DCML digest # (fill in the blank)

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Mon Sep 10 15:04:09 CEST 2001


From: "Fluks, H.W." <H.W.Fluks at kpn.com>
> > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>>>Especially to non-digest readers (like me) it says nothing at all.
Anyway, it's not a very big issue to me. Don Rosa, for instance, has been
doing it since 1994

...and I'll continue to do it that way. No disagreement with anyone who
personally likes to write detailed subject-lines, but just to indicate a
different attitude to the matter: I've always thought of those
subject-lines as a puzzling nuisance. In fact, even when I send personal
e-mail, unless it's a reply (in which case, the subject-line is
automatically created as a "re:" to the other person's subject-line), what
I type into the subject-line is always something like "%%%%" or "@@@@". I
want the reader to discover my subject as he reads, the same way he would
if I were talking directly to him. I don't preface every sentence I speak
in a conversation by saying "This next group of comments will deal with the
weather:". It's enough for me to see a list of the names of the
contributors to a particular Digest.... what they are writing about, I'll
see when I read each of their messages. And knowing what they are writing
about beforehand does not cause me to read or not read their message ... I
read 100% of the Digest regardless of what the subject-lines say or don't
say about each writer's entry. Actually, I guess I usually don't even look
at the Digest contents-list... I skip it altogether.
I virtually never post comments here unless I am asked a specific question.
Even in this case, I would've stayed outta the way except my name was
"invoked". On the rare occasion that I do introduce a new subject about
some sorta news item, I usually do put a title on my message to fill that
space. But about 99% of the time I am only referring to a previous Digest,
ergo "re: DCML digest # (fill in the blank)".
On the other hand, I could have put new titles on every message for the
past 3 years, and typed less than I've just done to explain why I don't do
all that typing. That's the kinda guy I am!
 So if you like to put titles on your messages, great... but I'll always
use barebones titles that simply refer to a previous Digest #.





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