List Members FAQ

What is an email list?

An email list is a way to have discussions or post announcements by email to a group of people without having to email them each individually. Mailing list software or services keep a list of the email addresses of all members and, depending on the purpose of the list, discussion or announcement, pass emails back and forth between list members (discussion list) or from the listowner to all list members (announcement list).

On a discussion list, members can post a message by sending to the single list email address (listname@domain.xxx) and all members on the list will receive the message and be able to reply. On an announcement list, the listowner will post a message about a website update or event, for example, and the message will be distributed to all list members. If you join a discussion list, be prepared to get mail, sometimes lots of it! Some discussion lists can be very busy, generating hundreds of emails per *day* while others can be sporadic or nearly dead, issuing perhaps a few emails per day or week.