From hungary-online-owner Tue Nov 21 06:50:27 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id GAA15044 for hungary-online-announce-out31415; Tue, 21 Nov 1995 06:50:27 -0800 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id GAA15034; Tue, 21 Nov 1995 06:50:03 -0800 Received: from steve@isys.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-online-announce@hungary.yak.net (15030) Received: from kingzog.isys.hu (KingZog.iSYS.hu [194.24.160.4]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id GAA15026 for ; Tue, 21 Nov 1995 06:49:39 -0800 Received: from [194.24.160.22] (bubba.iSYS.hu [194.24.160.22]) by kingzog.isys.hu (8.7.Beta.11/8.7.Beta.11) with SMTP id PAA03541 for ; Tue, 21 Nov 1995 15:49:29 +0100 (MET) X-Sender: steve@mail.isys.hu Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 15:52:39 +0100 To: hungary-online-announce@hungary.yak.net From: steve@isys.hu (Steven Carlson) Subject: (HOL-A) give me a list Sender: owner-Hungary-Online-announce@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net give me a list hungary-online by Steven Carlson In my last few columns I've been talking about how people behave on the Internet. The net represents a communications revolution as fundamental as the telephone. Getting online means learning to communicate in a completely different way. This week I'm going to talk even more specifically about how we communicate on Internet mailing lists. And as it happens, I have an example close at hand. I've just started a mailing list for people involved in developing Internet in Europe. The list is called online-europe, or the Online Europe Development list. Mailing lists are one of best ways to meet people who share your interests. Thousands of lists exist, discussing professional topics, hobbies, and passions of every kind. The best reference I've seen is the Indiana University Support Center, which boasts a searchable archive of 12,850 mailing lists. Whatever you do, save any info you receive when you subscribe to a list. Most people can manage to subscribe; many cannot seem to _unsubscribe_. Ironically, this info is almost always sent out to you when you join a list. Keep it handy. Pay close attention to the focus of the list. According to the informal set of rules known as "netiquitte," new users of a list or newsgroup should watch for a while before posting in order to learn what behavior and topics are appropriate. Think of it like a cocktail party, where you stand and watch a group of people talking then find the right minute to jump in. Lists are quite a lot like parties. A list is either hot, or it's not. And that depends almost entirely on what kind of people turn up. Every list develops a charactor. It has a lot to do with the more dominant list members, and how they communicate. It also has to do with the topics they discuss, and how they discuss them. Since I've started online-europe, I have to worry about getting the right people participating. Luckily I have many online friends and colleagues who are ready to work together making it work. But we still have to have a critical mass of people - the right people. The people my list targets are professionals working to develop Internet in Europe - content or connectivity, profit or non-profit. I originally sent out my invitation to this year's East-West forum attendees, as well as professional and personal contacts. So far 70 people have subscribed. Who are these 70 people? You can find out for yourself by sending the command "who online-europe" to . From my quick look at the stats, the users are very well distributed across Western and Eastern Europe. Quite a few PIPEX people are on - they're Europe's largest IP provider (and a partner in iSYS). Soros' people are also strong - it's good to see the non-profit side of the European net here, too. That's not bad for the first week. In the beginning, we're more concerned about the quality of interaction than the number of users subscribed. As I said before, it's critical to set the tone of the list. My favorite model is always Glenn Fleishman's inet-marketing list . The Internet Marketing list has had a formidable influence on Internet development, largely because of the high level of discussion and the caliber of participants. I've never participated on inet-marketing. Mostly I've just watched. But that's okay, too. Internet mailing list users can be roughly divided into two groups: readers and participants. A good 90% of all list members will never send out a posting. A very small core is very active. The success of any list depends greatly on the quality of its core participants. Why do some list members choose to be active? On a profession-specific list like online-europe one reason stands out. The activists want exposure. Some people will post just to get their name across your screen. If you watch inet-marketing for a just a few days you'll see this in action. You'll soon recognize the list's regulars. You'll also have trouble following the flood of topics and messages. You'll come to value those who have *something* to say. Lesson one: On the Internet, the strength of your signal is the quality of your message. Bullshit gets you nowhere. Marketing drivel gets deleted. Well thought-out, concise messages get you noticed. Which leads right into lesson two: keep it short. Break up your writing into smaller, bite-sized paragraphs. Don't just blither on about ... Try to choose interesting subject lines, ones that sum up your topic. When responding to other's postings, use the "reply" function of your email browser to preserve the subject line in a message thread [ie "re: death to warthogs"]. If the subject of the thread gets old, feel free to rename it [ie. "astrophyics can be fun (was: death to warthogs)"]. When you reply to a message, many email browsers will quote the entire message for you. Please, use quoting only very sparingly. Pretty soon all we're looking at is a series of quoted messages. I'm very deliberate about what I quote. I quote a bit of text, then respond to it. It's a like a conversation: ------can you shade or box this off in the column?------- At 7:23 AM 11/10/95, joe.blow@kokimo.com wrote: > Can you give me more information about your company? Sure Joe, why don't you just read the information in my signature? =steve= ----------------------------------------------------------- My final point is that your signature, or sig file, is a very important place to list contact information, or even special offers. Browse through a few issues of inet-marketing, and you'll soon realize that the signature is a combination business card and advertisement. That's important, because otherwise you know little about the other list members, other than what they post to the list. However you can usually find a web address that lets you find more info. There's plenty more I could say about lists, but I've just about reached the end of my space. I'll leave the rest up to you. Happy hunting! Steven Carlson is Net Media Manager at iSYS Hungary, an Internet provider in Budapest, Hungary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 1995. Permission granted to redistribute this article in electronic form for non-profit purposes only. My byline and this message must remain intact. Contact me for reprint rights. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Carlson http://www.isys.hu iSYS Hungary info@isys.hu steve@isys.hu "One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who only have an interest." - John Stuart Mill ############# # This message to Hungary-Online-announce@hungary.yak.net # was from steve@isys.hu (Steven Carlson) # # To unsubscribe, # send "unsubscribe" to # For a full subscription (rather than this announcement-only subscription) # mail "subscribe" to # Send mail to for more information, # or to if you need human assistance. #############