The Showdown – Email Lists Vs Discussion Boards

12Mar07

- Most people check email more diligently (for most read: me) than a discussion board, and lists also only send out new messages when there are some – a discussion board you may monitor only to find it only gets posts every few weeks – potential time waster.
- However…..with a discussion board you can choose to skip threads that do not interest you, or if you go off it for awhile it is not filling up your inbox.
- Discussion boards are more often public – you don’t necessarily have to join to read the posts, only to contribute (though some lists work this way too).
- Can attach files in email.

As far as communication purposes are concerned i think that discussion boards are better suited to conversation. A thread is started, and comments pertaining to it are posted together, which when reading makes it feel more like a conversation among the contributors. (However you can often elect to receive email lists in digest form which makes it more of a thread format).
Email lists are better suited to a more formal information exchange among members. A conversation would very quickly begin to fill up your inbox, whereas information exchange with a few key comments makes them short, but purposeful interactions.
I’m fudging that alot, I definitely need to look into these deeper – although I am a fan of both email lists and discussion boards.