As we'll discuss in a later lesson, there is no person or organization that manages the Internet. When you join a discussion group you may want to take a few days to read the discussions and get a sense of the group before you participate. Good Internet manners also dictates that you don't send messages to the group that are completely unrelated to the topic. For instance, if you are a member of a discussion group related to anthropology it would be inappropriate for you to send a message to the group to advertise a camp on the lake you are trying to sell. If you send that message about the camp you will probably receive some flame mail.
Discussion lists can be very valuable.
We have saved a great deal of both time and money by using these lists for information. Other departments here at the College are also using discussion lists to share ideas and experiences with their peers around the world. There is no way to tell until you subscribe. You might be disappointed and almost never get a message. On the other hand, there are a few lists that might generate more messages per day than you would care to read.