USENET CONUNDRUM

The CFZ Bloggo changed from being a forum for the occasional rant by me, into a twice-daily magazine with up to 60 postings a week in the middle of January. It happened, like so much at the CFZ, and indeed so much in my life, totally by chance and has grown organically into what we have now - only two months later.

I have been posting updates, twice a day to a list of on-topic newsgroups on Usenet for two months now, and I am beginning to wonder whether it is a good idea. I get someone like HHW the other day say something nice about us once or twice a week, and have always taken that as an unsolicited random sign that people generally appreciated what we are trying to do.

But recently there have been several posts on Usenet Newsgroups which seem less than appreciative, and describe the postings as `spam` or generally `annoying`. Some of them have been from people who have what Nick Redfrern would no doubt refer to as a `covert agenda`, and who have never made any secret of their opposition to the CFZ in general, and me in particular. But others are from total strangers.

Now, I find `spam` as irritating as the next person. My in-box is always inundated with offers to remortgage my house, improve my sexual stamina, marry a Ukranian model, or purchase prescription-only painkillers, and I find these mildly irritatating. I find it even more irritating when completely off-topic postings are made over and over again to newsgroups. Last week, for example, two ecological newsgroups to which I subscribe were inundated by posts from a "bored housewife looking for a well-hung stud" and an Eastern European woman wishing to "show off massive new implants on webcam". These are obviously spam, and are obviously beyond the pale.

But my twice-daily postings are on-topic. They are telling people about a free sericice that we are providing: the world's only free, twice daily, interactive cryptozoology magazine and news service, and because we get anything up to 3,700 people a day visit us, we must be doing something right. We are not trying to sell anything or recruit people. Yes, there are links on the bloggo for people to buy our books, or join the CFZ, but there is no pressure for them to do so. Indeed, I have always tried to be lighthearted and cheerful (even silly) in the postings.

But what I do not want to do is to be intrusive, or to lay my trip on people who find these postings annoying. At the moment I get little feedback from the Usenet postings (two a day to 14 fortean and cryptozoological newsgroups), but what feedback I do get is more positive than negative. I am only doing these postings to Usenet as part of what I perceive the CFZ service to be. I like the idea that someone who is not into the subject enough to subscribe to the news feed, can look at his or her emails in the morning and think "aaah, that looks interesting" and go and investigate, and I think that if someone is not interested that is what the `delete` button is for. After all I am an enthusiastic member of several fortean-related newsgroups, and I am quite happy to delete the postings about `spontaeneous human combustion`, or `conspiracy theories` because they don't interest me.

However, this is just my perception. If I am indeed being a pain in the arse, then I will gladly stop postings on Usenet, and I would ask any list owners who want me to do so to contact me offlist on jon@eclipse.co.uk

If, however, as I hope, the majority of people appreciate that I am just trying to provide a good natured, free service, and basically to do something nice, publicising the work of people who would otherwise remain unjustifiably obscure, then I shall be happy to continue.

Up to you guys!