"How To: Using Mailing Lists, Part 1 (of 2)"

Mailing lists are by far the most popular means of creating "community" on the internet. Variously known as "listservs," "virtual discussion groups" and "electronic forums," mailing lists offer the opportunity for people around the world to gather and discuss topics with a common theme, or to share information and news on a particular issue. Because this discussion takes place via email, anyone with even the most basic of internet accounts can participate, making this the most widely used means of accessing the internet.

The Technicalities: How do Mailing Lists Work?

When you want to join a list, you typically send a command to the MLM using very specific syntax. For example, to join a list run by majordomo, you would address an email to the appropriate address, and in the body of the email message you would type these two words only: subscribe listname (filling in the appropriate list name, of course). To join a list run by listserv or listproc, by contrast, you would type these words in the body: subscribe listname firstname lastname (filling in both the appropriate list name and your own first and last names).

You don't have to know what MLM is running a list in order to join it, however. Any source for information on mailing lists will usually include very specific instructions for how to join it, and that's often all you need. Below are some typical examples of information on mailing list containing subscription instructions. Each example refers to an actual list.

CYBER-SISTERS is discussion list for women writers and artists who use the internet in their creative work
To subscribe, send email to: majordomo@cgim.com
And in the body type these words only: subscribe cyber-sisters

H-WOMEN is an academic discussion and networking list for scholars of Women's History
To subscribe, send email to: LISTSERV@MSU.EDU
And in the body type these words only: subscribe H-WOMEN firstname lastname

COUPLES-L is a discussion list for topics having to do with relationships and related issues
To subscribe, send email to: LISTPROC@CORNELL.EDU
And in the body type these words only: subscribe COUPLES-L firstname lastname

If you would like to see if there is more information available on a list before subscribing to it, you access the info file for the list by writing to the same address you would write to subscribe, but in the body you would type these words instead: info listname

For example, to get more information on CYBER-SISTERS, do this:

Send email to: majordomo@cgim.com
And in the body type these words: info cyber-sisters

This command will generate an auto-reply containing whatever information the listowner has made available to the general public, such as a statement of the list's purpose, detailed instructions for using the list, and sources for related information.

After you send in a request to join a list, one of four things will happen.

(1) You will get an error message, indicating that you didn't follow the instructions (usually this happens if you mistype one word or include unnecessary words in your request, like "please"). If this happens, try again after re-reading the instructions carefully.

or

(2) You will get a message indicating that your request has been sent to the moderator for "approval," in which case you just need to wait for him or her to approve you, which can take from an hour to several weeks. In some cases the moderator will write to you asking for more information, such as verification that you are female, or that you are a scholar of Women's History, etc.

or

(3) You will get a message indicating that you need to reply with a certain word or phrase in the subject line or body of the message. For example, with many lists run by listserv you will be asked to reply with the single word "OK" in the body. This prevents people from signing up other people to lists they may or may not want to be on.

or

(4) You will get a reply indicating that your subscription attempt was successful and a copy of the welcome message and/or user's guide for the list. This will happen after you've been approved or have "self verified" as well.

Participating in Lists

Once you receive a welcome message and/or a user's guide for a list, you are officially "subscribed" to the list -- be sure to SAVE that user's guide! This means that your email address has been added to a database by the mailing list manager program, and that every time someone sends a message to the mailing list address, you will get a copy, along with everyone else in the database. Here's a short example:

Let's say you join the cyber-sisters list, mentioned above. Shortly after you receive the welcome message for the list, you will begin to receive emails on a variety of topics, some of which might make you feel like you've walked into the middle of a conversation. It's a good idea to just listen and observe for the first couple of days or weeks that you're subscribed to a new list, to get a feel for the type of discussions that occur on that list, and for generally accepted behavior.

If you want to reply to a post sent to the list, you have two options: you can reply to the person who sent the message, which is the appropriate thing to do if your reply isn't relevant to the whole list, or you can reply to the list. To reply to the sender, typically all you need to do is choose "reply" in your email program, but sometimes that ends up putting the mailing list address in the TO: field, in which case you'll need to delete that and copy and paste the sender's address in the TO: field. Make sure to delete whatever appears in the CC: field as well. To make sure that you get both the sender's and the lists's address in the TO: fields, so that you cn then choose which one is appropriate, choose "reply to all" in your email program (you may have to read the manual to find the correct command for this), and then delete all but the address you wish to send your message to.

Always check your message headers very carefully before sending out a message; the most common mistake new users make is sending personal messages, sometimes with embarrassing content, to an entire mailing list!

Leaving Lists

If you decide to leave a mailing list, you will need to consult the user's guide for the list for instructions on how to "unsubscribe." This is why it is essential that you save the user's guide, even if you save nothing else from the list. The typical procedure is to send email to the same address you used to subscribe, but to type the word "unsubscribe" in the body instead, like this:

To: majordomo@cgim.com
Body: unsubscribe cyber-sisters

When done correctly, unsubscribe requests like this are usually processed immediately. You will know your attempt was successful when you receive an automated message to that effect. If you don't receive such a message, you should try again.

If you would like to send an unsubscribe request from an email account that is different from the one you used to join the list, you can add that address to your request, like this:

To: majordomo@cgim.com
Body: unsubscribe cyber-sisters old-address@whatever.com

The list moderator will usually have to "approve" this kind of request so it can take a day or a week to go through, but you'll know that it has been processed when you get an automated message to that effect.

Troubleshooting

From time to time you will experience problems subscribing, unsubscribing, posting or otherwise making use of a mailing list, so it's good to know some of the reasons for those problems, and what you can do to solve them.

In each of the cases below, a "last resort" option to solving the problem is to contact the listowner or moderator; listowners are very busy people, so you should only contact them when all else fails. Typically you can reach a list owner by appending the word "owner" to the list address. For example, to reach the owner of cyber-sisters, write to: owner-cyber-sisters@cgim.com The info file/welcome message for most lists also contains information about how to contact the list owner, which is yet another reason why it's critical to save this file!

If you try to subscribe to a list and are unsuccessful after repeated attempts, you might try contacting the listowner. Be sure to explain the steps you've already taken so that the listowner can more easily track down the problem. You might also make sure that your email address hasn't changed since you first subscribed.

Yet another reason to save the welcome message you receive from a list is that it contains the exact email address you are subscribed to the list with, which you will need if you want to unsubscribe. Many email systems change in subtle ways, so that the address your email appears to come from changes slightly over time, even though to you your address is always the same.

For example, say your address is janedoe@syr.edu. Email sent to that address reaches you, and you subscribe to a variety of email lists using that address. But one day the system administrator decides to add the word "mailbox" to the address, so that now your email actually comes from: janedoe@mailbox.syr.edu. If you try to unsubscribe from any of the lists you joined with the shorter version of your address, the request will not be processed. You will have to specify which address needs to be unsubscribed, like this:

To: majordomo@cgim.com
Body: unsubscribe cyber-sisters janedoe@syr.edu

Changing email addresses is the main reason list subscribers have difficulty posting to a list as well. If you are subscribed as janedoe@syr.edu and yet you attempt to post to the list from janedoe@mailbox.syr.edu, chances are good that your post will not make it to the list. To find out if this is the case, read your welcome message to determine the exact address you used to subscribe to the list, then contact your system administrator to find out if there has been a change of addresses since the time you joined the list. He or she will most likely tell you that a word has been added to the address, but before you make any changes you should also ask if this change is permanent or temporary, as system administrators are notorious for experimenting with machine names.

If the change is permanent (or relatively so!), you should change the address you are subscribed with, like this:

To: majordomo@cgim.com
Body:
unsubscribe cyber-sisters janedoe@syr.edu
subscribe cyber-sisters janedoe@mailbox.syr.edu

You can send both requests in one message, but if you have to wait for the listowner to "approve" your request to join the list, you might want to wait and send the unsubscribe request after you've been added back under the new address.

If you experience trouble posting or unsubscribing and are unable to contact your system administrator to find out if there has been a change of address for your account, you can try one other option if the list you were subscribed to is run by majordomo. Using the first part of your email address, the part before the "@" symbol (which is also referred to as your login), do this:

To: majordomo@cgim.com
Body: which login
(or, following our example: which janedoe)

You will then receive an autoreply indicating the full address you used to subscribe as well as the name(s) of the lists at that site that you are subscribed to. You can then follow the instructions above for changing the address you are subscribed with.

If you try the steps above, and continue to have difficulty posting or unsubscribing, you should contact the listowner.

That concludes our coverage of mailing lists for this issue, but there is more to learn if you really want to harness the power of this method of communication. If you have any questions or comments about this article, please direct them to Amy Goodloe at: amy@lesbian.org, and stay tuned for next month's exciting conclusion!

How to Use Email Lists, part 2