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How Mailing Lists Work
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Messages go to all members of the list
The basis of the electronic mailing list is that a message sent to
the list is distributed to every member of that list. Messages may
be sent by any member of that list, and sometimes by non-members as
well.
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Moderation
With moderated lists, all messages go through a moderator before
being distributed. The moderator will screen out inappropriate messages,
or may group together related messages.
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Automated list management
With automated list management systems (or listservers), the processing
of memberships and message distribution is completely automated. Listservers
also maintain archives of past messages. Examples of listservers are LISTSERV,
Majordomo and JISCmail.
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Note that messages such as 'join' 'subscribe' or 'leave'
should not be sent to the mailing list, but rather to the program or person
that manages the list. If messages of this sort are sent to the list itself,
every individual member will receive a copy of the message, which tends
to become irritating. |
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Information overload
If you decide to join one or more electronic mailing lists, you will
soon become aware that they can generate a large number of messages
every day.
Due to the volume of emails sent to such mailing lists, they may
offer a digest service wherein a number of messages are compiled
and sent to you in a single message. Another useful feature is the
suspend facility, enabling you to cancel email from a list
for a specified period, for example, while you are on holiday.
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