I just randomly found this conversation through looking around in a "wandering" manner through the google group.
The reason I was "wandering" is because I wanted to see if I had received any more responses to my post from a week or two ago. It took me a while to even FIND my post. Which tells me that no one else would truly be motivated enough to go find it to reply to it. It seems it is very quickly lost in the "black hole" of discussion - type communication ... similar to THIS discussion, it seems, since the last post was Feb. 16, and I just HAPPENED to find this discussion only because I chanced upon it. >From a new user's perspective, if I want to spend some kind of initial time researching as much as I can in any organized way, forums are much better at providing that then this discussion format. I understand people want to be able to be active via email without hindrance (i.e. being forced to go to the discussion or forum page to interact with it). I also understand google groups is already used "En Masse" and it might be unrealistic to get similar participation and membership results from going somewhere else. It's definitely a bit of a dilemma. Can we give google any feedback requesting that they add a forum feature to their group functions? I'm surprised they don't offer it already ... Has this discussion gone anywhere since Feb. 16 that I'm unaware of? Thanks! Ryan On Feb 16, 11:15 am, Tara Hunt <horsepig...@gmail.com> wrote: > Jumping in... > > Three communities vibrant on google groups > Two of them "moved" to "better" systems > Only one vibrant community left > > Google groups may suck at some stuff, but it works. Please don't break it. > > Tara > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 8:42 AM, Dhan > <aravindhan.vijayaragha...@gmail.com>wrote: > > > > > You raise very valid concerns John Sechrest. @ Zoho Discussions we had > > this in mind when we developed the product. Apart from the web based > > access, we have active bi-directional emailing too. Of course, you are > > welcome to give Zoho Discussions a spin and come back with comments - > > for I am sure your feedback will only help improve the product. > > > Regards > > Dhan > > Zoho Discussions > > > On Feb 9, 10:46 pm, John Sechrest <sechr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > The difference between mailing lists and forums is much more complex and > > > much more subtle that you are outlining here. > > > > I have seen several efforts to move to forums blow up discussions. In > > > addition, I have also seen moves like this end up translating into a > > > biforcation of the conversation into two different groups. > > > > The choice of how you view data is a critical one. And I totally agree > > about > > > the need for a tool that helps you focus your attention well. For me, > > google > > > groups + gmail does this well. > > > > In general, I have yet to meet a forum that I like. Web based forums hide > > > information and make it harder for me to find things. I find this > > especially > > > true of forum sites like NING. (pet peave) > > > > I do not know how zoho forums work, having never used them. > > > > For me, I am immediately suspicious when I see the word forum. Since > > forums > > > usually take me more time to process, take more energy to keep in > > context. > > > > I suspect it is an information processing style issue, since these are > > the > > > very issues you are trying to address. > > > > I would just urge caution. A shift like this from google groups to zoho > > > forums is likely to quietly and subtly alter who is participating, and > > who > > > stays connected to the group. > > > > I have watched other groups have a significant shift of membership with > > tool > > > changes like this. > > > > Be sure you are getting what you think you are getting. And be sure you > > know > > > which audience you are serving with the change. > > > > On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Alex Hillman > > > <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com>wrote: > > > > > So, Woody just suggested that an active thread be moved out of the main > > > > channel so as to not disrupt others. While I think it was a good topic > > to > > > > keep in the group's visibility, his question of "can I move this to a > > sub > > > > folder" reminded me of something. > > > > > Google Groups kinda sucks. > > > > > To be fair, it's become our home. This is the most active repository of > > > > information for coworking, and the place where I send people first to > > learn > > > > more and meet more coworking people. But the Google Group is anything > > but > > > > good for discovery. Spam moderation is chaos for the people who > > actively > > > > manage it. The lack of sub-threads is annoying, and the lack of message > > > > context makes it hard to know what messages to pay attention to. > > > > > Recently, the open source javascript library jQuery moved away from > > Google > > > > Groups for a lot of these same reasons...to Zoho forums. > > > > > I did some research and found that a Zoho forum to support our group > > would > > > > cost $75/month, and incur a one-time $500 fee to migrate all of the > > existing > > > > data (messages, threads, and even users) from Google Groups to Zoho. > > There's > > > > even an option to interact with Zoho via e-mail for those of us that > > like > > > > this. > > > > > The pros: > > > > > - Much better organization of our knowledge. The ability to set > > message > > > > "topics" to things like "question", "introduction", "idea" would be > > HUGE for > > > > this group. > > > > - Easier on-boarding for new members > > > > - Better spam moderation tools > > > > > The cons: > > > > > - It's not free > > > > - Since it's not free, somebody needs to pay for it, which means > > > > somebody is ultimately a "keyholder" > > > > > The cons aren't huge, but they do need to be addressed. > > > > > I think this could be a very valuable evolution of this discussion > > forum > > > > that we all love so much. What say you, the coworking group? > > > > > -Alex > > > > > /ah > > > > indyhall.org > > > > coworking in philadelphia > > > > > -- > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups > > > > "Coworking" group. > > > > To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > <coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups .com> > > > > . > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > > > -- > > > John Sechrest . > > > Corvallis Benton . > > > Chamber Coalition . > > > 420 NW 2nd . > > > (541) 757-1507 . sechr...@corvallisedp.com > > > . > > > > . > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Coworking" group. > > To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > > -- > tara 'missrogue' hunt > > Book: The Whuffie Factor (http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com) > Blog: HorsePigCow: Marketing Uncommon (http://horsepigcow.com) > Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/missrogue > phone: 514-679-2951 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
