[Elecraft] Reflectors, 73 and so on

[Pete Smith]

I was one of the early users of the CQ-Contest reflector, back in the  
90s, and it was a long time before I became aware that hams were the 
only ones who referred to these things as "reflectors" rather than 
"m,ailing lists" or listservs".  It also used to be that anyone posting 
on one of these reflectors would use his or her callsign and some form 
of esoteric ham closing, like 73, 88, etc.

Am I alone in observing that these customs seem to be falling by the 
wayside?  I flinch every time I see an unsigned message on one of the 
reflectors.  It seems to me that people should want to be seen in a good 
light by the 1-4 thousand people who will seeing their messages.  This 
isn't instant messaging, where you're already known by the other party, 
so why not take the second or two extra to let people know who you are 
and that you're proud of it?

Or am I just an old curmudgeon?

-- 
73, Pete N4ZR

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