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Posted by Todd Van Hoosear on Monday, November 17, 2003

How to Join Our Yahoo! Group


As a New England-based Michigan State University alum, you're invited to join the MSU Alumni Association
Boston Chapter (a.k.a. "msubosalum") Yahoo! group. This group is an opportunity to network, meet new friends,
keep in touch with old ones, plan bar nights and other equally critical activities. Membership is very
flexible; you can choose to receive e-mails in "real time", or daily digests, or even no e-mails at all if
you just want to visit the Web site every once in a while. How do I join, you ask? Well, it depends on
whether you have, and/or want to have, a Yahoo! ID.


WHAT'S A YAHOO! ID?


If you have an e-mail account with Yahoo!, or a "My Yahoo!" account, you probably already have a Yahoo! ID.
Yahoo! IDs are used to identify you on all Yahoo! sites. Getting a Yahoo! ID is pretty painless, and if
you're careful, relatively anonymous*.


DO YOU ALREADY HAVE A YAHOO! ID? IF SO...


  1. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msubosalum/.
  2. Make sure you're signed in (click on "Sign in to Yahoo!" if you see the link).
  3. Click on the "Join this Group!" link again, and follow instructions. Make sure you give us some background information in the notes section--when you graduated, where you live, etc. We'll use this information only to verify your eligibility to join the group.
  4. Make sure you have registered an e-mail address to which group messages can be sent.
  5. Cbeck e-mail on the account you used to register with--you'll receive a confirmation or a request for more information. If we can't verify your MSU affiliation, we'll send you a note.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A YAHOO! ID, BUT WANT TO GET ONE...



  1. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msubosalum/.
  2. Click on "Sign in to Yahoo!"
  3. Click on "Sign up now" on the left side of the screen.
  4. Follow instructions (you'll need to enter and possibly verify a primary e-mail address).
  5. Go back to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msubosalum/.
  6. Make sure you're signed in (click on "Sign in to Yahoo!" if you see the link).
  7. Click on the "Join this Group!" link again, and follow instructions. Make sure you give us some background information in the notes section--when you graduated, where you live, etc. We'll use this information only to verify your eligibility to join the group.
  8. Make sure you have registered an e-mail address to which group messages can be sent.
  9. Cbeck e-mail on the account you used to register with--you'll receive a confirmation or a request for more information. If we can't verify your MSU affiliation, we'll send you a note.

IF YOU'RE PHILOSOPHICALLY OR OTHERWISE OPPOSED TO COOKIES, THE WEB, YAHOO!, ETC...



  1. Note that in the 5 years that I've had a Yahoo! ID, they haven't spammed me (by way of comparison, I
    hate AOL and Microsoft). Also, see the note below...
  2. Send a blank e-mail to msubosalum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
  3. Wait for a confirmation. It works similarly to good old listserv for you e-mail old-timers.

IF YOU'RE TOO BUSY TO BE ABLE TO SPEND TIME READING TONS OF E-MAILS...


Sign up anyways! You can restrict or even cut off the amount of e-mail you get...


OPTION A. IF YOU HAVE A YAHOO! ID:


  1. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msubosalum/
    (you must have already joined the group).
  2. Click on "Edit My Membership".
  3. Change your Message Delivery options (see below).

OPTION B. IF YOU'RE JUST SUBSCRIBED BY E-MAIL,

I haven't figured out the command, but just send an e-mail to
vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu and tell me which of the
following you prefer:



  1. Individual e-mails (you get something everytime somebody posts).
  2. Daily digest.
  3. Only special notices (but then again, why are you signed up by e-mail :-).
  4. No e-mail (web only, see "c" above :-).

* Of course, Yahoo! keeps track of everyone who posts, mostly by logging IP addresses. Yahoo! WILL
respond to legal requests to reveal all information through a court order or discovery process. However,
Yahoo! has been traditionally very friendly to its posters, errs on the side of caution, and has in the
past notified users well in advance of fulfilling any legal requests or orders.