Lots of Lists, Little Time

Bill Seitz (congrats on the new gig!) comments on this blog that my post on Email is Dead has too many contexts. Let me address all four:

Broadcast/commercial (opt-in) email: Dead. -- This subscription model for mailing lists is similar enough to RSS to anticipate rapid transition because of lower costs.

Email lists for public group discussion: Dead. -- If you view the weblog-aggregator model in its entirety, as a complex adaptive system with emergent properties, you essentially get the same function as a discussion list. Discussion lists face the same problems as discussion boards. Major cost reduction is decreasing occupational spam, although new costs are created for participants to enter the trusted network.

Corporate spam from "spewing ministries" (HR, CEO): Dead. -- Bill may be right that these push models won't be eliminated too soon, your employer has the perogative to make you subscribe to some information. Any clueful employee should care what the CEO has to say and tune in to channels that effect their employment. But a clueful CEO would explore the option of letting employees subscribe or not, allowing subscriptions and links to be a barometer for communication effectiveness.

Corporate spam from CYA generators: Dead. -- This is classical occupational spam. Unsubscribe.

When you push consumption decisions to the edge costs are lowered and benefits emerge.