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I never suggested replacing a discussion list with social networks, and furthermore, I never suggested that email lists are archaic, or outmoded. I don't think they are at all, but I do think that one, the perception exists that they are, and two, while email lists can be used for group discussion, and perform adequately, other tools exist that are better suited to support group discussion in today's web. The point that I am making is that given the need for electronic distribution of information to a community, different tools are going to be better fits, depending on the type of communications going on. If this is done well, the community gets to forget about the method of communication entirely, and focus on their content. It isn't a difference between wrong and right, but a difference between good and better. Do you need to distribute bulletins and announcements to a large list of people? Email lists are where it's at, especially in conjunction with another network to point people to the list. Do you have a finite, manageble number of people that are going to be producing content, or serving as a gateway for a larger number of contributers? You want a blog. You can have a blog that isn't focused on the individual, for example, Huffington Post, or any of the New York Times' blogs. Keep in mind that the larger community also is able to interact and discuss the content. Do you have a community that doesn't need any kind of centralized content management? Go for a forum. This is the most flexible option, but also has the most maintenance requirements. Do you have an existing community, that's already using a tool that works? Then don't fix what's broken, unless there's some kind of external motivation to change. I've been a programmer for far too long to have any sort of interest in creating a solution to something that isn't a problem. On Apr 26, 2010, at 9:01 PM, Gretchen Whitney <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Greetings, I've not changed the subject line for this discussion, to enable readers of the archive to follow the discussion via the thread. Overall the discussion queried how information about how information practitioners and others through their education were being encouraged to find communities of interest. The discussion veered into whether e-mail discussion lists were archaic and outmoded, and should be replaced with "social networking" sites such as Twitter and MySpace and the like. I would like to draw a careful distinction between e-mail lists and "social networking" sites. (Bernie is exactly right, in that the e-mail lists (and, for that matter, the origins of e-mail itself in the appending of a personal, social comment to an FTP'd file across the network) are all social networking techniques and sites. The distinction is this: e-mail lists ask you to "follow the group." A group of folks with a common interest gather together electronically and talk. jESSE is an example. So-called "social networking" sites ask you to "follow the individual." Look at ME!! See what I have to say!! I can't fault Mary Minow's libraries and the law blog - it's great, but she's established herself in this area through other media. And Lorcan Dempsey's (from OCLC Research) might be interesting. This is a fundamental distinction. And both directions have their place in a complex information environment. The first is based on the group, the second is based on an individual. It is patently unrealistic and uninformed to say that one is better, or should replace the other. --gw <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Gretchen Whitney, PhD, retired School of Information Sciences University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA [log in to unmask] http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/ jESSE:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/jesse.html SIGMETRICS:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>