There are several discussion groups, newsgroups, discussion mailing-lists, and chat groups that are recovery related.
Sites with discussion groups or bulletin boards that can be accessed directly include:
Lamplighters is one of the oldest and largest AA based email groups.
Several "alt" newsgroups/discussions on recovery are very active. At a site called Deja News one may register to post and respond to a variety of discussions that can be searched by topic. Most of the newsgroups are 12-step oriented, however some like alt.recovery tend to be more general.
Discussion mailing-lists are a way to discuss recovery with members through e-mail. In such groups the mail you and others send is e-mailed to all members of the group. For example, a group called ADDICT-L has academic discussions on alcoholism and drug addiction related topics. To subscribe to ADDICT-L send e-mail to LISTSERV@KENTVM.KENT.EDU. In the body of the message include the following: Subscribe ADDICT-L Your Name.
Information on other mailing-lists such as Journey-To-Recovery, SMARTREC (S.M.A.R.T. recovery self-help mailing-list), and Recovery (Journey through the 12 steps) may be found by searching keywords (e.g. recovery, addiction) at cataList.
Chat groups are essentially real-time discussion groups. They can be found by browsing the internet.
In addition to the above, services like America Online provide many chat groups, newsgroups, and discussion groups for their members.