makes complete sense, findability is huge. this is why so many companies are now trying to go after “SEO.” There’s no point in having a great product, service, or group, if nobody knows you exist.

Jacob

We migrated from Yahoo to more Google groups as well- as more relative groups to what our market base is and what content we are looking for. And it seems to be more structured- or as you say “methodical.” Search also seems more “micro” at least for search criteria we use- with Google. Right on Chris.

Yes, and obviously Google is making itself indispensable by putting all this stuff “under one roof”. We use the group for our mailing list which is, as you said, searchable, web-readable and acts as a regular managed mailing list with pages you can build AND you have the calendar, Google docs now including PDF, slides and presentations, the reader, yada, yada. “Google da man” to coin a phrase.

Is this the opposite of a Yogi Berra quote? It’s so hard to find, everyone goes there?

I shouldn’t say this because I’ve got loved ones at Yahoo BUT…. I tried to create a Yahoo Groups page and it was just COVERED in tacky advertising and didn’t give me any freedom of expression. I instead went with creating a website through Squarespace because I wanted the group to look the way I envisioned (aka NOT busy!). At least let us CHOOSE what advertisers we get bombarded with!

I agree, trying to use the Yahoo Group search engine seems worse than finding a needle in a haystack. You only get 10 groups per page, groups you expect to be at the top are not, no logic in ones that are listed, searches cannot use wildcards. Fortunately most groups list themselves on other websites or blogs etc.

I’m curious: What kind of groups are you creating or joining in Yahoo/Google that you can’t accomplish with proven social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn?

I am a great fan of Yahoo Groups, But last week i tried Google Groups, I really very much impressed with some excellent features. But i don’t see more search results when compared to Yahoo

Ari,

Facebook is aimed at a young market and has very poor email support. Linkedin is aimed at business and similarly has poor email support. Both of these also have a very complex featureset.

Also both of them put blocks in the way of groups. For example in Facebook if you want a new network you have to apply for one and hope that some good person gives you permission. Linkedin begins to charge…

In contrast with both Y!G and G!G you can create as many networks or groups as you like. You won’t be charged and you don’t need to ask permission.

Also critically many Y!G and G!G users prefer the email interface, and without it they would lose productivity, if not themselves.

Andy

Chris, I love this kind of post… the kind where I finish reading it and think, yep, that’s right, I knew that… but I didn’t know I knew it until he said it.

I’m getting ready to lead a conversation on “Finding Your Digital Tribe,” and this is going RIGHT into my notes. Fully attributed, of course.

yeah, in some ways Yahoo is like the old decaying city center, not quite the ancient “walled city” of AOL, but low rent for sure.

Does anyone know whether G!G is better at removing groups you’ve created than Y!G?? I ask because when I made a Yahoo Group and wanted to delete it, I had to go through a whole back and forth process of emailing the webmaster to get it off the internet (and replying YES I’M SURE I WANT IT REMOVED). Seems like a waste of time and manpower.

thank you! I was wondering if one was better than the other. I like that google groups can be further customized. The sign up boxes are also super easy to add to existing websites.

Lindsay, with Y!G signup boxes can be added to any website as well. Sometimes members cannot do this since some owners can prohibit the feature. Look for the promote link on the left…

Well - I used Yahoogroups for many many years. Now I switched to Ning. Question: What can you not do with Ning what you want to do with Yahoogroups. Asking the other way around is a joke because the power of Ning is not comparable to what you can(not) do with Yahoogroups.

fom - fit older men

fit older men,

I also use Ning, but find myself reverting to Y!G not because of what it can do, but rather who can do it. Networks are nothing without people.

One kind of community I operate in is freecycling and I am continuously amazed that many people who start freecycling seem to do it as one of their first excursions onto the web. This kind of person runs away from environments with lots of features.

As a geek who uses the web to its max, I find that frustrating, but it is something we have to live with.

Andy

Hmm Andy. Thats interesting what you write. I agree - after the recent release of new features at Ning (Events, Notes, Layout-your-page-via-drag-and-drop) it can be actually WAY!!! to much to start with all of them and I actually don’t even use all Ning features after several months. But here comes my point. You CAN trim down a Ning group pretty much and “only” use the forum for a starter. THEN you have a very basic thing to start with and you can drop in new features to the network later one by one. Aks the members what they would like and open it up.

What I like about Ning is: You own your content and can download it even via REST, Ning does not delete your group without warning, you can build a totally branded “group”/network and it can have your own URL - AND you can monetize and run your own ads.

For me Ning is EVERYTHING and much much more I ever have wanted from Yahoo. It is much more social and active. It needs way less moderation. It is not discovered by spammers yet. Andreessen is a true visionary and he runs his venture very well. I visited them in Palo Alto in January and was very impressed. I just did not want to invest my time and energy in another platform that would fold quickly or delete my work - like Yahoo did.

All this freedom WILL change after Ning got bought by Yahoo (haha - or somebody else) but till then it is fun to use it. And till then I have sucked all my social data out of the system and can rebuild it with the next social lego darling that will be around.

Sigh - I don’t really want that (again) but unfortunately I see this coming.

BTW - does GoogleGroups delete groups so easily like Yahoo does?

fom - fit older men

BTW - hi Randulo. I was a big fan of your Tale of the Whale radio show about Ning secrets at Talkshoe. Why is this over now? Greetings fom - fit older men

HAH!

Yahoo Groups are a pain in the tushy - just ask my wife, who took on the formidable task of going through all the real estate investor groups (yikes, there were 9,000!) and trying to identify the bigger and/or better ones, in an effort to identify the groups we should be posting on (thank you Seth Godin). You can’t sort them by size or popularity and many of the bigger ones are only big because of the volume of junky spam posts. She got really bored after the first 200 groups!

We’re headed for Google now….

Yours with boundless enthusiasm,

Richard :)
Chief Deal Weaver
http://www.BlackWidowNetwork.com

Richard,

There is a website, http://www.bestdiscussiongroups.com which supposedly provides an alternative way into the Yahoo Groups for “quality” groups. I certainly used it with effect when hunting for some big freecycling groups.

Andy

I just can’t understand how to use groups, will you help please!

Thanks Andy,

I’ll go check it out…

Tamal,

Yahoo Groups (and Google) are collections of like-minded folks who interact with one another in a similar format to a forum. With our example of the real estate investor groups, they’re an opportunity to share and find deals in real estate, but if you think about it, any time you make a post on one of these groups (your target audience), you’re exposing yourself to 2 or 3 thousand (some of them are this big) people who you’re trying to get your message to. OBVIOUSLY, any posts you do make, need to be beneficial, not spammy and respectful of the group. Similar to posting comments on a blog, if people can see you have a positive contribution to make, they may go check you out. Voila - more business.

Good luck out there,

Richard :)

Chief Deal Weaver
http://www.BlackWidowNetwork.com

I am trying to decide between Yahoo & Google for a few groups I have to set up. I personally don’t care which one is chosen as long it is easy to sign up and use.

The biggest problem I see with Google Groups is that it forces one to create an account. Most of my users are non-technically savvy people that don’t want to create any more accounts.

The main attraction of Yahoo Groups is that if you have an email address you are good to go! You don’t need a Yahoo Groups account.

Can someone clarify my doubt.. Does one need a google account to use Google Groups?

What could you NOT do with Ning what you can do with Yahoogroups.

1. Add a group post via email with attachement (as moderator)
2. More moderator power and functionality
3. Better group mail functionality
4. Standard replies
5. Shared links
6. Better Spam busting techniques (because you have too - not so at ning ((yet))

But besides that - a Yahoogroup in form of Ning is a whole different calibre. It opens up the world of social. In my opinion Yahoogroup is more a relict of the past- It certainly is not social (enough).

fom