E-Mail Group 'policing'

[Answerprancer]

Hi, I got added to a community e-mail group for the road I recently moved into.
It seems like a great idea but today I received an e-mail from someone on the group who appears to be 'in charge' stating "dos and donts".

Can someone maintain a position of ownership like this over what is essentially just a list of people and their e-mail addresses? He seems to have the ability to remove people (if they want to be removed). How does that work ...or doesn't it?

[rsvp]

From what I know these community emails are run (surprisingly enough) by someone who is very community minded and they put in many hours to collate the information and pass it on to interested parties - on a community email there has to be some sort of standard and monitoring of content - I guess if you agree to receive the email and possibly benefit from it then you need to agree to the standards required.

[Answerprancer]

Thankyou but I was really just wanting to know if these sort of groups are centrally controllable.

[rsvp]

Must be really thick AnswerP - what do you mean by 'centrally controlable

[Answerprancer]

Do people on such groups have the ability to add or more importantly 'subtract' people from the group ...and don't worry, I don't have any intention to upset any apple carts.

[hc4361]

This group has been set up by somebody who manages and collates it. He or she will set the rules and manage the group. Maybe he has authorised a few other people to help manage it with him.
All group emails work like this, they don't just spring from nowhere.

[rsvp]

I think they probably do AP - it isn't an 'official' group in any way so I guess local rules apply.

[Answerprancer]

Thanks for that somewhat flippant response hc4361 but it still does not answer my question, I think were going off down the wrong track here.
I wasn't questioning someone's hard work or inviting pre-judgement, just looking for facts about the mechanics of it. So far it just looks like a list of e-mail addresses that I could save anyway.

[rsvp]

that's just what it is AP - I'm a member of such a group and receive their emails on a regular basis. Like all clubs there are conditions and to stop people peddling porn, drugs anything unsuitable then the person running it reserves the right to publish (or not) posts to those who have requested inclusion on the mailing list.As far as the legality of any of these community things I couldn't comment but they are run on a community enterprise for the good of the village and lets not get 'elf and safety involved' as far as I can see

[woofgang]

Ap, yes you can just save the addresses.....but it would be quite easy for the group’s “owner” to remove your details from the circulation list and therefore remove you from the group.

[Answerprancer]

Ok, thanks rsvp and woofgang, that clarifies things a bit.

[hc4361]

I wasn't being flippant.

[Answerprancer]

"they don't just spring from nowhere"

[Zacs-Master]

Seems a perfectly reasonable answer from hc. It will probably have been this persons idea to set the group up therefore he will be able to administrate the group as he/she deems suitable.

[hc4361]

Well they don't :)

If you collected my email address from a group I was in and emailed me direct your mail would go straight in to the junk folder because I have not joined your group

[Mamyalynne]

Sounds like the equivalent of 'over the garden fence' type thing - good for the community I expect.

[Answerprancer]

Hmm, it's something I'm not used to - I hope I did the right thing the other day when I responded to a group e-mail but changed the subject line (as it had nothing to do with the original e-mail). I couldn't work out any alternative way to get my e-mail to everyone in the group.

[Answerprancer]

Mamya, it's pretty much as you'd expect: bring and buy sales, carol singing etc.
I like the idea of it, makes me feel less isolated in my new place :-)

[Bighamish]

Op, what kind of group is this? An adult themed meetings group? Neighborhood watch? A dog walkers group? Without the full facts it's pretty hard to understand the op

[Mamyalynne]

I agree it's a good thing, as I'm the longest resident where I live, anyone new is directed to me for info.


I've met some great people of all types,ages etc that way.

[hc4361]

I'm a member of Streetlife, an excellent local community forum which is nationwide.

https://www.streetlife.com