Post in Online Communities of Practice

Apr 22 16:33 UTC

There are a few factors involved.  I don't you can simply generalise on
generational.

Firstly, frequency of activity is important.  If a forum is very
frequently updated people will visit daily to see the latest activity.
If it is very frequent emails and even digest quickly become
indigestible.  Likewise if a forum is not frequently updated then people
need notifying of new activity when it occurs otherwise a conversation
will not ensue.

Secondly, choice is important.  Some people as Jeremy said prefer
email.  Perhaps their corporate firewalls prevent access to forums or
perhaps they prefer to access via their Treos (or Blackberries).  Others
will prefer to use web.

Some fora will benefit from both.  The BarCampUKGovWeb Google Groups
mail list was unmanageable by email at it's height.  The number of
messages peaked at over 20 per day and I accessed it via the web but now
it just trickles in and the occassional digest email reminds me that it
still exists.

Thirdly, technical expertise.  Email is a very widely used technology.
Web forums far less so.  Despite some always-on broadband (not so with
the majority of mobile connections) not everyone will want to browse
forums or read through RSS readers.

The answer I suspect is that to maximise participation you need to
maximise the choice for people.  Remove hurdles to participation and
allow them to read and contribute in the way that suits them.