Title
Mailing Lists: Why Are They Still Here, What's Wrong With Them, and How Can We Fix Them?
Abstract
Mailing lists have existed since the early days of email and are still widely used today, even as more sophisticated online forums and social media websites proliferate. The simplicity of mailing lists can be seen as a reason for their endurance, a source of dissatisfaction, and an opportunity for improvement. Using a mixed-method approach, we studied two community mailing lists in depth with interviews and surveys, and surveyed a broader spectrum of 28 lists. We report how members of the different communities use their lists and their goals and desires for them. We explore why members prefer mailing lists to other group communication tools. But we also identify several tensions around mailing list usage that appear to contribute to dissatisfaction with them. We conclude with design implications, discussing ways to alleviate these tensions while preserving mailing lists' appeal.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1145/2702123.2702194
CHI
Keywords
Field
DocType
online communities,mailing lists,email,discussion groups,asynchronous interaction,web-based interaction
Internet privacy,World Wide Web,Social media,Mailing list,Appeal,Email address harvesting,Computer science,Communication in small groups
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
12
0.76
19
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Amy Xian Zhang114518.47
Mark S. Ackerman24393498.35
David R. Karger3193672233.64