Recently I asked about getting my unruly list under control and I got a
lot of useful replies, which I summarized and sent to a group of 15 members
whose counsel I respect and with whom I hope to reach a decision on what
to do.
 
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 missing a crucial clue, you can't tell anything about what kind of
member the person would be just from the LISTSERV Request to Join message.
That is, unless you then sent out a rather involved questionnaire to the
wouldbe member. Wouldn't this take an awfully long time?  I remember that
when the list subscription was by owner (when the list was still minute),
it used to take me quite a long time each day and I made tons of mistakes
when inputting addresses and names.  Now, with people joining at the rate
of around 9 a day, every day, I think it would be impractical.
 
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]