Social groups

[MasterA]

Do you think social groups is a good idea on forums? If you haven't seen these , they are a bit like facebook groups but on forums. Would you use them? Do you think it adds value to the forum?

 

[Allenafaith]

I don't really see the point in it.

 

[Kino]

I like the idea of social groups. I think you have to have the right niche for it though. With the right niche you can extend this to private forums for members of a certain social group and you can form your own groups to create forums. It could be very cool.

 

[Teg]

Like Kino, again, I'm inclined to say that I like social groups on a forum. It does depend on the type of forum it is, though. As an example, it wouldn't be a bad idea to different social groups to HogEx. Members can start their own groups and have their own private forums they discuss things in. It adds to the whole Harry Potter Hogwarts feel of the site. That is not to say that I will be adding them, I just think for my project social groups could work.

 

[Cierra]

I had a plugin like this installed on my forum that I was playing around with, looking at implementing. I never did though because it was too complicated and like a forum within a forum with the way it was set up. Definitely would of drawn activity away from the forum I think .With the plugin MyProfile (profile comments, buddy system, etc), there isn't/wasn't a need because that's enough extra social-"ness" in my opinion.

 

[Thomasss]

Actually, I know a few forums that have this. They create "forum clans" and members manage their own groups and then we have group wars each year, it's really entertaining. I think social groups are a nice touch but you can do so much more with groups than just mere social groups.

 

[Cosmic]

I enjoy these, although haven't really ever used them to have good conversations. They're a neat thing to have though, in my opinion. I usually join a couple groups on forums that have these.

 

[Reverie]

Had them at Atrium, and having sections privately for each one was a little silly because they could just discuss in topics we already have on the forum. It was harder to go into detail about the topic than just the general things. I think it is definitely do able. Just have to have good examples for them for the people to run them that same direction. 🙂

 

[Mikaya]

I've seen them before on forums, and they don't seem very useful. There are other methods to converse with a select number of members (such as in a xF PM where you can invite everyone to one convo and recieve multiple replies in once place). These groups could also affect the overall activity of a community, as their attention would solely be focused within them, seeming as you can 'post' discussions. I wouldn't personally use them.