What's Wrong with Calling it a Discussion List?

If you swallow hype like "pre-owned" instead of "used" and "two-hour television event" instead of "show" then perhaps you'll like the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation's "e-Community" which was announced on Tuesday. It's an email discussion list, better known as a Listserv.

The announcement email was glorious. The reality was less. I clicked on the link and went to a page with no information, just the line, "Yes! I want to join the DMANF online community" and a box to check. I checked the box, clicked "update" and got a confirmation page. So far, uninspired but functional. I clicked the confirmation button and I was immediately returned to the first screen, with no check in the box I just checked. Huh? Was my attempt rejected? Accepted? Ignored? Who knows? I tried it again, conscious of the fear that I'd be subscribed twice, then I bailed out. The next morning I got an equally uninspired confirmation message (just one, fortunately). Maybe membership is moderated and the staff approved me this morning. I just sent a message to the list, so we'll see what it looks like and when it is sent.

We have enough of a vocabulary problem in this business, we don't need to muddy the waters by callling a discussion list an "e-community."