Mailing Lists (AKA Listservs)

Most people reading this module will already be familiar with mailing lists, or listservs, which are mechanisms that forward incoming messages to an entire list of subscribers, making it possible to communicate with a large group by sending a single message. Listservs are omnipresent in the activist world, but they aren’t always utilized as effectively as they can be.

 The most common formats for listservs in the activist community are:

1. Internal communication within the organization itself. Access to these is most restricted.
2. One-way communication from an organization to a subscriber list, often consisting of its supporters or media contacts. Access is usually less restricted than internal lists.
3. Moderated discussion lists of subscribers with a particular interest or based within the same geographic region. This format varies more than any other in the degree to which access is restricted, but typically there is little or no restriction.
4. Unmoderated discussion lists. Access to these is typically unrestricted.

Each type of mailing list is subject to a different set of considerations.

Internal Lists

These lists may either be moderated or unmoderated, according to your organization’s specific needs. These should be kept the most secure, assuming that you don’t want just anyone to be privy to your organization’s planning and decision making processes, as well as whatever interpersonal drama might
unfold on such a list. The non-technical aspects of “security culture” will be addressed in a separate handbook module, but the security of your list also depends on several technical factors:

• Always configure your list so that only the moderator(s) can add subscribers.
• Never subscribe an address that hasn’t been verified as belonging to the intended recipient.
• Use a secure mailing list provider whenever possible. These are discussed later in this section.
• Conduct regular audits of the subscriber list to make sure that no one is subscribed who shouldn’t be, and periodically re-verify all subscribed email addresses.
• If a member leaves your organization or simply becomes inactive, remove him or her immediately. They can always be re-added later, if necessary.
• Disable any feature that archives the list's messages unless absolutely necessary.

One-Way Lists

• The chief advantage of these lists is that the owner or moderator has complete control over the content that reaches list subscribers. Subscribers without moderator or owner access are not able to post messages to these lists.
• It’s best to include your organization’s direct email address somewhere in the body of each message you post to such lists, or to include it in a signature file (see the Email section of this module) to be used when posting messages to the list.
• Depending on your organization’s security needs, you may want to consider auditing these lists as well, in order to prevent advance information on your activities from reaching the opposition.

Moderated Discussion Lists

• Moderation can be time-consuming, and in addition to monitoring messages, moderators will sometimes have to deal with subscribers complaining about the rejection of their off-topic or otherwise inappropriate posts.
• Unless your organization has a specific need to maintain one, it’s generally a better idea to avoid discussion lists altogether.

Unmoderated Discussion Lists

• These are a risky endeavor for activist groups. Unless the subscription process is tightly controlled, you’ll never know when a member of the anti-Palestinian opposition, or member of a hate group seeking to co-opt the Palestinian cause might make their way onto your list and wreak havoc.
• Subscribers have carte blanche to pick fights with one another, creating drama that could spill over into the offline world and create serious problems for your organization.
• Unless your organization has a specific need to maintain one, it’s generally a better idea to avoid discussion lists altogether.

Considerations Applying to All Mailing List Types

• The moderator(s) should never be the same person or persons who control the organization’s web site or other communications.
• If your organization contains multiple political or ideological tendencies, it’s best not to put any one faction in complete control of even a single listserv. Use multiple moderators when possible, even if it sometimes seems cumbersome or redundant. It’s worth it.
• Don’t use the same password on multiple moderator accounts, and don’t use the same passwords as you use for your web site, voicemail, or any other application.
• Have a clear policy on what can and cannot be posted to the list, and a clear process for responding to violations. All users should agree to this protocol upon subscribing, and periodic reminders should be sent out to the entire list.
• If a suspicious post appears on the listserv, check the originating IP address against the known IP addresses of individuals you think may have been responsible. While this might not help you pinpoint professional infiltrators, this works wonders for identifying amateur efforts at disruption. To learn more about tracing IP addresses, see the "Encryption and Data Security" section of this module.

Mailing List Hosts

Yahoo Groups

(www.groups.yahoo.com)

Yahoo is by far the most popular of the major mailing list hosts, and decent choice for large external or public lists. In addition, Yahoo Groups offers some interesting features such as file storage and collaborative spreadsheets. Some potential uses of these are discussed further on, in the Project Management section of this module.

InterActivist

(www.interactivist.net/maillinglists)

InterActivist Network, a collectively-run organization which provides various technical services to the activist community, offers a mailing list system that is significantly more secure than Yahoo. List archives are available only to list members, and subscriber addresses are visible only to list administrators. To request a list for your group, send an email to info@interactivist.net with the

name of your organization, a description of the work that you do, the estimated size of the list, and the email address of the list administrator.

RiseUp

(https://lists.riseup.net/www)

RiseUp is another collective that provides a number of different technical services to activists. See their site for more information about their list services.

Using Others’ Mailing Lists

Most organizations promote their events and make announcements not only on their own mailing lists, buton others to whic h they subscribe. Follow these rules to make the best use of such lists:

Always read and observe the posting policies.

Guess what? Your list isn’t the only one with rules. Many have clear guidelines about what types of messages may be posted – such as only announcements of events taking place in a particular geographic area, or only those that directly involve a particular issue. Take care not to run afoul of the boundaries set by lists on which you post.

Don’t make duplicate posts.

Never post the exact same thing twice. It’s normal to post more than one (but absolutely no more than three) messages about a particular event, but be sure to change the subject line and update the content each time. Generally, all that’s needed is a single post one or two weeks before the event, and a follow-up reminder when it is two or three days away. You can make exceptions for massive events such as conferences, but in such cases, focus your announcements on specific aspects of the event, such as the speakers roster, the opening of registration, and so on – without needless repetition.

Cross-post the easy way.

Most listserv hosts allow subscribers to post by sending their message to a particular email address (although a few of them force users to fill out a form on the web). Take advantage of this by compiling the addresses of all the lists to which you’d like to post your message, and entering them into the “BCC” field of your email (separated by commas). Enter your own address into the “To” field. This method will allow you to post to a message to several lists by sending a single email. It’s a good idea to check and make sure that your post made it onto each of the lists to which it was sent. Sometimes spam filters will block emails addressed to more than a certain number of recipients. You’ll want to identify those lists which seem to be filtering out messages sent in this way, and either post to them individually, or determine the maximum number of addresses you can enter into the BCC field and still have the message reach all intended recipients.