Discussion in COnet - the online forum of Communities Online (UK) - has led to formation of a small team working on a voluntary basis to develop guidelines for successful online fora. The need for such guidelines was prompted by the observation that:
The rapid spread of Internet use and the popularity of both email and the web mean that many organisations are trying to develop online discussion facilities for members, teams, customers, target audiences, networks of people who have common interests etc.
A high proportion of such initiatives fail - either they fail to stimulate any significant discussion or, after initial enthusiasm, the discussion slows and eventually stops, or the forum is invaded by advertising material, off-topic messages and other "spam".
There is now sufficient experience of online discussion to provide a basis for formulating some guidelines that will increase the success rate for those who are prepared to put in the requisite thought and effort.
Communities Online and the community networking movement have a direct interest in stimulating and supporting success in online discussion.
Participation in development of the guidelines is open to anyone with significant experience as a user or provider of online discussion facilities. On each page you will find an invitation to comment - all comments will be carefully considered and (with agreement) the names of those who have contributed will be listed with the final published version of the guidelines. If you would like to participate more actively by joining the team please write to co-guide@eto.org.uk. The aim is to keep the team small and tightly focused so as to produce useful results as early as possible. This is a pragmatic exercise not rigorous research!
The main work is being done on a voluntary basis at no cost to Communities Online. However, support would be very helpful in respect of:
Sponsoring meetings of the development team to accelerate the process
Wider testing of the guidelines through consultation with providers and users and relevant experts
Publishing and dissemination
Based on experience with the widely praised Communities Online report "Local Connections", considerable value can be gained from sponsorship of this pioneering work. Also, there may be revenue generating opportunities - for example through publishing the results in a variety of formats and contexts.