Electronic mailing list or email list

[macadom]

An electronic mailing list or email list is a special use of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list – a list of names and addresses – as might be kept by an organization for sending publications to its members or customers, but typically refers to four things:

• a list of email addresses,
  
  
• the people ("subscribers") receiving mail at those addresses, thus defining a community gathered around a topic of interest.
  
  
• the publications (email messages) sent to those addresses, and
  
  
• a reflector, which is a single email address that, when designated as the recipient of a message, will send a copy of that message to all of the subscribers.
  

Emailing lists usually are fully or partially automated through the use of special mailing list software and a reflector address set up on a server capable of receiving email. Incoming messages sent to the reflector address are processed by the software, and, depending on their content, are acted upon internally (in the case of messages containing commands directed at the software itself) or are distributed to all email addresses subscribed to the mailing list. Read More: Email List: Email List