When people bother to make them, channels provide discussion grouping at the subject level. Threads are an even finer-grained grouping that, granted, some peopl

When people bother to make them, channels provide discussion grouping at the subject level. Threads are an even finer-grained grouping that, granted, some people don't use. In my experience, all the problems you mention are also present (in some form) on mailing lists.