[Web4lib] Are e-mail discussion lists still relevant?

[Tracey.Reed at myClearwater.com]

I think they are relevant for many things, the way a telephone call still works for many things.  These days I really see the medium and the message blurring together, but in a lot of ways, that shouldn't be.  Newspapers and news magazines still have their place (be they print or online) for in-depth news analysis and coverage that we can't get from the tweets and facebook status updates.  Blogs may have taken a chunk out of that, but there is definite value in the delay it takes to get to Time or Newsweek. (Example:  the delayed coverage of the behind the scenes election run up with both candidates that Newsweek did).  Email lists have their place for several reasons.

I like lists because I tend to lurk.  I can read them on my time and, if my thoughts are still timely, respond or not as fit.  They also (currently) archive better than other media, and are comfortable to many people and IT departments.  Email will be around for a while, much like the telephone will be around for a while.  They're message independent, easy to use for many and cater to the 80/20 rule quite well.  They also allow for longer, in-depth discussions than twitter does, and tend to be more inclusive than a facebook group is.  They're also easily separated between the business and the personal.  My business email groups go to one email account; my personal groups go to another.  

The other media (facebook and twitter, since they're the top 2 contenders at the moment) blur that personal/professional line for many people (myself included).  And, for newcomers to social networks, they tend to focus on the media more than they do the message (a lot of people get the "Hey Look!  I'm on Twitter!" syndrome).  Email, because they're comfortable with it, allows them to ignore the medium and act "normally" because it's just a part of their everyday lives, much like the phone.

IT departments - especially government IT departments, it would seem - are also not comfortable with social networks at the moment.  They block access to them (which is tough to explain to patrons when they can get to facebook, myspace, twitter and our librarians cannot), and to get to them for professional reasons (I had to fight pretty hard to get facebook access to make a group for MPOW) generally is more work than we have time for or are willing to put into it just to keep up with a discussion.

Now, does this mean in 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, email discussions will be gone?  Who knows?  But right now, much like the telephone (and yes, I know that the Millennial generation doesn't like to talk on the phone - they'd rather text, which is why I'm qualifying my statement for 5-10 years as they come up through the professional ranks), email is a communication staple for businesses.  And why discussion lists are still relevant and necessary.

Huh.  Didn't know I had it in me today...

-t, my opinions are my own, generally just to spite me
-----
Tracey Reed
Computer Services/ Answer Line Librarian
Clearwater Public Library System
tracey.reed at myclearwater.com
727.562.4970 x5036
www.myclearwater.com/cpl
"Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live." - Anais Nin