[NTLUG:Discuss] [Off-Topic] Why the message was spam [was [Off-Topic] Free Software Consortium...]

[Lance Simmons]

On Sat, Dec 21, 2002 at 12:04:29PM -0600, Fred James wrote:
> I vote that it should have gone on the Jobs list, if at all.  Exposure
> to our mass media, and other sales hype, may inure us to misnomers and
> double talk, but I don't think we need to accept, or support, such.

I think the crucial question is who sends it.  When someone who is a
regular, contributing member of a list thinks that something off topic
will be of interest to others on the list, he or she can mark it off
topic and send it.  In doing so that person is risking some of the
credibility he or she has built up.  If sufficient numbers of people
regard the message as inappropriate, that person will lose credibility.

What makes spam spam, as I understand it, is the lack of such
accountability.  It's from someone you don't know, and there is no
meaningful way your disapproval of the message can influence the person
who sent it, because the person who sends spam _doesn't care_ what you
think of him or her.  He or she does not need to preserve his or her
credibility with most of the people in a community -- instead he or she
can make a profit by appearing credible to only a very small number of
recipients.

-- 
Lance Simmons
lance at lsimmons.net