Re: 7 Acre Ranchette, 15 min. from Baltimore City/Columbia

On Jan 4, 1:16 pm, tenwhe...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Jan 4, 10:18 am, seahors <a...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Jan 3, 7:51 pm, "jsaranac" <jsalaci...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"My Name Is Nobody" <nob...@xxxxxxx> wrote in messagenews:z0gfj.4451$nN5.3855@xxxxxxxxxxx
"John Hasler" <j...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
Real estate advertising has completely destroyed newsgroups.

So? Nothing exists forever. Or should. More newsgroups have been
diminished by resident squatting posters than ever by spammers.

[...]

I have a strong personal interest in this discussion and would be
interested in feedback on my own situation. I publish Sport Horse
MARKETPLACE - John, you are familiar with it. It is a free and high-
quality publication enjoyed by thousands of people. Is it spam if

It's spam if you post repeatedly, nauseatingly and unrelated to
whether you get responses. It's just someone else with a keyboard who
can be ignored (or blocked).

post information about it if someone is shopping for a sport horse? or
a stallion to breed to? It's an excellent place to find a new horse -
and it's free. And yet I avoid posting about it, because of the spam
issue,

I consider it a waste of time to repeatedly post links to
dreamhorse.com or rant about religion (either way). Others don't.
Vive l'difference.

[...]

It just isn't possible to make this black and white, and some
provision should be made for the gray area. Perhaps it would be worth
1. posing the question to the entire group, and then 2. defining terms
in more detail .

You're quite polite. The answer to #1 is, it makes no difference - no
one owns the ng. The answer to #2 is, the terms are already
established - anyone with access can post whatever and anyone with
access can ignore whatever. Eventually the day will come when
binaries can be posted and it will be NBD too, though probably not
without much whining.

I would personally like to see horse-related adverts be accepted in a
horse-related group, PROVIDING the topic is clearly defined so anyone
who doesn't want to be bothered can just ignore it. This property ad
was posted very responsibly: clearly labeled and easy to ignore if you
are not interested. The man is not evil because he sells horse
properties. Someone WAS interested, and those of us who weren't could
easily skip over it.

Bingo - those who aren't interested can ignore, including the spam
rants about those who post spam.

It's not an easy question, and I would be very happy to hear others'
opinions. Thanks for reading!

Mostly, this is the Internet - do as you will. Those who choose to,
will respond, those who don't, won't. There is a built in feedback
loop - if you don't get enough responses, you won't post further.
Simple, really.

Thanks for the "polite"! I do try.

Most of this has been quite helpful, and all of it has been
interesting. As always, the variety of opinions keeps it interesting!
The most common idea seems to be that you earn your place in a group
by talking and contributing. Then people are a lot more accepting of
you and what you post. That is a little hard on those of us who read
and "lurk" but don't always feel a need to put in 2 cents, but I
understand and it seems reasonable. Most people seem to feel that
advertising in a signature is the preferred way to do it: understated
and indirect. That makes sense to me too.

I have no problem contacting people directly if I think what I have to
say is better said just to the individual and not to the group. I
think that should happen a lot MORE often, and for a lot more reasons
than just selling something. If your conversation turns more personal,
i.e. of no interest to anyone but you and the other person, take it
offline. As far as rudeness or intolerance, how about just don't.
Figure out a way to be tactful or leave the comments to those who
can.

So far so good. What I DON'T are understand the folks who seem to put
business owners in a category somewhere below slugs. Just because I
might be making money in my business (I wish), I am looked at like
something nasty that should crawl back under its rock. What I have to
say might be relevant, insightful, even wise - but if I bring it up in
the context of my business - which is relevant, and from which I
gained a lot of the insights I have about horses and horse people -
suddenly I am scum. I find this offensive (can you tell?), but also
puzzling. We all buy things from business owners, and most business
owners in the horse world are decent people. How did they get put in
the anathema category? We can talk about almost anything - but
mention that you own a business and a deathly silence falls, until it
is broken by people flaming you. I haven't been on the receiving end
yet, because I am pretty discrete, but it's painful to watch.
Actually, I have. Right here, when I was only asking advice. Why
should I be told, for example, that I should go start a marketing
group, as "the honest thing to do," as if my business were dirty and
something I should be ashamed of mentioning in polite groups like this
one. Yeah, I think I can say I find that offensive.

Describing what you have to offer (if it's relevant) is not nearly as
offensive as rudeness, bossiness, know-it-all-ness, and assuming
everyone else agrees with your view no matter how narrow. It's more
interesting to the general reader than, "I love your horse! What's his
name?" It's much more helpful than either. Give these poor business
owners a break!

Please, before you jump on someone who has something to sell, remember
that "spam" doesn't mean "having to do with selling something." It
means ground up fake ham that nobody wants. "Nobody wants" is key. If
you think the item offered is of no interest to anyone, feel free to
jump - altho I agree with the person who said ignoring invasive emails
is the most effective. But it doesn't have to be of interest to
EVERYONE. Nothing posted is of interest to everyone. It just has to be
of interest to SOMEONE and to be properly labeled. If it is properly
labeled in the subject line, if it's relevant to the group's subject,
then it is NOT SPAM. I believe this is the correct definition of spam
- at least from the early days - but I also know it is not the popular
definition now. So I know this puts me out on a limb. That's OK - I've
always liked trees.

Once again, thanks for reading.

Anna Goebel, speaking from out on a limb
Sport Horse MARKETPLACE
http://www.SportHorseMARKETPLACE.com
.

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