On 2/20/11 7:34 PM, "Adam Bailey" <[email protected]> wrote: >These days it seems that forums are definitely the preferred way to seek >and >share support. Mailing lists as a discussion medium seem to be fading >away.
We have to ask, "Who's driving the move to forums and why?" The only ones I see driving forums are those who seek to profit from them. Forums can be measured in terms of visitors. Those stats can be peddled to potential advertisers. Even if the forums don't have advertising the information used by those running the forums is useful. I've heard others say that only us old timers (does 42 count?) prefer mailing lists because the younger generation doesn't even use E-mail. I don't know how much of that I really buy. Changing the thought a bit... Diane's doing a wonderful thing by actually asking the community (the list of folks subscribed and reading these messages) how it wants to engage each other. So, we should in turn ask her what it takes to create this "virtual meeting place". It does cost her money in hosting fees, which she's not able to recoup from a mailing list, as well as a significant amount of her time just participating. Right now, Diane doesn't profit from her sites. She has little if any advertising. Should she have more as long as it's relevant to the content? What's the best way to get her compensated for all the work she's done? Forums might meet those needs but certainly not at the expense of killing the community. I think she should be asking, "If I build it, will you come and support me?" -- William Smith -- YouTalk mailing list List information: http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/list.html List moderator: [email protected], [email protected] To unsubscribe: mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe
