On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Steve and Cindy Nicewarner wrote: > Hilda, > In other groups that I've participated in (although not genealogy > ones--this is my first for that) it's okay to "lurk" for a while. I was > not comfortable jumping in right away. I'm sure each group is unique and > different and I wanted to get a sense of the group first (how the group > posted, etc..). With some groups, there are certain expectations and > unwritten ground rules. hear, hear! I like to lurk myself. > I like the idea of the list owner sending a welcoming message to the > interested party asking their connection and explaining the nature of > the group. This would indeed make participation easier for newcomers. If > you don't want people "lurking" (eventhough they just may be observing > and learning), you should make that clear in the beginning--that you > expect full participation. I myself think it's okay to "lay-low" and > drink it all in. And I also fully agree with you and Bev--I greatly > appreciate the nature of this group as far as respectfulness and > kindness (in stark contrast to the rude and mean behavior you have > encountered in other groups). > > I appreciate all your efforts as well as those of Rootsweb to filter all > unwanted spam. Just yesterday a porn spam message came through on my > email(a first for me with Erols). A porn spam message was just posted to the Rootsweb help list today! Nobody is infallible. By making this list almost invisible, you are going to miss out on a lot of potentially useful information. But you are the listowner and if you want to be a dictator, it is your ball game. Melvin