I have taken  to sending a personal message to anyone applying to join our Group if they don't have much information in their profile, or if they have demonstrated that they are argumentive in other similar groups.  We have had one with very little profile who did commit to being a civil poster, and they were accepted.  Yes, this is a little extra work, but it does give us more credibility I believe in other Groups.

Hi Mike ... Seems "they" learned from last time as going is quite slow on their part as it is being worked on..... Won't be out until next year as I understand... I participated 4 or 5 months ago on an organizational change they were working on, so there is a much easier to use directory and it would be soo much easier to find groups, subjects, and so forth .... Was still in the baby steps phase at that time, so I wouldn't be holding your breath, you might get mistaken for a blue Christmas tree bulb.....

Al:

This is the first I've read about a new UI. I'd be cautious about this group rushing anything to release. The last time they rushed something to release, many of us had reservations. The result of that release is what we have now.

Mike 

I agree with you Astraea. It is only fair to let people know where they stand.

denying membership to a prospect - is indeed, rare (in my groups)

Hi Trailrdr .... Couldn't agree more and appreciate your opinion! The personal touch, with an explanation of reasoning, seems like it should always be the way to go from the Group owner.... Believe that is what Social Networking is supposed to be all about.... .

My thoughts were about adding another layer of automation to a site that can't seem to function for even a full day now without belches and hiccups and Ooopps and the usual array of error messages and "We're looking into it", etc. We can and should personalize this site as much as humanly possible, the responsibility of Group Owners; and avoid automation and "canned" responses as much as possible.

I'd hate to see this site get to the annoying,

"Push 1 if you need a canned, generic rejection notice",

"Push 2 if you think the rejection was in error",

"Push 3 if you think this is another Oops by the site",

"Push 4 if you need a tissue or think you received this message in error", and so on.

Problem with automated responses by the site is they don't or can't cover the full range of various reasons why someone might not be accepted by a group. I would doubt that statistically there are very many rejections, and adding cumbersome programming language to cover those very few instances just seems burdonsome and unnecessary, when the current abilities of the site can't be mainained for an approximate full day....  .

As I concluded initially, "Your mileage may vary" as there are different strokes for different folks, and was just offering an opinion as well, like you so compassionately did.

Thanks..... BT 

BigToe, I understand where you're coming from. However, I find it hard to believe that an automatic notification is going to cripple the system.

I believe it's extremely rude not to answer a question. If someone asks to join one of my groups, I check them out thoroughly, then accept their membership. I follow up by sending them a personal thank you, not a rubber stamped one. I do this because I want to, I have the time, and I care. My name is attached to this group, and it has to represent who I am as an individual.

If I find out that anyone I may have to deny membership in the future is not automatically notified, I will deal with it personally. Even if I don't feel the person belongs in one of my groups, it's the courteous thing to do, and the right way to treat another person.

Just my opinion.