Should you use an email discussion group or a message board for your community?
How do you choose? Is one better than another? Or are they good for different tasks?
Email discussion groups (also known as listserves) and message boards/forums are similar. They allow groups of people with the same interests to share information, ask questions, solve problems, and share experiences with like-minded people. They are more like communities than most of today’s social media groups, which encourage individuals to attract “followers” instead of building a group.
There are differences between the two and one may be better than another for your community.
What are the Differences?
Email Discussion Groups
- Messages are sent through email. Everyone receives it in their Inbox.
- Better suited for full-time participants of the group.
Every message is delivered to their Inbox so they don’t have to remember to visit a website. They can easily reply to messages when they have time. - Tends to form communities.
- Almost everybody joined with their main email address, uses their real name, and probably has a physical address in their signature.
- Don’t have rankings.
Message Boards / Forums
- All messages are added to a webpage. You navigate to that page and log in.
- Perfect for people who only use it occasionally.
They can visit the website and search for an answer to their problem. The entire history of the web forum is available to them. - If users post a question, they check back later to see if anybody responded.
Their email Inbox is never cluttered with messages from that group. - Tend to be knowledge bases.
Of course, if an email discussion group adds a searchable web archive, then it has the best of both worlds! - People on a web forum almost always have handles or nicknames (like IceGiant, PowerEDS, Limbo, and CueBall). They rarely use their real name.
- People are usually given a rating or title displayed next to their nickname.
This tag reflects how many messages have been posted by that person. Something like Newbie if you’ve not commented much, or Expert for someone with lots of posts.
How to Choose
Listserve vs Message Board: Which medium is right for you?
To find out, ask yourself these questions:
- Am I more interested in privacy than accessibility?
Choose an email discussion group/listserve. - Do I want topics to be more easily accessed by the world at large?
If yes, choose a message board. - Do I want my members to notice their community every single day?
Choose an email discussion group/listserve. - Do I want to make sure most of my members are real people?
Choose an email discussion group/listserve. - Do I want to provide a feeling of anonymity through nicknames?
If yes, choose a message board.
In the end, whether you choose an email discussion group or a message board depends on what you need. Think it over though, because it’s difficult to convert from one to another.
Which kind of community do you like best? Post it in the comments below.
Decided to start a listserve/group mailing list? Here are 5 Tips to get you started!
