Sounds like quite the project. While I haven't been too involved in Yahoo groups, per se, I have been active in my share of online communities. Mostly it's IRC or specialized forums (2600, C++, animesuki)... In my experience, however, the biggest factor is the people. It's hard to quantify that though. I guess it's mostly seen by a elect group of individuals who post constantly. In IRC there was a small group of us that were continuously active. We kept the channel alive. There were some regulars that weren't as active that joined in, but rarely did any big conversations happen without the main group. The same thing can be seen in programming/hacking groups. Most threads were started and consisted of almost entirely an elect group of people. Random people would post questions, and the main group of us would answer them. I think the thing that would kill most groups is members of that main group going on hiatus. When I left for Iraq, two others in one of my main channels left for school. For a while there, the group was dangerously close to disappearing. Even now, it's not quite what it used to be.
So, that's my idea. I might be totally wrong since this is all from personal experience with my own groups, but I thought it might help some. I'd be interested to see how close I am. Just look at a bunch of different test cases and see if the same people are what keeps the community alive.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-06-07 08:28 pm (UTC)So, that's my idea. I might be totally wrong since this is all from personal experience with my own groups, but I thought it might help some. I'd be interested to see how close I am. Just look at a bunch of different test cases and see if the same people are what keeps the community alive.
Good luck with it!