In an Internet mail list, any message sent by a member (subscriber) will be sent to all other subscribers via email. A reply to this message, will in turn, be sent to all subscribers thus initiating the entire procedure anew.

The benefit of these systems is that `postings' are received as e-mail, necessitating no effort by the subscriber to retrieve the information. The drawback is that, for a new user, it is difficult to understand the context and history of discussions (some mail lists do have archives that preserve the history of discussions).

These systems can result in lively and focused discussions. Internet mail lists are most appropriate for closed groups concerned with a specific subject and having a well-defined time limit.

Figure 1: How Internet Mail Lists work