On Sat, 22 Jul 1995, Kathleen Bruce wrote:

> USENET news groups are bulletin board type animals...you can read them sort
> of like a newspaper...pick it up, read it,  add your .02..there are many
> advantages and disadvantages to Newsgroups.
>
  FLames (on line insults, arguments,
> disagreements) are rampant on Newsgroups..People tend to be rude...but not
> always.
>
> By having Lactnet be a newsgroup such as sci.med.lactation (that could be
> its name) we might be able to increase our membership, but I am not sure
> this is an advantage. Anyone who has email now can join Lactnet.
>
> Newsgroups can be moderated or not. If they are moderated, that means that I
> would have to check each message (or KAuerbach) before it is posted.
>
> Kathleen
>
Dear Kathleens and everyone - While the idea of Lactnet being a newsgroup
is exciting (this hi-tech stuff is something else!), I have some serious
doubts. (1) When I first publicized my home phone no. for breastfeeding
counselling, I was disturbed when I received a few calls from heavy
breathers (and worse). The final straw was when my then pre-adolescent
daughter was alone in the house and answered the phone. The man asked to
speak to the lactation counsellor, and she said that I was not home. He
then started asking her about how big *my* breasts were.....I don't relish
the idea of opening up our wonderful forum that we feel so comfortable,
at-home, in, expressing our sometimes very intimate feelings, impressions
and personal experiences, to someone just interested in a cheap thrill or
whatever the reason that these disturbed people do what they do.
(2) I honestly believe that word about Lactnet has gotten around and
continues to get around to a most satisfactory degree. I'm not sure that
there will be any great gain from becoming a newsgroup. I may be way off
base on this, though, since I have *no* experience at all with this sort
of thing. (3) I dislike the thought of the extra work for the co-owners
of Lactnet. Of course, how they spend their time is their business, but,
well, let me put it this way, my maternal protective instincts are very
widespread..... OK, this are my first, off-the-cuff reactions. What say
the rest of you? Judy K. in Beer Sheva, Israel