more on advertising and SEELANGS

[David J Birnbaum]

It may appear that it isn't much of an inconvenience to receive unwanted
information by email, especially if it bears a note in the subject line
that spares us from even having to read the text of unwanted
advertisements. This isn't true. We all pay real money for our email,
even if it is our universities who write the checks and we end users don't
see the tab. Unwanted email is an expense, and not just a nuisance, even
if it looks like it's free.

Since people differ about how much information they want to receive, isn't
the "brief announcement with an address to write to for more information"
type of posting more appropriate than the longer, commercially-oriented,
wide-distribution press release?

Let me drag out an example. I subscribe to a catalogue service from
Panorama (free of charge from Panorama, but with the usual hidden email
charge), and they email me catalogues of new books about Russian and
Ukrainian studies every week or two. These catalogues are long, and should
not be posted to general lists; the expense is appropriate for me because
I want to receive these catalogues, but might not be appropriate for other
SEELANGS readers. This arrangement seems an efficient and considerate way
to handle electronic advertising: tell people briefly that it is
available, and then let them decide whether they want to receive more
information. And to follow my own advice: for those who are interested,
you can get on the Panorama catalogue mailing list by sending a request to
panoramrus at aol.com.

-David
==================================================
Professor David J. Birnbaum      djbpitt+ at pitt.edu
The Royal York Apartments, #802  http://www.pitt.edu/~djbpitt/
3955 Bigelow Boulevard           voice: 1-412-624-5712
Pittsburgh, PA  15213  USA       fax:   1-412-624-9714