[Harp-L] quoted messages in replies

[owner-harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx]

As the list has grown and new people have been added to the group and
e-mail technologies have evolved we've all become a little sloppier in how
we quote messages in our replies.

To review, only quote as much of the message you are replying to as is
necessary to let the reader know what it is you are referring to.  If you
are including multiple lines of quoted text and replying to each line make
sure you include some space between the reply and the quote so that e-mail
programs can differentiate between the quoted and the new.  It is not
uncommon for a post to have one or two words in the reply section that are
virtually impossible to find because they're tucked into the middle of the
quoted text and look like they are part of the quote.

Make sure that a message you are replying to was posted to the list and
not private.  Offlist posts should never be quoted back to the list
without the original person's permission.  If it's offlist include offlist
in the subject line and at the end of the reply in the message body.  I've
finally given in and started doing that with all of my offlist replies and
it has worked.  Nobody has re-posted a private reply of mine back to
harp-l since I started doing this.

Resist temptation.   Maybe someone has engaged you with a rude reply to a
message.  Ignore them.  Do not post back to the list with a reply.  At
best it's off topic and or meta discussion, at worst you are now
re-broadcasting offensive words and or thoughts to 1900 subscribers who
signed up to read posts about harmonicas not to get a lesson in
contemporary slang.

If you think you don't understand the rules of harp-l you can always
consult them at http://harp-l.com/rules.html  Having trouble understanding
some aspect of the rules?  Write me here owner-harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx and ask
for clarification.

Anonymity and the internet.  People have gotten this idea that because no
one knows who they are that it's ok to write people really nasty off list
e-mails.  Sure I can't stop you from  doing this but I can and I will
unsubscribe an account if I get persistent complaints regarding offensive
and or threatening e-mails coming from a particular subscriber.  If you
are the recipient of harassing e-mails originating from another
subscriber, write me.  Forward the e-mail.  Something else you might want
to consider is blocking the address.  Most providers allow you to
individually block addresses.  I don't know what happens if a tree falls
in a forest and nobody is around to see it but I do know that an unread
e-mail is just the same as one that never got sent.  Don't feed the troll.
 In most cases the people sending these messages are in it for the
reactions.

Thanks for your time, I'm constantly amazed that harp-l continues to grow
and thrive.  harp-l-listowner