I've been using eGroups for a few years now - they were called something else before, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called. Currently I moderate about 9 different groups - some are fairly large with hundreds of members (subscribers) like the international discussion ... Read review
Advantages: Easy to use, efficient, reliable Disadvantages: Some advertising (but a small disadvantage only!!)
I've been using eGroups for a few years now - they were called something else before, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called. Currently I moderate about 9 different groups - some are fairly large with hundreds of members (subscribers) like the international discussion group for Drama education called DramaWest, or the Regional Association for Student Centred Learning, and others are very small, like the committee of the Drama ... ...work out where to start praising eGroups so I'll ramble on and give some commentary.
TYPES OF LIST/GROUP
*******************
The ease with which you can set up a mailing list is amazing. Simply register on the site with the usual details and then click on the "Start a new group now" link and you are away. You'll need to decide on the name of the group and then you get to customise the various ... more
I've been using eGroups for a few years now - they were called something else before, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called. Currently I moderate about 9 different groups - some are fairly large with hundreds of members (subscribers) like the international discussion group for Drama education called DramaWest, or the Regional Association for Student Centred Learning, and others are very small, like the committee of the Drama teachers' association.
It's quite a challenge to work out where to start praising eGroups so I'll ramble on and give some commentary.
TYPES OF LIST/GROUP *******************
The ease with which you can set up a mailing list is amazing. Simply register on the site with the usual details and then click on the "Start a new group now" link and you are away. You'll need to decide on the name of the group and then you get to customise the various elements of the list -
- will it be an announce only list - this option is great if you want to run a newsletter;
- will it be a moderated list - you will be able to decide who and what gets sent to the list, useful if you need to be wary of content - great if you have children as subscribers - you don't want your Thomas the Tank Engine fan club list to be getting more suggestive postings about trains and tunnels;
- a totally unmoderated group is great when you want a rampant exchange of ideas.
MODERATION **********
You can also have an open or closed group - the difference is that anyone can join or the moderator can vet those who join - I generally run closed groups because they are largely professional academic discussion groups and we really don't want to be bothered by idiots dropping in to spam or troll.
The eGroups administration system is very comprehensive allowing subscribers to determine the nature of their subscription - individual emails, daily digests or web only - moderators can easily add or remove subscribers, banning is possible if you have particularly tiresome individuals who need to be excluded.
SUBSCRIPTION ************
The huge number of groups available mean that there is a category system for locating groups - if you want to have discussions about Elvis Costello, you can search for his name and join any relevant groups... I'm sure if you look hard enough there will be a subject to suit everyone.
Subscribing and unsubscribing from eGroups is very easy - and instructions are included at the bottom of posts so subscribers can really take charge of their membership. As a moderator of some years I still find that many people don't read that sort of information and start sending "Please get me off this list" type messages - what they are really saying is that "I am too thick or too lazy to take responsibility for this..."
ADVERTISING ***********
Anyone - there's bound to be someone who'll gripe at me if I don't mention that even though the service is basically free there is the "cost" of having advertising included in all posts - if yuo get HTML email you'll see small banner ads - text only get messages about 3 lines long appended to the main post - to be perfectly honest after a few weeks you hardly even notice them there.
LANGUAGES *********
With hundreds of thousands of eGroups operating it is hardly surprising that they operate in a variety of diffferent languages - like I said - there is bound to be a group to satisfy everyone regardless of interest or language.
APPLICATIONS ************
There are many ways you can use eGroups to make life easier - for ongoing indepth discussion or for short-term totally practical purposes. Whenever I have a new theatre production underway I start an eGroup and include all the cast and production team - I also use other larger groups to announce the productions. I am a member of several professional committees and we keep in touch outside of meetings by way of an eGroup. I'm currently preparing for a Drama Education World Congress in July and have started a national list for all the Drama teachers and academics who plan to be Norway for the congress. You can run fan clubs - use it to distribute newsletters for your church group, keep in touch with a hobby group - add your customers to an announce only list and keep them informed of what your business might have to offer.... and the list goes on and on...
OVERALL *******
I have found the eGroups system to be very easy to use, very reliable and very resistant to spammers, although occasionally someone seems to manage to syphon the email lists... all in all, I can't recommend this service highly enough. For non-profits, like school theatre groups and professional associations, services like eGroups really make the versatility of the web available in spades.
My suggestion is that if you need to communicate with large groups of people - or small groups for that matter - simultaneously then eGroups should be at the top of your Favourites/Bookmarks....
UPDATE ****** 22/01/01 eGroups are in the process of being subsumed as part of the Yahoo! megalith - they claim that the service will be the same - it will be interesting to see what happens - changes due to to take effect in the first quarter of 2001. eGroups will then be called Yahoo! Groups.
10/02/01 Yahoo! have started messing with the formula - regular and long time users are finding the changeover a little confusing. The general operation of the groups seems to continue as before but Yahoo have added a few steps to the process of moderating your groups. I suspect it's just transitional and they seem to be getting everyone to sign into the great YAHOO-niverse - one can only wonder what the organisation plans to do with its acumulation of data about so many millions of people.
The look of the moderation site has changed a bit as Yahoo web designers take over from egroup designers - or maybe the egroupers have simply changed hats - but whatever has happened there is some redecorating and renovation occuring and like most occasions its a little unsettling for those people uncomfortable with change... and I suspect that users will simply notice a change it won't be better of worse - just different.
Advantages: connect to large number of people at once, free, 20Mb storage, chat Disadvantages: none I can see
** UPDATED -**
e-groups is a great way to stay in touch with others by way of a free e-mail group service whereby you can have your own unique group’s page and link..
why I started an e-groups?
The idea of starting a group on e-groups occurred to me whilst on a visit to USA. This summer whilst in USA I met up with a large number of family members whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. As there were so many of us from different States we ... ...easy way to stay in touch. There are about 20 of us in the family Group. I had attended 3 Weddings (yes 3!!) in 3 different States so we had a lot of photos to share with one another!! How e-groups give you more space…
e- groups gives you 20Mb of free space to store all your files,e.g photos, mp3’s, address books, birthdays etc. I wasn’t keen on putting family pics on the web for the world to see, so this way proved to be a safe, ...
Connoisseur_Haggler 30.11.2000 (29.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of egroups.com
Advantages: Good for discussion Disadvantages: Posters practice consistently bad netiquette
...obliged to point out that egroups.com is now no more, since the rebranding/integration into Yahoo's groups is now done. RIP Egroups, and welcome to Yahoo Groups. A comment on the fallout will follow. Mike
.....original op.....
I heard about a Ciao-UK egroup being set up and so I thought I'd take a lot at it, have been part of ecircles.com for a while and wanting to see how the competition sized up in comparison. The novelty value is perhaps still ... ...was signed up to two groups, and one of them soon became a running rant between two members, one of whom was trying to defend herself against the outlandish claims being made by someone who was really haranguing her. I was somewhat perturbed by this.
Unless you enjoy having a wad of e-mail flying into your account every ten minutes, I would suggest that you either choice "daily digest" mode or "web only" mode for posts, as otherwise for someone ...
Morgenhund 21.12.2000 (28.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of egroups.com
Advantages: Easy ways to get in touch with people who share your interests and views Disadvantages: 1000s of groups to choose from, may be tricky finding the right one for you
If you have a special interest or hobby that you want to share with others, then www.egroups.com is the place for you.
It lists literally thousands of email communities set up by people like you who share a love of just about any subject, be it cycling, teddy bears, photography or whatever you choose. These are grouped under category headings on the home page but as there are so many thousands to choose from, you'd be best off using the search facility ... ...what exactly are these communities or groups actually about? Well, the idea is that you subscribe to a group and are then able to discuss your favourite hobby or interest or health issue (or whatever!) with other members of the group via emails. You send an email to the group address and it is automatically distributed amongst all other members.
There are various different kinds of groups, but the most popular seems to be the unmoderated variety, ...
Squiggles 13.08.2000 (17.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of egroups.com
Advantages: Communicate with like minded inidviduals Disadvantages: Need keen participants.
I have subscribed to my first eGroup - I've signed up to the eGroup that I saw advertised for keen Ciao users, and thought it might be a useful way to spread/gain ideas and air some more views.
The principle of the eGroup is quite simple - one or more users acts as a moderator and effectively "owns" the group. You then apply to join the group, and the moderator signs you up (or tells you to get lost). Once you are in the group, you can post messages ... ...post attachments, such as photos and take part in user-maintained polls.
There seems to be a lot of emphasis on the moderator to maintain, and motivate, the eGroup and a lot of the messages have come from the moderator. In fact, it would appear that only a small proportion of the members actively use the egroup. Whenever I have posted a message I have received a prompt response, but usually from the same two or three people.
I would suggest that ...
LostWitness 28.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of egroups.com
Advantages: Message board heaven for all addicts Disadvantages: Big thumbs down for the chat facility
Plenty of people have, rightly, endorsed egroups as a great way to set up and run a site, but I must add a word of warning about the "chat" element.
Unfortunately, egroups sports the worst lag I have ever come across on a chat site. Admittedly its system is more geared to leaving messages, but on such a presitgious and generally well-kept forum, it is a shame that the chat is so poor.
The only way round the problem which I have found is to arrange ...
x_elf_x 02.10.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of egroups.com
