For many years now the VA network I manage has been using YahooGroups for its messaging to members. I had explored message boards quite a long time ago and felt that members wouldn’t log in on a daily basis to check for messages relevant to them. At that time my choice was the right one and I currently moderate two VA forums with a sum total of well over 1,000 VA members.
I had tried about 3 or 4 different messaging systems till we finally made a shift back to YahooGroups, which had improved from the first time I’d tried it. But I am aware that there are a large proportion of networking groups globally that have shifted to the forum board model and initially I wasn’t interested – it meant I had to log in to check for messages and would only get notified of updates to threads I’d participated in. In my busy schedule responding to an email is much quicker and easier – at least in my books. But if I want to participate in some of the excellent forums out there, I’ve had to get used to the board type forums and now try to schedule in visits a few times a week so I’m not missing out on things – I still do miss things, sometimes something I would have loved to have known about before a deadline – one of the reasons why I prefer emails to logging into boards.
So, I thought I’d do a ‘pros and cons list’ for email messaging versus forum boards and invite you to add to the list.
For many years now the VA network I manage has been using YahooGroups for its messaging to members. I had explored message boards quite a long time ago and felt that members wouldn’t log in on a daily basis to check for messages relevant to them. At that time my choice was the right one and I currently moderate two VA forums with a sum total of over 1,000 VA members.
I had tried about 3 or 4 different messaging systems till we finally made a shift back to YahooGroups in September 2003, which had improved from the first time I’d tried it. But I am aware that there are a large proportion of networking groups globally that have shifted to the forum board model (including one VA group just this month) and initially I wasn’t interested – it meant I had to log in to check for messages and would only get notified of updates to threads I’d participated in. In my busy schedule responding to an email is much quicker and easier – at least in my books. But if I want to participate in some of the excellent forums out there, I’ve had to get used to the board type forums and now try to schedule in visits a few times a week so I’m not missing out on things – I still do miss things, sometimes something I would have loved to have known about before a deadline – one of the reasons why I prefer emails to logging into boards.
Just for the record – I belong to 15 yahoogroups lists (but not all are chatty every day and I can choose to respond or not, messages are automatically filtered by my email rules filter into the relevant folders) and 4 (actually now 5) forum boards (which I struggle to keep up with in times of busy-ness).
So, I thought I’d do a ‘pros and cons list’ for email messaging versus forum boards and invite you to add to the list.
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Tawnya Sutherland says
Great thread Kathie! I actually run a forum (www.vanetworking.com) which has been online now since 2003. One of the reasons that made me start it was that I was tired of being bombarded with emails in my box from e-lists. It made me feel obligated to open and read them and when I didn’t, well, I felt like I was missing out on something or just not doing my “networking job”!
What I love about forums is that I can also go here whenever I want which ends up for me being daily since they are very addicting once you find one you like ie) Every morning it is part of my routine to sign in and “View New Posts”. Some forums even feel like a home to you and some won’t so you need to lurk for awhile and view the environment to see if a forum is going to work for you. You want to feel comfortable to be able to ask questions and learn wherever you join and not scared to post or make a mistake. Most forum moderators love newbies and will take them by the hand and help them learn the forum system. I love that you can view profiles and message back and forth between members. Plus some of the forums like ours have many addons from contests (Our Extreme VA contest is running this month…so check it out), VA directories, article directories, get-togethers, and tons of other goodies since they become a whole community for you.
I’ve yet to give up any of my many Yahoo groups, like Kathie, I belong to 15+ but they do take second seat now to my forum reads every morning. Its really a personal choice, you are either a Lister or Forumer
Are you a Lister or a Forumer? 😉
kathiemt says
Thanks for the comment – I’m hoping more discussion will be generated. We’ve had a discussion list since around 1998 and have tried a few places but always stuck with an email list and I guess I’m trying to work out whether boards are now more popular – they appear to be in a number of areas.
But I do so hate missing out on hearing about things because I do forget to log in and check – perhaps ‘laziness’ but I found emails helped involve more much more. But I have some ideas in my head so I’ll wait and see.
Lauray says
Hi Kathie!
I once joined a Yahoo Group – and though I checked “No Mail” – by some quirk I was absolutely bombarded with emails.
It took Yahoo 3 weeks to find out how to stop the email flow. In the process I started receiving lots of spam – which had not previously been a problem.
I vote for forums! 🙂 I belong to one through AssistU – and they have a feature whereby you can go back – as far as a month I believe – to make sure you didn’t miss any new posts.
Just my two cents!
Judy Somes says
Some good pros and cons for both on your blog.
I personally prefer forums.
Probably the biggest reason for me is that it’s possible to scan quickly topics that you want to read / participate in, and within those topics, easily see replies and how the thread has been discussed. Furthermore, it’s easy to go to the last post and work back if coming in a little late to the post. The toolbars used on some forums are excellent for easily seeing new posts.
For email lists, I think it’s necessary to setup some sort of filtering system, especially if you are using your main email. I have setup a yahoo email specifically for lists, keeping these emails very separate to my business / outlook emails. I check yahoo online (and can therefore check from anywhere). I make a point of only checking my yahoo lists in downtime so I don’t get too distracted.
Debbie Corlet says
Hi Kathie,
I actually prefer the email as well (particularly for ACS anyway).
I belong to a few forums and I haven’t had the time to log in to those for months on end.
As Tawnya said – they are addictive as there are so many different threads / subjects to look at and participate in.
I’ve just reintroduced myself to one network and virtually spent the day yesterday posting and replying to all different threads.
So for ACS I’d prefer to stay with the email systems (as you also noted above – people can choose to have no email or daily digest etc) but I love seeing all the emails from the group and if they don’t interest me or I’m too busy I either leave for later on or just delete.
Never miss a thing.
Regards
Debs
Nikki White says
I much prefer the email system. It’s too time consuming to log into a forum and I would always forget to do it. I like the fact that the information pops up in front of me and I can choose to read it straight away, leave it until later or dump the topic if it is not relevant. I also like the fact that when emails come in you know other people are out there working like you are at odd times of the day (it’s a comforting thought).
Nikki
Laura says
Forums definitely. The email type lists are way too confusing and time consuming. As people with backgrounds in high level administration it doesn’t take long to schedule an appointment twice a day to check the forums. Plus you can just tick “read posts since last visit”. I’ve deregistered myself from some email lists because they weren’t user friendly.
Kylie Short says
Having used forums for the last 6 years as part of my studies at university, I found it really hard to adapt to the email list style. If I had to choose now, I would definitely choose to go the way of a forum. Most forums are organised into different interest areas and with a team of moderators, operate quite well.
Susan Kuhn says
I used e- mail lists like forums (fora?). I subscribe to digest form, then route each one to its own folder. I make time to review the folders; the topic list (subject line list) at the top of each e-mail identifies threads I am interested in. No need to log into multiple boards, everything is there in one place.
Kind regards,
Susan