- by Jim Edwards
http://www.TheNetReporter.com
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved

=====================================

One of the cheapest and easiest ways to create a community feeling on your website involves adding a discussion board.

Discussion boards, also known as interactive "bulletin board" systems, enable website visitors to post and reply to messages on your website directly through their web browsers.

On the surface, placing a discussion board on your website seems like a great "community building" idea; however, upon closer inspection, you might think twice before including one on your site.

Plenty of services make full-featured discussion boards readily available to even the most inexperienced website operator. http://www.quicktopic.com offers a popular service that can have you up and running with a powerful discussion board in just a few minutes.

I signed up and had a bulletin board system ready to add to my website in less than a minute.

The greatest advantage of a discussion board is that anyone can post messages (unless the group is password protected), but this also represents the greatest potential for problems and mischief. Since anyone can post to the group, some people can and will post just about any type of message imaginable. I've seen everything from chain letters to complaints (founded or not) about a company's products or services all the way up to outright slander and hate messages against just about every group imaginable.

Most free discussion board services carry third party advertising, which means you could end up pushing a competitor's products or indirectly (but actively) promoting a company or product you don't like. Every "free" service comes with a price and advertising to your visitors is usually one of them.

Discussion boards can also get out-of-date quickly and the actual postings themselves can color people's opinion of your website. Most messages carry the date and sometimes even the time of posting. Visitors may judge your site badly based on the most recent posting date being a week old ("nobody comes to this site") or the infrequency of postings ("this site isn't very popular").

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying discussion boards themselves don't potentially add greatly to a site's interactivity. However, if you intend to add a discussion board to your website, make sure you understand your responsibilities and the work involved.

Monitor your discussion board daily. Once it gains popularity, you may have to monitor it several times a day or recruit someone to moderate it for you. Some people will do this free-of-charge in return for recognition and some free publicity.

Develop a written set of guidelines and standards for messages posted to your discussion board and post them conspicuously on your site. Make it clear what types of messages are acceptable and which messages you will remove.  Enforce these guidelines consistently.

Finally, promote your discussion board at every opportunity to new and existing members. You may need to "seed" the discussion initially by posting messages and replying to others yourself, but once it takes off you may start to see impressive results.

- Jim Edwards writes a syndicated newspaper column in plain language for non-technical people about current Internet issues, challenges, news, HOT new tools... and much more!

"The Net Reporter" ==> http://www.thenetreporter.com

==================================================
"Finally – a Simple, Video-Based Training System on CD-ROM that Teaches You Step-By-Step How to Make Real Money Online- 100% Guaranteed!" You can start with a few bucks and a good idea to make lots of money online! I did, and I'll teach you how no matter what product or service you sell...