Hitting “reply” in a mailing list is confusing sometimes. Email was never designed for mailing lists, and it shows. While email groups are a great resource, they could have been even better with a little bit of planning back around 1980.
One of the prime areas of confusion is what happens when you reply in a mailing list. On some lists, it’s configured to go back to the individual that sent the message. In others, it’s set up to go back to the ENTIRE list.
Pay Attention to “To:“
Since your message could go to MANY people, you have to pay attention when you reply. Glance at the address in To: before you click Send. It can be very embarrassing to reply to an email and find you’ve sent a private message to the list. Could even be a disaster. (Ask me. I know. 🙄)
What Happens Depends on How the List is Configured
That’s why most experienced listserve users prefer to have the mailing list configured for replies to go back to the sender.
In this case, “experienced” is somebody who has already sent a private email to the list. They don’t want it to happen again. Far better to have to resend a message to the list, instead of wishing you could retract what has already gone out. (Just so you know…..that whole “Recall This Message” thing from Microsoft has very limited success.)
However, most list owners prefer to configure the list to have replies come back to everyone. Why? Because it’s easier for people to communicate with the entire group. List owners want to encourage participation and see some results from their efforts.
What Happens Also Depends on Whether You Hit Reply or Reply All
While the listserve configuration controls what address is used for a reply, another variable is the Reply All option in your subscriber’s email software.
If your subscribers like to hit Reply All, then typically their email software will send the reply back to the individual who sent the message as well as the list email address. Then, the listserve will send the message to all subscribers, including the original sender, who now has two copies of the reply.
I say typically because not all email software works the same way. If you’re curious, we summarized how many email software packages handle the Reply All action.
All the Options to Consider
The variations of mailing list configurations (Reply To Sender vs Reply To List), combined with the variations of how subscribers respond (Reply vs Reply All), make what happens when you reply in a mailing list very confusing. Especially when most people aren’t paying much attention to what button they hit or double checking the address in the To: field before they click Send.
So if somebody hits Reply All, their message is always going to go back to the list. The best you can do as a list owner is to configure your list as Reply-To Sender only and help prevent problems with people accidentally sending private emails to your list. Because if people get burned, or have any concerns in this area, it’s going to make them think twice before participating.
Starting a new listserve? Check our helpful tips on mailing list etiquette.
Got any “worst moment in my life” stories when you sent a private message to a mailing list? Let us know in the comments below!
