Internet telephony allows us to talk to each other like we were using a telephone, and to even send a video image. All of these methods of online communication harness the power of the Internet to allow us to communicate over thousands of miles. They each have strengths and weaknesses. As we consider using the Internet to communicate about mental health it will help if we understand some of the differences between these methods of communicating. Email was one of the first Internet communication modalities.
Email is asynchronous.
It allows me to send you a message when you are not online. You can then read the message at your leisure. You can read my message, but it is not publicly available to others. Mailing lists sprang up for the convenience of email users. This allowed the private medium of email to become a public medium for general discussion.