• Tue, 5 May 1998

From: GeeksRack <GeeksRack@AOL.COM>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 11:19:33 -1000

Do you people find that your hits drop when you start a notify list, for all the obvious reasons?

From: ginkgo@mail.jade-leaves.com
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 12:57:05 -1000

Oh yes, way the heck down. You can always put a hit counter on an entry (unless you have ssi counters, it would probably be easiest to just place one on like the middle entry of the month) to get a better idea of how many people are actually reading. Putting it on the first of the month would give you an extremely inflated number since most passers by hit either the first or the most recent entry to hit, so the first of the month tends to be way out of proportion.

I also noticed that more people joined my notify list after I mentioned that it's a blind cc list so no one else knows who the list is being sent to--the whole privacy thing. After all, who wants their email address or maybe even their reading preferences sent to a bunch of strangers?

From: Renee <kat@intrstar.net>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 14:44:02 -1000

That is the best kind of notify list to have, with the blind cc thing.

From: Melody Paulk <melodyp@onramp.net>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 10:51:17 -1000

This depends on the size of the notify list. If it is not large, it makes little difference, but with a longer list, definitely. However, with quality journals, or well-advertised ones, the hits will rise consistently, regardless of the presence of a notify list. I think it's definitely worth the proportionately small net drop in hits to cater to the readers by letting them know when a new entry has been posted.

From: deb <deb@io.com>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 03:35:05 -1000

what's the thought on notify lists? i update sometimes sporadically; i average 3 or 4X per week, but i recently went a whole week without. does that warrant a notify list? it seems like it would get annoying on those weeks where i do update daily.

From: Kymm Zuckert <hedgehog@hedgehog.net>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 08:30:38 -1000

I recently started a secret notify list since the boy I am being ridiculous over THIS week is online and has my URL, though he has not seen my site yet, and of the people requesting to be on it, less than half have written me before, and they all say that they have been reading me for months. A promise of secret info sure brings 'em out of the woodwork!

From: amanda page <amandag@iname.com>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 04:55:17 -1000

I like Notify Lists , me, which is why I run the burb/list with Notify Lists.

I'm on a couple of different type Notify Lists. One where the person will notify only if they're not going to be able to update as regularly as they normally do, like an unnotify listie, so this person's readers know to check all the time unless they get an email letting them know there's going to be a gap/delay.

Then there's the notify listie of the people who have no regular update schedule, so with them, it's just easier to wait for their notify email, and go read their stuff, rather than raise their hit count by checking every day. (and yes, this is a side effect, your hit count will probably go down, but you then know that the hits you are getting are from people actually reading.)

Then there's the notify listie from people who update daily, but like to write extra notes to their readers. On the side, and regular contact is what comes out of this notify list.

The on-the-side angle is another cool aspect to Notify Listies. The reader often gets interesting goss that for one reason or another won't make it into the general diary. This in itself is a selling point for the Notify Listie, and a lot of people join for this reason.

The reason I like them all? It's a time management and a memeory aid. I don't have to remember to go skimming through my bookmarks each day or each every so often to check entries, and I can check them when they're actually there.

From: Dreama <dreamalynn@geocities.com>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 06:04:48 -1000

If you're a regular updater, then an un-notify list like Firedrake's might be best - inform people when you haven't written an entry.

If you're more sporadic, or tend to take long breaks, like, oh, me, for instance, a notify list would be a good thing. Mine now has more subscribers than the number of readers of my last entry, which is worrysome!

From: Kymm Zuckert <hedgehog@hedgehog.net>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 07:41:08 -1000

I love notify lists, me, and don't mind one bit if I am notified every day. Especially if you're not going to update since the 16th!!

From: Lynda Bustilloz <cattybtch@3harpiesltd.com>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 10:10:13 -1000

I like the semi-regulars that offer them. I update daily and have considered one myself - not to notify of an entry (its a new day? there's a new entry unless my computer's died) but to occasionally give a 'rest of the story' to a smaller, more controlled group of people. I haven't figured out how to do that without hurting the feelings of some people I like a lot but would not be included in that select group.

From: "Doug Franklin" <nilknarf@networksplus.net>
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 22:09:35 -1000

Notify lists: I love 'em, sometimes. For previously-stated reasons, mostly. However, I like to call mine a "reminder" list... let people know that an entry is there, and... drum roll... give them the URL! Don't make them go to their bookmarks/favorites or worse... Make it easy for them to get there. O'yeah... put yourself on the list, and check the URL out. After I sent out my reminder tonight, I did that... and got a 404. It was a different URL than I usually use, and I'd made a goof... wound up sending another message with the right one. Embarrassing....

From: Ryan Kawailani Ozawa <ozawa@hawaii.edu>
Date: Wed, 00 May 1998 00:00:00

Amanda, that's a great breakdown of the different kinds of Notify Lists:

1. Unnotify Lists (notices of long pauses)
2. Notify Lists (notices of new entries)
3. Background Lists (supplementary, more private information)

I'd never heard of the "Unnotify List" before... but then again, long pauses between updates is the norm, not the exception, for myself and a good many diarists.

Like you said, I join particularly for the benefits of background. My own notify list is where I explain things that might be a little vague to non-friends, and even dump a thought or two I had that didn't really fit into the entry.

How many notify lists out there are "full-duplex"? That is, two way _discussion_ lists? MU-L, which is Jay's list, is like that, as is mine, IMR-L. That way readers interact with eachother, and discuss and debate various issues touched upon in the journal.

Of course, like DIARY-L, off-topic posts abound. Jay's gone and started a "notify-only" list seperate from MU-L. I, on the other hand, figure it's a fair trade. Background information for the price of an occasionally full mailbox.