On 2/14/2013 10:58 AM, Nelda Percival wrote: > > So Sorry, I should have added in about mass postings. > > What is so wrong about being efficient? Most of us are busy with family or jobs or??? So you give yourself a half hour to get what you consider relevant information about genealogy out to as many lists as possible. MASS MAILINGS if it isn't spam I see no problem with that either. [snip] Nelda: The problem is that specific lists were created so that people could be *selective* about the messages they receive. Most of the lists I admin relate to Vermont -- the main state list, a majority of the county lists, a cemetery list, a civil war list. The rest are New England surname lists. People subscribe to particular lists because they want to get messages that relate **SPECIFICALLY** to the list topic, not messages that *MIGHT* relate to the topic, indirectly. The argument that mass postings is "efficient" misses the point that it is also terribly *inconsiderate*. Someone who has subscribed to VTWINDSO and who has chosen not to subscribe to VERMONT should not have to read every post that is on topic for the state of Vermont generally. The same basic rule works for "genealogy in general"; only more so. In other words, to be on topic for VTWINDSO a message must relate to Windsor County, Vermont **AND** to genealogy. The connection to Windsor Co. must be explicit. Relating to one or the other, only, simply does not qualify. Otherwise conversations about DNA, or gen software, or the surname Smith, would be on topic for just about every list on RootsWeb. If we all took that approach, most of the lists would die a horrible ... and deserved ... death. Darrell