I have a list (Majordomo) that has been subjected lately to a problem of
"phantom" subscribers/posters. Up until about a week ago, anyone could
*sub* and post or just post. We recently had a person (likely already a
member) post (s/he may have *subbed* first) using a newly created AOL
screen-name for the sole purpose of flaming a few of our regular members.
As soon as that person posted their nasties, they deleted the AOL
screen-name (and, if they were subbed, they probably un-subbed). As I have
a full-time job I cannot be constantly monitoring the membership list,
especially since we have over 200 members. This person has done this at
least 3 or 4 times, each time using a different AOL screen-name. I have
changed the list to a closed-list, only allowing posts from members.
The posts from this person have resulted in a prolonged flame war with some
casualties (un-subs) along the way. The nature of the list is to give
emotional support to members. Therefore, this problem has caused some
significant harm to some of our members. I recently implemented a policy of
manually subbing new members, requiring some basic information including
name, phone number, etc. Some of the members (either brand new ones or
those who are changing ISP's) object to my requiring this information as an
invasion of their privacy. Naturally, this is causing new problems for our
list.
I suppose that I could out-of-hand reject subscriptions from AOL'ers, but
that would not be a fair thing to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
Thanks,
Jack
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Jack Schnapper
jjflash@pobox.com
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