Stay or Leave?

[Guest guest]

Norman wrote:

<<How do I de-list myself or identify subjects of interest? The volume is

incredible and many of the discussions pointless. But there are some nuggets

of gold in the dross.>>

***I have belonged to many groups like this for years and we all feel like

that at some time or another. We contemplate leaving because of sheer volume

of views, but do not wish to miss out on what can be really useful.

Here are some strategies:

1. Instead of receiving every letter one after the other, you can sign up

for a daily digest which you can skim through as fast as possible. Many folk

tend to choose this option, since your letter box does not fill up half as

quickly.

2. Delete any letters bearing titles that don't seem to be of interest to

you. The trouble here is that some people change the topic midstream or add

little extra on new topics that can be valuable. In this case one can simply

read the first one or two in a series of letters on a given theme and then

decide to delete all later ones with the same heading.

3. You can suggest themes for discussion that interest you. Many lurkers

don't do this - they simply decide that a given group is a waste of time and

head on to lurk on another group. The tone and information of a group

reflects the involvement of every member, so if you want to discuss something

that you think would be interesting, just go ahead and ask!

4. You can go to the website of the group a few times a week and select only

the letters that look interesting. The website for this group is:

supertraining

Currently I belong to something like 20 different Internet groups, many of

whom contain information that one might deem to be a waste of time, but I

have deliberately not unsubscribed from any of them, because there is always

some gold in 'them thar hills'.

Remember that its is not thousands of tons of sand that make one wealthy, but

just one nugget of gold that enrich one's life forever. That is why I

usually choose not to subscribe.

Any other suggestions from experienced Internet " groupies " ?

Mel Siff

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

mcsiff@...