Module 2 - Lists

Until this task, I had never even looked at email lists, as I am not the sort of person to sit on the computer all the time talking to people about my interests etc.

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

I have looked at a variety of lists available on both yahoo and lists.topica, and I have to say that I really do not feel like joining any of them. Some of the lists had so many rules, and some were very outdated and others had just too many users. Is this wrong? I do not think so, as I have a great network of people that I speak to online about numerous topics, so I do not require lists to satisfy my interests.

The pros of email lists:

• You get a daily log of all messages from the desired list.

• You can reply either to the group as a whole or to the individual sender.

• Has asynchronous communication, thereby allowing people in all time differences the ability to communicate.

The cons of email lists:

• Can be very hard to get your message herd.

• List could have too many members and be overwhelming.

• You can still receive spam/junk email.

I have used discussion boards in every subject I have studied so far from UniSA, Monash University and now Curtin University. So far Monash’s discussion board has been the easiest to use as it has clear headings and you only get the unread messages all in one window.

Pros of discussion boards:

• You do not receive any junk email/spam.

• Some are very easy to navigate through.

• Through some of them you can reply personally to the sender so that your message is not seen on the discussion board. Similar to email lists.

• The threads are easy to understand and navigate through.

• As the discussion board is monitored by tutors/course directors, it is the fastest way to get an answer to any question.

• When posting a question/concern, you get multiple view points.

Cons of discussion boards:

• Some are very hard to navigate in.

• Pressure to read every message for participation grade.

• Pressure to check in every day as the fear of getting hundreds of messages is stressful.

• Feeling unintelligent by reading some of the messages, thereby creating fear about joining in.

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

I think that distance learning is better suited to a discussion board as you are only communicating with the other students who are studying the same subject as yourself and being able to communicate with the course director/tutor faster.

Email lists are better suited I think to a more social structure other than learning. Email lists expand your network of friends who have the same interests as yourself and I think that both have their place in society.

Being polite and remembering that there is a human being on the other end of the message you are going to post is critical in both forums. We have enough foul language and rudeness in the world without it being used in either email lists or discussion boards.

Now I am off to conquer Newsgroups..