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What’s with groups?

The ActiveRain Real Estate Network has just passed the 10,000 member point and this community is growing.

With all these members there are currently a large number of posts to read and people to get to know. We didn’t feel that having one forum in which to view them all was going to be effective much longer. For that reason we made groups. Consider them to be an ActiveRain within ActiveRain, managed by the group creator and their chosen moderators.

In this way you are encouraged to create and define your own communities within the community. What types of groups can there be? Well that is mostly up to you as a member and the community that would respond to it.

For types of groups, I envisioned, for example, a “Seattle Real Estate Agents” group, in which Seattle Real Estate Agents could go in and check up on what’s going on in their local community. Or a “Michigan Rainers” Group, in which any member from Michigan could join and keep the local communication flow going. I also thought it would be great to have groups dedicated to specific topics like SEO, for example.

So what is with groups?

Groups are ActiveRain broken out into smaller niches. Where, hopefully you can find yourself, and define yourself, in a few key new homes, that suit your individual perspective.

Some Questions About Groups

How do I join a group?

When you are logged in and viewing groups, if a group is joinable you’ll see a link that reads “Join Group.”

What are the Rules for Groups?

The Rules with groups are the same as they have been with ActiveRain, in addition the members of a group may further define other aspects and requirements for that group.

Are there too many groups?

We would expect that there are going to be a lot of groups that get started and then meld with other groups, and some groups that just aren’t popular. This is a normal process, and if your group doesn’t take off, then don’t take it personally. The reality is there are only so many that will work. As Matt said “Getting a group off the ground requires having a leader involved who will put in the effort of nurturing it in the beginning.

Please keep in mind that “Groups” is in early beta. We’re looking for your input to help us make this more effective. Please as you go through and try things out let us know what works and what would work better. If we can make this better let us know.

Thank you,

Caleb Mardini

Group Guides

Groups 101 - Our First Definitive Guide on Groups. By Jason Price

On Being A Groupie! - Groups are a good thing. By Rich Jacobson

New Group Features - See this for how some different aspects of the groups features work. By Matt Heaton

Group Types - Getting more background on groups and how they play out.

Creating a group within ActiveRain -The technical manual for creating a group.

Posted by ActiveRain Real Estate Network on 12/05/2006 02:35 PM

Comments (37)

activerain, activerain guide, groups

37 Comments on Groups

DEC

2006

Caleb~ Thanks for the clarification on the Groups~ I think your comment about defining yourself, and finding your individual perspective is exactly the way it should be. We as users have come here for many different reasons. Some features of AR will be used more than others, depending upon each individual's needs. I just thank you for the choice you have given us! You guys ROCK!

I see groups as an easier way to find particular information - you guys have done a great job - now it's up to the group moderators to start deleting posts that don't belong.

Thanks Caleb-

If 2 (or more) groups would like to merge - what would be the easiest way for them to do it?

Well Caleb I wasnt sold on them until I read your post. I guess it is a nice way to streamline similar interests...Thanks. You made it more understandable. PSyou are too darn cute to remove your photo!

Thanks Caleb!

Here is the link to our group:

Online Marketing Blog

Caleb.... some good clarification.

And the question Marc brought up is a good one. Just like I said in one of posts last night.. if someone puts all of their time into a group, and then it dies. They might get discouraged to find another group. I think if we do merge these groups, not all.... but get the number down, I think this would help.

Overall... the groups do make sense, giving someone a quicker way to get from point A to point B. But right now, it's a freeway.... ;o)

Thank you. I imagine that it will take awhile for the dust to settle. Most of us are patient, though. And please let us know what WE can do to ease the confusion and streamline the process.

Caleb,

Great minds think alike. I had just posted along these same lines....

"On Being a Groupie"

Thanks as always for your efforts on our behalf!

Caleb, Thanks for the information on the groups...

for those that want to create a group or know what has become as accepted etiquette for the group feature, I created a post on just that... AR Groups 101:Etiquette and Creating

One suggestion would be that when a group is created there be an option to the category that it belongs to. For instance, mortgage industry, real estate, locational, off topic, etc. This way one can use the list feature to find groups related to that topic. Kind of how the blogs are setup in the general area.

My suggestion would be to have the category on the right side "Top Contributing Member" to work like the "Tags" (Tag Cloud) do within the "My Blog" does now on our own pages. This way when you click on it you would only get a list of the blogs that were posted to that group from the individual, instead of all of that individual's blogs. This would make it easier to find, especially if the blog is too old and is no longer on the left side of the Group under "Newest Post".

I hope I made myself clear. If I didn't please just e-mail me and I will take another stab at it.

I think . . . O.K. here we go again, thatwe all do what ever we can to make the internet smaller. We kind of pick a little peice of it to look at because we do not have time for all of it. What I like about active rain is that I can read a wide variety of content about various aspect of the industry. I do not search for any particular topic but end up reading articles that are really worth while. I for one would like to remain out and about instead of finding some friends and going into a little corner to talk amongst our selves. Besides I am not one of the cool kids that would be invited to one of the really neat groups anyway. :)

Marc,

If two groups would like to merger they should contact activerain support. There isn't an easy way. Great question though.

Jason Great suggestion, we may do this.

Part of the issue with there currently being so many, is that the default search is "# of subscribers" and to add a new group, you automatically go to page 7 and hope that someone finds you. Other ways to sort aren't that helpful because why sort by the # of subscribers as you're pushing out the smaller cliques, but yet, you're wanting smaller groups...

If you sort by Name, The Florida group is not in the F's, the California group is not in the C's, New York is not in the N's, etc... it's so hard to find a group, and I can't imagine trying to find groups in just 24 more hours when we might get to page 8 and then next week when we're on page 25.

To start a Texas group, I would need to make sure the group name starts with an A so it can get towards the top of the list in at least one sort, or it would be at the bottom with num of subscribers and by name sorting in the T's....

Donna,

You bring up a great point thanks.

A couple of suggestions:

-Add a way to invite other Active Rain members to join a particular group.

-Nest comment threads, so that you can respond to a particular comment with a little more clarity as to which comment you are replying to. (that suggestion is a little more wide-based, rather than just relating to the groups discussion)

As I always tell my clients, we may be looking at a great house, but if I don't bring out the negatives for you to see, you're going to get upset when you move in, figure out the negatives, and then get upset with me for not pointing something out...

The groups are a good idea in concept, but I think there are a lot of negatives to look at right now to make them actually work and be functional.

Hey Guys,

I haven't put much into the groups idea yet...I'm still considering if I want to start of join one...Thanks for the heads up on everything..

Scott

Thanks for the clarification, not having had the time lately to participate in Active Rain, the title of this post expresses exactly the thoughts I had. My only concern would be there is a danger that groups could become "cliquish".

Well, thank you for the groups and the info enclosed, but I am not comfirtable yet with the different group issues, eventhough, I've joined today my first 2 groups...see how it goes...

I'm just going to park it and watch the suggestions roll in...TLW...ROAR!

The information on how the navigate around AR is great. However I am still trying to find my way around, there is just so must to absorp.

I think some additional navigational help would be appreciated by all. So far we are part of two groups as well. -Charles

Caleb, Ok I was knocked off with my last comment so I'll try again...do you think it has something to do with us talking, Caleb...strange

The groups are driving me crazy. It seems I feel more obligated than ever to read and comment than I did before. Yes, I joined too many, I know but I didn't want to hurt feelings which I'm sure I already have with no joining all of them. Before, it was just the luck of the draw. Some of the categories don't make sense on what they fall under. The ability as a moderator to be able to mass email would be great, like we talked about because I ended up doing a blog and using up my points to just get a message to everyone which was counter productive.

We all appreciate your efforts and you know that I think you are just the cutest!!!!

Teresa, consider yourself invited ... List by address and Everything California would welcome you. Even if you don't live in CA, you could blog about it. Invitation stands. We are a nice group!

Donna, you had me in stitches. That was GREAT!

DEC

2006

Thanks Caleb. You and the rest of the AR folks have given us a wonderful gift to play with. I'd advise everyone to stay calm, let the groups breathe and mature for a few weeks and it will all work out. Trust me. ;-)

It would be nice to have some spots inside the group to post some group guidelines and what posts are going to be deemed acceptable by the Administrator and/or moderators. It has been my experience is that people will post in as many groups as possible with no regards to if the post actually fits that group, similiar to the 3 blog categories that have now morphed into the highly detailed categories. Other than that I like the groups feature as it has organized content in another form instead of state by state.

I love the concept of groups. Thanks for giving aus a new avenue of communication!

Caleb, you darling man...you did it. I love it!!!! Used it today on both of my groups and it worked like a charm. THANK you!!!! AR is sooooooooo wonderful!!! Ask and you shall receive...

Toby, Whe are going to have something like this. If someone does post in the manner you suggest, I would suggest you disconnect them from the group.

Message to everybody:

Don't Join more than a few groups! As time goes by you may find yourself subscribing to more, and dropping from others. In the near term however, do not subscribe to too many, you won't get the benefit groups are intended to provide.

Caleb, I'm wondering if there was a way to have a founder and some administrators or managers of a group.

In other words, more than one. This would also help if you ever need to consolidate groups. Take the two founders and they can monitor it.

thx for the response Caleb :) it would help clarify the groups function...you guys have to busy busy right now. i'll wait patiently :) have a great holiday!

DEC

2006

Karen,

There are roles for founder moderator, and administrator. To make it easy for everyone.

A founder can do everything including removing a group.

An administrator can do everything except removing a group.

A moderator can make a post stick at the top of the forum (featuring), unfeature posts, remove posts. We'll be adding to and updating this list as we go.

DEC

2006

It would be nice to have a page that displayed new posts on all the groups I am subscribed to. Sort of like a feedreader does. Or at least an icon that tells me that a subscribed group has recent posts.

This is something we are considering.

I was hoping that would get a response. Glad to see it is under consideration. It is a wonderful idea. :) TLW...ROAR!

FEB

Thanks for the words of advice.

SEP

So this is how it all started. Now we are up to almost 6,000 different groups. Who would have thought this would happen back in 2006.

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