Email Lists

• What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?
• Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

I have been a member of yahoo groups for many years, so have not joined any new groups for the purpose of this exercise. To illustrate, here's a screenshot of only a few of the lists I am a member of (there's at least one more page LOL) I am a list owner of three of these, and a moderator of one.

I am also a forum owner http://www.alternativebaby.net
and am a participant on about 5 or 6 other forums, so this is an area I'm pretty well experienced in :) I believe the pros and cons of each are as follows:

Email lists
pros:
Email delivered straight to your inbox
Easy to use-anyone who knows how to send email can participate
A great starting point for web based discussion. When I first got on the net, I joined yahoo and msn groups first, before venturing over to discussion boards/forums
Quick and easy-to reply to emails rather than actively going out searching out discussion boards.

cons:
Email from these lists can quickly clog up your inbox
It can be harder to read the topics you are interested in and ignore those you aren't
A very busy email list as well as clogging up your inbox can be very confusing, and hard to follow.

Discussion boards/forums

pros:
Topics are clearly laid out
Most modern form software has many great features in addition to straight forum posting, such as blogs, private messaging, live chat rooms, and some even have interactive social networking features similar to Facebook.
It's easy to click on the topics which interest you and ignore the ones which don't
For business owners it can be a great way to network and promote your business

cons:
Can be confusing for people who are new to the internet or don't understand it very well
Is more public, therefore users need to be aware of what information they put out there, and everything on a forum can be googled, including any information about a user's identity, address, children etc

I personally think email lists and forums both have their place. In my opinion, forums are more suited to groups/special interests/businesses etc etc which have the potential to attract a large amount of members. Also for those who are actively seeking new memberships, for either social or business networking purposes. Forums if well designed are way less cluttered and confusing to follow. They don't present the problem experienced by many users of email lists of email clogging up your inbox. This isn't a problem if you opt to read all your list email on the group page, however the whole process of getting into a yahoo/msn etc group can be a bit tedious, and they aren't as easy to read.

However, email lists are very well suited to smaller groups, as it creates a more intimate, and safe space in which to discuss topics, especially where medium-strict membership moderation is practiced (for example, I don't let anyone into the groups I mod unless they've submitted a fair bit of information about themselves)This protects the group from unscrupulous and dangerous people being able to read and glean information-such as spammers, or worse those with grudges and vendettas against group members. Lists are especially good for small groups who don't have the budget for a forum setup (although there are plenty of free forum available these days which take only minutes and limited technical ability to set up).

Forums can of course be private, or have private sections and I have learned over the years as a forum Administrator, to encourage people to post sensitive stuff in the private sections (memberships to which are heavily controlled and moderated). I have encountered a few cases of needing to delete all a member's posts due to vindictive ex partners, friends or family members using the information posted to stalk and harass the member, or even to use it against them in court (ie for child custody cases.)