I used to be subscribed to a number of mailing lists maybe a decade ago, but none now. The signal:noise ratio is generally pretty terrible for anyone pressed for time.
What makes the SnR ratio so different for forums vs mailing lists? I haven't noticed, frankly.
I agree with Jeff Atwood: forum software is generally pretty terrible. The difference being that I don't find his better - the way it actively prevents people from reading offline is enough to make me extremely frustrated.
I used to be subscribed to a number of mailing lists maybe a decade ago, but none now. The signal:noise ratio is generally pretty terrible for anyone pressed for time.