Emailing is the a basic yet vital tool for effective digital organizing. There are four main ways of using email in organizing, one-on-one email, email discussion lists (many to many), email blasting lists (one to many) and the email/web interface (person to machine).
Below is a basic answer to what is email and then a description of these four uses of email and lins to more detailed guides to effective email organizer.
What is email?
Email is a protocol for message delivery also known as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Email is delivered from server to server using the SMTP protocol and then accessed using email clients such as Eudora, Thunderbird and Outlook using protocols such as POP and IMAP. Email is also often accesed directy on the web using mail services like Gmail, Yahoo, and a million other free email services.
One-to-One Email
Most young people have been using one-on-one email for a long long time and are very effective using email for personal and professional communications. For most organizers email can become overwhelming with hundreds of emails coming in every day. To remain an effective email communicator a good email strategy and the right tools are essential. Read the One-to-One email guide for some tips.
Email List Serves (Many to Many)
Email list serves are a critical tool for good collaboration and communication in grassrrots groups and coalitions. This becomes especially important when organizing in regional, state and national networks where face to face meetings are not possible. In order to be effective at using email list serves its important to have good tools and know how to use them. Check out the list serves section for more on many-to-many email.
Email Blasting (One to Many)
Email blasting is a critical component of larger scale organizing. It can be used effectively at local, regional and national levels and can build momentum and engage people in many types of on and offline action. With good strategy and the right tools email blasting can be a high return organizing tactic. With bad strategy or the wrong tools it can be a waste of time. Read more in the Email Blasting guide.
The Email/Web Interface
Increasingly around the web the email/web interface is being bridged to help make the web experience richer and more effective. Examples include Email-a-Friend tools, automated email content update delivery, email photo uploads, email-listserve/forum hybrids. Read more in the email/web interface section.
