Re: Unsubscribing and HTML e-mail? (was: Blocked)

Subject: Re: Unsubscribing and HTML e-mail? (was: Blocked)
From: Dick Margulis <margulis -at- fiam -dot- net>
To: Chuck Martin <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 15:07:49 -0400



Chuck Martin wrote:

OK, sounds like the clarity part is there.

But if it's really opt-in, then why allow users to click Submit (and I won't
go into the issues with using that word as a button label) when they could
not read the line? Why not make it true opt-in and have the check box
cleared by default?

If users can inadvertently go past that--as we've seen many can
do--designing it so they have to take explicit action to get it, rather than
not get it, would reduce the possibility of users getting what they don't
want. In other words, change the design so users overlooking that line won't
have unintended consequences for them. You know that users make the mistake,
and we know they often don't read, so don't let them make the mistake in the
first place.

Short answer: because I like getting a regular paycheck.

Longer answer: Chuck, you are twisting the situation beyond all recognition. We have a mailing list of about 4,500 valid names. We get roughly five or six unsubscribes after each mailing. The topic I was trying to inquire about when I started this thread was how to get past mail admins who prevent people from receiving messages they apparently WANT to get, not how to best accommodate people who do NOT want to hear from us.

We're satisfied that we are not annoying recipients particularly. Defaulting the checkbox on as opposed to defaulting it off may strike you as morally reprehensible, but it's a compromise I can live with. The subscriber wants something for nothing from us--otherwise they would not be filling in the registration form--and we want something for nothing in return--the opportunity to put a message in front of them half a dozen times a year, which we will forego if they ask us to. I think it's a fair swap.

---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses at mail.fiam.net]





Follow-Ups:

References:
Unsubscribing and HTML e-mail? (was: Blocked): From: Hart, Geoff
Re: Unsubscribing and HTML e-mail? (was: Blocked): From: Dick Margulis

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