OList > OBloggers

OBloggers @ OList.com

Do you wish to join OBloggers?

After you review the list criteria and rules, you can request a subscription to the Google Group. Questions? E-mail the list manager, Lynne Bourque.

OBloggers is an informal private e-mail list for Objectivist bloggers. Its purpose is to facilitate communication relevant to blogging, such as upcoming events, blogworthy links, posts of interest, blog promotion, and best blogging practices. Its broader purpose is to help promote Objectivist ideas in the culture.

OBloggers is limited to Objectivist bloggers. The list is not moderated, but members who violate its rules will be subject to moderation, if not unsubscribed.

OBloggers is managed by Lynne Bourque, the author of the blog 3 Ring Binder. She describes herself as follows:

I am an unapologetic, laissez-faire capitalist, homeschooling, crossfitting, Objectivist, mother blogger living northwest of Boston with my heroic husband, the odd offspring -- between one and three at any given time, one perky Pug, and eight egg-layers (chickens that actually live in the backyard). My personal blog, 3 Ring Binder, contains lots of things I like (e.g. dogs, poetry, music, design), some things I don't like (e.g. regulations, government schools, assorted people telling me what to do), and all things that would be better with bacon (everything else). I post only when I'm happy. Fair warning: turns out, that's nearly every day.

Lynne can be reached at EstiTiEsti@gmail.com.

OBloggers was launched in May 2007. At present, it has over 165 members.

Subscription

To join the OBloggers mailing list, you must meet two criteria:

• You must be an Objectivist, meaning that you agree with and live by the principles of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism as best you understand them.

• You must be a semi-active blogger, meaning posting at least once per month or so. You need not blog on anything related to Objectivism.

Note: You do not qualify as an Objectivist if you consider yourself to be a libertarian (or associate with the Libertarian Party), advocate revising Objectivism (like David Kelley's "open system"), or associate with the false advocates of Objectivism (most notably David Kelley, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, and Chris Sciabarra).

You can request a subscription to OBloggers via this web form. You must briefly explain how you meet the list's criteria for membership: please write a few sentences. If you are confused or doubtful about the subscription criteria, please do not request a subscription without first e-mailing the list manager Lynne Bourque.

The list is hosted on Google Groups, so subscribing requires an account with Google. (It's free and easy to create.) Click here for instructions on managing your OList subscriptions.

After you subscribe, please post an introduction, including your name, blog title and URL, and blogging interests.

Rules of the List

The OBloggers list has a few basic rules:

1. Please be friendly or at least civil in posts to the list and in e-mails to the list manager. Subscribers who behave like asses, such as by insulting other list members or attacking Objectivist intellectuals, will be removed from the list. Also, please do not gripe about other list members in posts to the list.

2. Please respect the purpose of the list. Subscribers who prove disruptive -- such as by arguing against Objectivist positions or posting on irrelevant topics -- will be unsubscribed or subject to moderation. Please note that list policy is always off-topic: please direct any comments or questions about the management of the list to the list manager.

3. Please respect the privacy of other list members. Don't forward list messages to blogs, e-mail lists, or other public forums without the author's permission, unless the message is a public announcement meant to be disseminated.

4. Please be considerate about what you choose to post to the list. If a message is likely to be of interest to just one or two people -- such as "thank you!" or "good job!" -- please send that privately, rather than to the whole list. Notably, you are welcome to announce your own work on the list, if relevant.

5. Please refrain from debate on the list. The common goal of all the OLists is to serve our real-life values, not to foster ivory-tower or acrimonious debate. If you disagree with opinions expressed on the list, state your own views and give reasons for them. Any back-and-forth arguments, however, should be taken off-list. (For elaboration, see "A Discussion is Not a Debate" by Jean Moroney.)

List Mechanics

Mail to OBloggers should be addressed to obloggers@olist.com or obloggers@googlegroups.com. (Mail to the former address is automatically forwarded to the latter address.)

If you are a subscriber, you can access OBloggers through this web interface. There, you can peruse the archives and change your subscription.

Click here for further instructions on managing your OList subscriptions.

Contact

If you have any questions about or problems with the list, please e-mail Lynne Bourque, the list's manager, at EstiTiEsti@gmail.com.