As well as sending messages to other people on the Internet, you can also use e-mail to run a program on a remote computer and have the results send back to you. E-mail also offers a great way to stay in touch with special interest groups. A mailing list is a way to share information via electronic mail with many people, usually on a specific topic or for a specific purpose.
People choose to be part of a mailing list by subscribing to the list.
Mailing lists provide a way of keeping up with the developments and happenings in a particular field of interest with minimum effort and cost. They also allow you to share your knowledge with other subscribers of the mailing list. You can also get help from others when you encounter a problem or have a query. The single, central e-mail address for the list is also referred to as a mail reflector. Because mailing lists have their origins in the academic community, many mailing lists address academic and research oriented topics.