Features of Email Lists and Discussion Boards

Email Lists:
- Regularly updates you with the information
- Allows you to received information from people who are interested in the same thing
- The email is automatically distributed to the group
- The information is sent directly to you
- It is like a community on the internet
- They can either grow or die very quickly
- They are public conversations
- Lists are asynchronous
- You need to contribute as much as you need to get out of it
- List have rules
- Read the entire conversation before contributing otherwise you might say something someone else has already said.



Discussion Boards:
- Kept on a single server which is maintained by the owner/originator
- No need for immediate response
- Its a community that discusses the same topic
- It can provide extensive information about a particular topic
- Requires you to visit the website to be able to view the discussion


I feel that email lists would be easier to follow as you wouldn't have the chance of missing post. This is because the discussion is sent to you. Where as in a discussion board when people post the information is sorted from newest to oldest and you have to look back over ALL the posts to see where you last finished reading at. However a discussion board it is easier to write what you think and post it straight away for viewing, where as the email lists must first be approved by the moderator.