On Tuesday, February 09, 1999, RSDNet List Administration wrote:

> Okay, so aside from teaching list members how to unsubscribe (a losing
> battle), how do you get them to listen and pay attention to list rules?

> One of my mailing lists is for people with a chronic illness. List rules
> say no excessive quoting, no private email, since the list uses topics, use
> a topic that matches your message and use a detailed subject line. Needless
> to say, almost all of these rules are ignored by half of the posting list
> members at any time. So 1138 people get all this useless mail from people
> who don't know how to take a conversation private.

Tough one, as you seem to have tried about everything others have
suggested, except moderation. I manage a small, but quite active list of
about 800 members, so maybe size has something to do with it, but they
are remarkably good group. I'm sitting here trying to put my finger on
why, thinking it might help you.

One thing is that we have subscription by owner, and while I've very
rarely turned away a subscription request, I think the whole process,
which includes a personal message from me, helps to alert subscribers to
the fact that the list is "under management".

As for enforcing the list rules, what I try to do is catch them when it
happens and follow up with a personal e-mail. I've never gotten a nasty
e-mail in reply (would not tolerate it anyway); most people e-mail back
profuse apologies. I think the key is that I emphasize in my message to
them that it's not that big a deal, but their cooperation saves me a lot
of work personally, as well as make it easier for other list members to
(whatever). It's the old "I need you help..." approach and it seems to
work well. These are all stock messages, by the way, but don't look like
it.

I've found subject guidelines to be by far the most time-consuming to
enforce. UGH! I think Topics would be very hard. Have you considered
giving them up? As for getting people to follow other subject guidelines
(my favorites are "To Joe"), constant vigilance is needed. But, I have
found that if I have the energy to attend to it and send out a reminder
in the "I need your help..." vein, I get good cooperation. Still,
subject guidelines seem to be the most difficult for people to remember
and lapses are frequent. I'd rather tolerate them, as they really aren't
that big of a deal, then become too draconian. But then, as I said,
they are a very nice group of people.

---
Paula Ford