

Ask HN: Which should I use: Yahoo Groups, Facebook Groups or Google Groups? - OoTheNigerian

I am trying to create an online community (not social network)for Nigerian Internet Entrepreneurs (Globally) and I am wondering what I should use.<p>I am am looking for something we can use to discuss issues, collaborate, share news, stories, ideas etc. I am familiar with Google Groups via Lean Startup Circle but is seems a bit boring. Facebook Groups require people to join FB not including the additional distractions from logging in. I have not used Yahoo Groups in a long while so I do not know the state.<p>Are there other options asides the one I mentioned? Of course it would need the special moderating features, and the ability to be invite only etc.<p>I would really appreciate your feedback.
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desigooner
Out of those 3 options, I'd stick with Google Groups. It's easy to
moderate/manage and search through content. Facebook Groups seem very
distracting to me and until they fine tune the notifications part, its a wee
bit gimmicky. Yahoo groups, well I haven't used that in a while but it
certainly was susceptible to spamming a lot more than google groups I've run.

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davidw
LinkedIn is another option.

In terms of 'boring', what should be interesting is the content, not the
presentation. HN itself, is pretty 'boring', isn't it?

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dageroth
I am a fan of Wordpress in combination with buddypress. There are tons of
plugins to tailor the community to what you like, from Chatmodules, groups,
extended profiles, etc. And it is very easy to set up a few pages about the
community, rules, etc. All you need is some virtual server to install
wordpress. Mine is about 8,95 € per month...

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rakkhi
I would say really do some analysis on your audience. I found these questions
helps: What is going interesting or engaging about my content / group to other
people? E.g. is it going to get them funding, network contacts, ideas for
their business, problem solving

Also consider that their maybe already be some good groups for this content on
Linked-in, Meetups etc.

If you have some form of this already What about my content / group are or
willl be people responding to? How can I use that to get more attention?

Then do some analysis of the pro's and cons of each group based on your
analysis and requirements e.g. I was reading that Yahoo groups has the largest
number of people currently, Facebook groups is new and ideally suited if you
want primarily have friends on Facebook contributing.

I also like the idea of linked in groups if you want this to primarily be a
professional focused network

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carucez
Starting next month, regular files will need to be stored in Google Docs in
order to be accessible -- inconvenient, but better organized.

"Starting in November 2010, Groups will no longer allow the creation or
editing of files and pages; the content will only be available for viewing,
and only existing files will be able to be downloaded. If you would like to
keep the content currently on the pages and files sections of your group, we
highly encourage you to export and migrate it to another product. In February
2011, we will turn off the pages and files features, and you will no longer be
able to access that content."

[http://groups-announcements.blogspot.com/2010/09/notice-
abou...](http://groups-announcements.blogspot.com/2010/09/notice-about-pages-
and-files.html?hl=en)

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takinbo
Like @rakkhi said I think it really depends on your target audience. I've
setup Google Groups, Yahoo Groups and Facebook Groups before. If you're
targeting a more tech-savvy group, then Google Groups is it (non-techy people
tend to think it is). For non tech-savvy groups, Yahoo Groups does just fine.

Facebook Groups in my opinion are a no-no even if all your group members are
on Facebook and my reason for this is that it doesn't encourage active
discussions. You always have to check with the group to know what's going on.

HTH

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ashitvora
If you have your own hosting, you can try BuddyPress. It's simple and easy to
setup and use.

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pbhjpbhj
Other option: self hosted groupware, please specify?

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OoTheNigerian
I wouldn't want to host anything extra. I want wamothing people can join with
only an email addy. LinkedIn and Facebook require a lot(filling profile) as
basic.

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AN447
GroupSpaces

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OoTheNigerian
From my understanding GroupSpaces is ideal for hierarchically structured
groups e.g oExecutive to members. This is more like a flattened distributed
groups where person to person interaction is the way.

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apexauk
We're working on improving this - in particular reply-all listserv in the
pipeline ;) \-- Andy @ GroupSpaces

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ody
You could setup your own NNTP server:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_News_Transfer_Protocol>

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Tichy
Nobody has access to NNTP anymore. You could complement it with a web gateway
perhaps - what are good open source ones?

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ody
NNTP is alive and strong. Google groups includes most usenet groups for
example. Yeah, most ISPs don't give out free access any more but just google
for "news server access".

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Tichy
I have tried for a while in Germany, but eventually just gave up. Maybe you
have it better in the US.

So what would be a free news server everybody can access? You should be able
to name one, the one you are using for instance?

Google Groups - true, but Google doesn't have a free NNTP server, or do they?
I admit I forgot that Google Groups are backed by NNTP.

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ody
I'm in the UK. I use nntp.aioe.org, a quick google brought up www.teranews.com
.. hope at least one works out for you.

