Module 2: Email Lists

Through a fellow student's blog I found about the following site:
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/internetstudies/


It's a site that has been made for students currently studying Internet Studies.
Once again, I have never visited such a site before so it was quite a new experience for me.
In order to join the group, I created a Yahoo account (since I couldn't recall the last time I used Yahoo).

Anyhow, after visiting a few sites I began to notice the differences between discussion boards and email lists.

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

Email Lists Pros:

• Great for distributing information, newsletters, notifications, and more. Simple way of sending information to numerous people - popular way of marketing.
• You don't necessarily have to go to a certain site to view messages since they are sent directly to your email. Convenient way of communicating with others.
• Since you receive all messages by email, you never miss out on what's going on.

Email Lists Cons:

• All messages are sent to all subscribers which means that there is an issue with privacy. Information is shared and can be viewed by everyone, so it's not a good option to use email lists if you want to have a private talk with someone.
• Since all messages are sent directly to your email, it can become a nuisance when checking your inbox.
• There is a possibility in receiving spam and junk mail which can be very annoying and harmful to your computer (that is if you get a virus from spam mail!).

Discussion Boards Pros:

• Discussion boards can be viewed as a slow version of chatting. You are able to reply/post messages to certain topics and they are all saved under the topic. Since it's like a slow version of chatting, it's actually quite fun and interesting.
• Useful and simple way of communicating with others. It's quite easy to use and not so complicated. All posts are viewable on a single page.
• Able to build online communities with people of the same interests.
• Popular with many people.

Discussion Boards Cons:

• All posts and replies are viewable by all members who are registered on the discussion board. Basically, there is no privacy!
• Can be inconvenient since you have to go and log in to view the discussion board.

Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

In a way, discussion boards are much more open and user friendly whereas email lists are very confronting and can be complicating. As mentioned above in the pros and cons, the use of email lists will be much more effective for marketing and promotion purposes. The reason being is that information can be widely distributed directly to subscribers at any time unlike discussion boards where people have to log in and view the messages themselves. On the other hand, depending on how much messages are being sent, email lists can become annoying since it can make one's email inbox full of unnecessary emails.

Discussion boards are popular and easy to use. It is a great way to make an online community and helps bring together individuals with similar interests. Email lists are likely to be used for marketing purposes, whilst discussion boards are more of a place where you can socialize with other people. In my opinion, I find discussion boards more interesting and easier to use. You are able to view a number of messages on a single page, unlike email lists where you have to open and close many windows.