on it are thereafter at risk of
receiving private mailings from him.  There is, thus, some measure of
damage control.
 
As my fellow listowner, Jae Walker, mentioned a bit earlier in this thread,
we made ARCANA a closed, subscription by owner list from the beginning, and
have never, ever regretted it.  We have had to unsubscribe two listmembers
whose postings seemed calculated to foment argument; we did refuse a
subscription to one applicant whose combatative style we had seen in action
on Usenet (an alt.group).  Our action garnered a very few complaints, a few
philosophical arguments, and a LOT of "thank you!" notes.
 
We have a short profile form (little more than name, address, and tell us a
little about your interests) that we send out to each applicant.  In
addition, when the applicant is added, we send the profile to the list (IF
and ONLY if the applicant has agreed) by way of introduction -- and, often,
we see the "interests" part of the profile generate new threads of
discussion.  It's worked out very well.
 
Mario Rups
co-listowner, ARCANA