Yahoo Groups 2.0: What's stopping them?
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We have many Yahoo Groups leaders who have tried CollectiveX and across the board, they have given us the feedback that we are a much more compelling tool for engagement. Many, however, fear that if they try and make the jump, they will lose some of their membership in the process do to fear of change.
Any thoughts on what might be holding these folks back and how we can help them successfully make the switch?
Thanks for the feedback.
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Since CollectiveX is free to try, why not try it and allow the compelling features to convert the rest of the membership?
As far as the fear of losing members, remember the acronym for FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real. If you examine what is the worst that could happen and then the likelihood of that worst case scenario, you'll typically realize that you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
So TRY IT. The worse that could happen is that you go back to Yahoo or you lose some of your "less committed" members with the move. Change is the prerequsite for improvement.
Another motivator is shame. Yahoo is so 1990s. Do you really want that for your group? Shouldn't you try to join this decade before the next one begins?
I have been testing many of these "social networks" and no I have not been hired to do this.. I have time on my hands and enjoy the exploration of new things.. yet I have done some beta testing for companies in the past.. At this point in my life I have been seeking user friendly environment with ease of navigation.
As I have stated in some of my other post here.. I have narrowed my selection down to three.. Opera.com, Ning.com and Collectivex.com (Not in that order) all with many different aspects of development. What one lacks, another doesn't etc.. But over because of the way Collectivex has been written and implemented.. the site is very crisp without allot of gibberish to navigate through in order to post something or a comment. I have been a devoted Opera.com user, yet with any site.. you will attract "trash" If yahoo feels this sites mark up doesn't suit their needs.. then let them go.. Because I wouldn't want Collectivex to be dragged down by the many "ill gotten" users on yahoo.. Nothing more then spam bots and porn bots in the chat rooms.. I can never find a legitimate conversation on any site I venture into.
However, as with any network group site chat room or forums.. A person have been at that particular social network for s long time, they eventually become attached even though the network or group doesn't suit there needs. I have tried for years to create networks with usable information.. But in less then a 3 months I close the sites due to lack of interest. The point here is.. People talk a good game and say "oh what a great idea, I'd like to join" but never do. If it doesn't offer what they want in a group settings then they will simply not take the effort to contact the admins or group creator and submit suggestions.. I have also found that everyone wants to be a group creator and have their own groups or networks..
There are leaders and followers.. but at this point in the game if a person wants a network and they create it.. They are left with the task of finding others to join with the same talents and interests to keep and maintain a network.. Increasingly its becoming harder for them.. because of places like yahoo and msn offered these networks which didn't require much effort to create and maintain. I even got a message the other day stating "MSN groups will be closing soon" and posted a link to what MSN calls "another suitable group site" Don't tell me what or where to go.. let me be the judge and right now..
Collectivex is very high on the list..
What is stopping them?
Well I have more than 3000 members in a yahoo group and tried very hard to bring them to collectivex and was successful in converting only 700 or so.
The reason as cited by some are -
While I am more than convinced that they should switch, they still love the ease of interacting on yahoo groups. Well, I am now living with both the groups. I really do not how long I will be able to manage both.
Interesting posts... I, too, have just started a groupsite for a mastermind group. Several people are resisting switching from Yahoo groups. One big reason mirrors what Vishwadeep said ~ they like being able to send and receive updates via email without having to go to a website. I hope CollectiveX has plans on the drawing board to add a feature where you can post via email, maybe cell phones too.
I've heard a great new way to describe FEAR that fits right in: Feeling Expansion and Resisting!
The Energizer Bonnie
What's stopping them?.. I'll tell you.. they are set in their ways, Not willing to accept change let alone the time it would take for them to systematically re-create their home pages..
Finally, they are tired of the spam crap.. lack of support, issues with abuse and have simply lost interest in the whole "social networking" attitude.
For years I have tried to attract many so called friends with my talented sites and ideas. yet the pace is to slow for me. and typically I would end up discarding the idea (if its my site or page) or the host site would banish me.
It would seem I just can't sit still. I try so hard to get people to relize there is more to "just having a network" here or at sites like Yahoo, Opera and MSN.
True about the "fear" thing.. The Fear of exploring whats new.
Hey, Wizard S, you say people are set in their ways. I believe all people are set in our ways about something. This is an area where you're ready, willing, and able to learn, choose, and change. Me, too. Yet I sure can relate to others who are not on the same page with us on this. And I know there are places in my life where I resist expansion/change and places where I'm blind to my own resistance. Understanding this has helped me become a more compassionate and helpful person and coach.
Another challenge is that there needs to be better training available. I think of the teleclass and webinar trainings I've been on for new software platforms, which includes all social networking sites, relatively speaking. The instructor/presenter talks about going to this url or adding that plug-in. They usually do say what and why. Rarely do they SHOW AND TELL how. While some people are brave and click around experimenting, I, for one, like to be shown the basics first. Then I practice, cutting my chops on those before I jump into the deep end and experiment. I KNOW I'm not alone and some people aren't even that brave. They want step-by-step how to instructions and someone to support them along the way.
Thank you, Russell Cox, for being my guide to master CollectiveX (to the extent I have, of course.) In addition to showing me how to be a member of several groupsites, he's guided me through setting up several of my own. Especially important, I've been taking his teleclasses, Develop Your Audience and Design Your Village. In these classes he's teaching me the philosophy behind optimizing the CollectiveX platform and giving me Success Action Steps that guide me through applying to my groupsites what I'm learning in class!
Russell is offering both classes on an ongoing basis. If either of these sound interesting, please join us. You can reach Russell at success@selectinvestor.com.
My issue is not that I am unable to learn or that I may not have enough time.. its the fact that I get started with an idea.. loose momentum and simply walk away. I keep forgetting some wise words my wife told me not long ago.
"Do what you do best, don't let anyone tell you can't do it or that your at fault"
To often I catch myself forgetting what she told me. But last month I simply gave up.. and figured that there is only one person in my life that I need to please.. Myself.
I was hoping Collectivex would have taken some of my ideas, first mentioned here a few months back.. and I have yet to see any changes. This is a main turn off to the collectivex format. Now that other sites all falling away. Like Ning, Opera and Yahoo.. I found that MSN spaces is picking up the pace. Offer an astounding 25.gb of storage and I have created four sites under the spaces heading.
I do not doubt what Collectivex can offer.. the point is no one is willing to venture into uncharted waters (sort of speak) I'm fortunate to want to explore out side and inside the box we call a computer.
Update:
After exploring a bit more, I have discovered that Virb.com had offered me what I had dreamer of.. I feel that I'm not a "group" type person even though I do enjoy an intelligent conversation. However some of the conversations I have been hearing as of late. seems to be mixing business with pleasure. Which I do not care for.
I'm here and there in an attempt to "escape" Again Groupsite (aka Collectivex) is geared towards those groups or users whom already have a working "real" relationship.
So how does one bridge the gap between the real world and the online world?.. One way is, Do not bring the real world into the online world.