Mailing Lists Explained

Although, there probably are far better explanations of what a mailing lists is, we will attempt a very brief and simple description for those who are still wondering what a mailing list is. A mailing list is a software program that sits somewhere on a server. This program allows people to subscribe to the mailing list by sending a simple "subscribe" command to a specific email address. Once you are subscribed to a mailing lists you can send an email message to the mailing list's email address and this message will be automatically distributed (by the mailing lists software) to everyone who is subscribing to that particular mailing list. If someone then replies to a particular message, that reply will also generally be sent out to all subscribers of the list. Therefore, if you subscribed to the WebNet Mailing lists and then send a message to the list's email address, that message would be distributed to everyone who is subscribed to the list at the time. Any replies to your message will also be sent to everyone on the list (unless you reply privately) automatically. This way discussions can be held, somewhat similar to what happens on newsgroups. Mailing lists exist for a variety of subject ranging from art to zoology and more. Additional information on mailing lists and more mailing list resources can be found on our Mailing and Discussion List Resource Page.