What dfc said, but other than that I think that is more an argument for usenet than for web forums? At least the "subscribe" step tends to be better integrated

What dfc said, but other than that I think that is more an argument for usenet than for web forums? At least the "subscribe" step tends to be better integrated with newsreaders than with MUAs, so it's easier to subscribe to a whole bunch of groups. But on the other hand, subscription tends to be only a small part of the overall experience, so I am not so sure it really matters all that much.