Support Groups

What do you do when an on-line support group you like and visit daily decides to move their forum from a stand-alone Website to a social network Website, and then integrate the forum into the larger number of forums where anyone can become a member, not just those who want or need the support?

Well, that's what happened to Wing of Madness. The Website used to operate a forum using one of the commerical software packages for forum, similar to many other Websites with forums. It allowed the Website owner to control every aspect of the forum as well as the membership. You had to meet their criteria to join.

Social network Websites are almost the exact opposite. Forums are just one of the applications available to members, you can join any of them as long as you're registered and a member of the network. After that, everything is there and free. And the design of the forum is far less controlled by the forum owner and moderators but the company running the network Website.

In short, any forum is at their mercy over the rules, design, features, etc. within the agreement between the owner and network Website. But most of all, the owner doesn't and can't control the membership of the forum, so a specialized forum which provides information, support and help to many people now becomes just another social network forum.

And to some measure, privacy is lost. Once you're a member of the social network, you have to "live" within their rules, and as much as you want to be anonymous or restrict access to your profile and personal information, you can't. You can to some degree if the settings work correctly, but social networks are designed to share, so there are always ways to see anyone. You simply can't hide. You can only minimize the information you provide.

I ended up joining the social network and forum, for now, but I'm not holding my breath I'll stay very long. Everything about the forum is different in the organization, structure and user settings, the privacy issue is important, I joined the forum for the forum, not the larger social network (because of friends already on 3 others), and I'm not enamored with the social network concept for the forum on depression.

Anyway, I posted my opinion of this decision and left, and don't go back very often now. Sometimes waving good bye is a good thing, where you look ahead at the horizon and surroudings instead of behind and you look at the future than the past. I hope the move helps, I just don't see that right now, because increase the quantity (membership and participation) won't necessarily improve the quality.