Antman234 is exchanging heated words with KickThem45 on your community. They’re arguing over who is better, Batman or Superman. Or maybe it’s Wonderwoman or the Green Lantern. It’s hard to tell now. It’s not a civil argument. Certain words are being used. Things are being implied about each others’ respective mothers. Assumptions are being made. The […]
Can You Make Money Running a Listserv Community?
Being a good, honest, hardworking person who runs a listserv community but only has so many hours in a day, you may have thought to yourself: Can I make money running a listserv community? Well, that’s an interesting question. People do charge fees for access to their listserv. Obviously, most associations that include a listserv charge […]
How to Deal With Trolls in Your Listserv
There’s a troll in my listserv! A troll, in my listserv! What do I do? Well, don’t panic. Trolls are annoying, but you can learn how to deal with trolls in your listserv. First, what’s a troll? Well, that’s often hotly debated. The word has evolved within the last decade. But, generally, trolls are people online […]
How Your Community May Be Discouraging Participation
Sometimes you may wonder where all the people who are supposedly members of your community are. What are they doing? Why aren’t they participating? Some of them are probably just natural lurkers, but surely some of them want to join in the discussion. If your community is a bit dead, it’s possible that it’s social […]
Discussion Groups and Usenet: What’s the Difference?
Listserves (IE email discussion groups) are a way to privately communicate with a group via secure email. Usenet is an old-fashioned form of social media. If you didn’t live in the age of the Usenet, you might be confused on what the difference is between discussion groups and Usenet. We’re going to address that. But […]
Some Thoughts on The Online Community-A New Paradigm and Listservs
The other day, I watched this great TedTalk video called The Online Community-A New Paradigm by Mark Willis (who runs Expert’s Exchange), and I have some thoughts on it. You should definitely watch the video. But in case you don’t have the fifteen minutes to watch it, I’ve put a quick summary underneath it. Summary of The Online Community-A New […]
Smartphones and Listserves
Almost everybody in American has a smartphone nowadays. 2/3rds of the population according this Pew study from last year. And if you’re community is a listserve, which runs on old-fashioned email, you might find that idea intimidating. After all, the typical picture you might have of a smartphone user is as a hip, twenty-something who spends most of […]
4 Alternatives to Yahoo Groups
Was your group formerly part of a Yahoo Group? Are you wondering about alternatives to Yahoo Groups? Short History Originally, Yahoo Groups was a pretty good place for a community. It was a free, email-based discussion group host. Yahoo bought eGroups and ONElist, then started Groups in 2000. In the beginning, you could create and […]
The Cat Sat on My Keyboard, and Other Excuses for using Report as Spam
You know that Report as Spam button? Here at Mail-List.com, it automatically removes people from your listserve. Here are some of the funniest reasons we’ve heard when users want to be added back to their list. Enjoy!
Email ‘Discussion’ Groups is a Bit of a Misnomer
Email discussion groups are misnamed. Email question and answer group is probably more accurate. Or email disperse information group, but that’s too hard to describe to someone. Discussion or Information? Involved discussions are difficult to hold via an email group. To be truthful, discussions about controversial topics are difficult to manage even when people are face […]