Anne, it would be nice if the subject line really reflected the topic of the message, but I think it is a lost cause. Every email list I have ever been on has suffered from rampant topic drift. I tend to just ignore the subject line and, in fact, the headers because they are unlikely to tell me much. I know that by ignoring them I contribute to the problem because then I will be replying to a message without having even been aware of what the subject line might say, but occasionally, when a request like yours comes along I will remember to change the subject line. It doesn't do much good, though, because I cannot force everyone else to do that and I drift back into just ignoring them again. That causes me a bigger problem when I am replying to a message and think it is in one list while it is in another. I suppose that also contributes to the growth of off topic threads. Anyway, if you just delete a message based solely on the subject line you will be missing messages that you are interested in. If you do not, of course, you will be wasting time with messages that you are not interested in. Then if you plead for a stop to off topic messages you are at great risk of starting a long thread about off topic messages and if you start one of those then that thread is likely to drift into some other frivolity. I think that perhaps the most effective way to cut down on email that you have no interest in is to take a hard look at the lists to which you subscribe. Take into consideration the ratio of noise to signal in each of those groups. Take into consideration how valuable the signal in each list is in relation to its noise. Then pick out some groups to unsubscribe from. In the mean time, since I have just gotten your reminder, I am changing the subject line on this message.
On 3/7/2012 8:22 AM, Ann Parsons wrote:
Hi all,May I make a plea for more relevant subject lines? I just arose this morning, and found an hundred and eleven email in my queue, yes eleventy-one, as Tolkien would say. A large number of them have no subject line except the name of the list. Please, folks, please, for those of us who sort email by subject, determining what topics are worth Reading and which can be deleted due to time constraints, it would be really thoughtful and kind if you would put a relevant subject line on your posts. The subject line is there for a reason, a cogent one, in fact. Please remember your fellow list members and put relevant subject lines on your posts.Now, I am going back to the folder summary listing to delete all the messages with empty subject lines because the subject, scanners, doesn't interest me at this particular time. Thanks.Ann P.
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