Are social groups a threat to the forums?

[kentaurus]

Somehow this is a serious post, and I'd appreciate some input :)

When groups first were introduced, I liked it because I already had 2 or 3 "groups" forums, and they provided a nice place to point my users to when they wanted to create a group. And since the group interface was too limited and only a big "wall" then the forums kept their value.

Now, with "threaded messages" in groups, that might change. If, for example, my members want a new "League of Justice" forum, and I don't want to provide it, well, they can always go to the "groups" page, create their own "League of Justice" group and start posting there.

As it stood with 3.7, it wasn't very fun having everything clamped in one place, and it didn't really lift up.

With 3.8 I'm not sure. Since they have threads they can start in an organized way the discussion and continue them as they like. Since the creator of the group have some moderating rights he has somehow created his own forum for any topic he wants. The group threads even have subscriptions. Some features, like a complete postbit and attachments are lacking, but that doesn't prevent the user of using the group interface as a substitute for the forums.

As it stands right now, I'm really evaluating if I should let users have group threads. I'm afraid it can really kill my forum activity since a lot of it will be moved to groups. And since the groups can be created/deleted by members I loose a lot of control on the content and on the dynamics. I don't want my forum to become the next "yahoo groups", but I don't really want to completely disable the groups functionality because I think it has it's value to the community.

[nxvc]

Well, threads in groups are needed, or groups would be just like a threads in a forum, so 3.8 gives a good improvement.... but in 3.8 beta 1, the group wall is removed, so the groups are now like a forum, which makes no sense at least.

The developers made it themselfs a bit too easy, groups needs both (wall and threads), so people will accept groups as groups.

Furthermore the new groups categories which are setable by admin must be transable!

[David Grove]

Perhaps the best thing for 3.8 would be to allow the admin to set groups to use threads or the previous group messages on a site-wide basis.

Basically how it would work is if you want the old functionality of group messages (not threads) then select that option and each group would have exactly one thread and when viewing the group, show all the messages in that thread just like the old group messages.

[Princeton]

Nothing to worry about...

if you focus on your forums than members will continue posting there; if you change directions and place a lot of focus on your Groups than of course that will get the most attention and therefore postings

[kmike]

Great point there, kentaurus. Adding forum functionality to the social groups blurs the line between them and the forums proper. That's something we'll have to keep in mind when 3.8 comes out.

[Wayne Luke]

Sitepoint (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/) does Social Groups in a good way. The groups do not take away from the forum community but add a new dimension.

[kentaurus]

Wayne, would you care to elaborate? I visited Sitepoint and saw the Group interface they have but couldn't see how they manage not to make the groups seem like a substitute for forums. I see they have a prominent link for them on the top, of course, and the basic interface for groups.

[Wayne Luke]

Well its about the types of groups, not the interface.

If your site is about beekeeping. You could create forums all about beekeeping including maintaining hives, feeding, different breeds, medical care, honey gathering, critical issues, etc... However when the Poughkeepsie Junior Beekeeping Society wants their own section, it might not be in the best interest of the forums. They could however create a social group and talk amongst themselves about issues related to beekeeping in Poughkeepsie. In return you have more advertising views to present and if you have the campaign tuned properly could even show targeted ads that they would be more likely to follow through on within their group.

If you look at the groups that Sitepoint has they are things like "US Webmasters", "SitePoint Book Owners Club". They all relate to the site but don't really merit a forum on their own. That I believe is the key. The social groups on this site are a mess and most have no inherent value. Most are just outright junk and should be deleted. However we let people create groups to test it out. On your site you can moderate a little more and be less forgiving of the "Rhodesian Chocolate Eater's Club".

Properly done, it can bring people to your site as your existing members share their groups with friends and family.

[Razasharp]

Threads in groups are fantastic - anything to make things easier for users. Don't forget forums get to a point when they get too busy - and become a pain to use for the end user. At this point you need to allow smaller sub communities to start up - or they'll leave for somewhere else to get that community feel they once had at your site.

It's the reason facebook and similar sites are so successful, they cater for all communities big and small and people can pick and choose how they want to participate.

It's your job as admin to make it work for your site too.

P.s I think we need a General vB Chat section where threads like this would go.