Listserve--Speak to the Internet

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  If you had the chance to e-mail millions of people at once, what would you say to them? If you were picked out of a lottery to address a multitude of users, what information or lesson would you share? On a recent trip to the women's blog site Blog Her, I came across an article for the site Listserve. Wary of the concept at first, I paid it no mind. Interested in the exposure (despite the odds), I wanted to see what it was all about. I signed up a week ago.

  So far, the first three letters have been about enjoying life, an interesting story, and an epiphany a young man hand in his twenties. You know, those kinds of stories and anecdotes are awesome. They usually go viral because of human interest. There's nothing wrong with that. I can appreciate people who are willing to talk about parts of their lives and share what they've learned with the rest of the world. That's why I think this is a great way to communicate with other people. My only problem is that according to the BlogHer article, "anything goes" as in...anything. So while we're all talking about living our best lives and not sweating the small stuff, eventually we might get something about how much a bitter housewife hates her "ethnic neighbors". As it stands, there is no FAQ for content. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

  Listserve is a massive e-mail list. The only way you'll get these e-mails is to subscribe. After 10k subscriptions, the first e-mails went out. When you subscribe, you are also entering a lottery to win a chance to speak to everyone else who has subscribed. You have the choice to disclose your e-mail to other people, but it's private. It will only be known to the e-mail list. Introvert or extrovert, sounds like something interesting.

  I have to admit to being very unsure about the idea of winning an e-mail lottery to end up writing something to people I don't know. But if I'm writing online right now, what have I got to lose? I have a tumblr that's full of my life, a Pinterest, and even a deviantArt page full of my poetic angst. Hell, I'm on YouTube in all my fat lady glory rambling about this and that. If I won, I'd probably promote this blog, talk about my dreams, and share my experiences with loss. Maybe I'd talk about how to put negative energy to work in a positve way. Quite honestly, I'm none too sure what I would say. I'd have to think and re-think before I hit that send button.

  What's the harm in signing up? Even if you don't win, the e-mails make for a pretty interesting read. Today might be a poem, tomorrow could be a recipe.

"One person a day wins a chance to write to 
the growing list of subscribers. It could be you. "

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