Email Groups as Communities

I'm noticing interesting effects as my email connections grow. I have to admit, until recently I only regularly communicated with one group of friends with any regularity over email, that group being my far-flung high school friends. Being separated physically from those people forced me to use email, or face losing touch with them completely. At first it seemed like a silly time-waster, but the benefits were huge from the beginning, ultimately allowing me to maintain some degree of connection with people I only see once every year or two.

And as email becomes more accepted, I've floated in and out of other group email threads. My hockey team uses reply-all email to do head counts, and get pumped before games. Or more accurately, they would, if they weren't all so timid. I've noticed very real effects in how people "act" over group email, depending on the membership. Replying to all requires a certain amount of touch, to say something that everyone will hear. It's like standing up in the dressing room in your jock-strap and cracking a joke. Emailing takes balls.

Because of course it's not exactly like speaking in public; it's more permanent than that. And emailing is seen as something that takes a fair amount of effort, so you imply that whatever it is you're saying matters _that_ much to you (however that much is).

So you wouldn't think of replying all to make a fart joke, unless you don't mind being the clown for a moment. And knowing how someone will interpret your words is a tricky proposition as well; you can't judge if someone doesn't reply if it was because they laughed, sneered, or rolled their eyes.

So in all of my groups, the majority don't email with any frequency. It would be interesting to know how many groups each of these guys belong to. It wouldn't surprise me to find out they email with far greater frequency to a group with entirely different dynamics. And as these types of groups become more prevalent (and I believe they will) these dynamics will become more apparent, and less restrained by the "strangeness" of it all. And strange it is, indeed.