Query on Message Boards for Group Litigation

While doing research for the successor to my piece on Procedural Justice in Nonclass Aggregation, I came across a comment to a Wall Street Journal article on Vioxx litigation that referred me to a member's only Yahoo! group discussing Merck's settlement terms. There are nearly 500 members and over 11,000 posts by plaintiffs and their attorneys (my request for membership is still pending). My question is: how common is this and does this new ability to communicate en masse decrease the informational deficiencies that typically exist between claimants and between claimants and their attorneys? If you have any information on this new phenomenon, I would love to hear from you either by e-mail or comment. Thanks!
ECB