Using the Yahoo Forum
Offline Conversations
Once in a while, a discussion really gets going on our Yahoo forum, with ideas bandied back
and forth over a number of exchanges. When the banter boils down to primarily two or three people,
sometimes a
member may suggest that the primary or remaining participants take the conversation
"offline" (in other words, email each other rather than the entire group).
While this is certainly appropriate in some cases, this is
not usually recommended since it diminishes contributions to the discussion and
leaves other members out of the loop with what might be some important
points being made.
When to go offline
Certainly, if you have something you want to say privately to someone, by
all means, contact them directly. Respond
privately to an individual if what you have to say:
-
does not affect or
contribute to an ongoing or new discussion
-
is not related
specifically to a neighborhood issue
-
is a point that has been hammered
on already, in which case, either take the conversation offline, or please agree to disagree rather than continue to
drag the debate on indefinitely
In most cases, we should converse with the entire
membership when we want to express different opinions. Participatory,
all-voices-welcome discussion is precisely why we set up a Yahoo forum in
the first place. The forum is an excellent method for people to
interact and participate in our organization who might otherwise miss out.
The forum is essentially an
"always-open" online meeting
The forum is a vital communications
link and information tool for all residents to stay informed, especially those
who can't make the monthly meetings on Monday evenings. They
may work nights, their kids may have activities then, some of our elderly
residents don't want to get out and drive at night. So the email forum
is one of the only ways these residents can stay on top of the issues and hear others'
points of view.
And even for those residents who do attend the monthly
meetings, we don't usually have time to address issues in great depth there.
No one wants the meetings to run on for hours while we fully hash out a
topic. The email forum allows us to do all that in the easiest
possible manner to keep everyone informed and allow everyone to express
their opinions.
Face-to-face meetings and phone calls, while certainly good methods of
communication, require scheduling and/or meeting place coordination for
real-time communication. But emails can be read either in near
real-time, or later, at one's convenience.
In the end, the best way to know what's going on in near real-time, and
incorporate everyone's ideas, is to use the forum. The forum allows
all ideas to be shared without worry about time constraints. And most
of those discussions should be open to all, rather than conducted offline
where others are denied participation in the conversation.
That said...
Use good judgment
Ultimately, please use good judgment about whether your response is more
appropriate for the group or for an individual. And if it seems like
it's only you and one other person continuing to debate a point, it might be
a good idea to take it offline where you can keep debating privately as long
as you want.
There's always the delete button
For those of you who tire of debate sooner than others, or if the discussion topic is not one in which you are interested, you can
simply delete the email without opening it. However...
Important Note!
If your response veers off topic, you should change the words in the
"subject" line of the email to alert others to a new thread of discussion.
You don't want people deleting your email on a new topic before they read it because
it was delivered
under the subject heading of an old discussion!
Message Examples - Group vs Individual
Group
Examples of messages which are appropriate to post to the entire membership:
-
Can anyone recommend a good
plumber?
-
I've used John Doe for my plumbing
work for years. I highly recommend him. His number is 555-1234.
-
A guy with a red truck came to my
door asking if I needed lawn services but he had no equipment with him.
Seemed suspicious to me. Maybe he was just trying to see if my house
was empty during the day. Has anyone else seen this guy? Has
anyone actually used him for lawn services?
-
I just wanted to say what a great
job the party committee did this year. This Fall Festival was the best
ever!
Individual
Examples of messages which are better sent to an individual:
-
Susan, I can't make the committee
meeting tonight. The kids have a special event at school.
-
Joe, I have a question about that
carpenter you recommended. Do you know if he does large-scale jobs,
like adding on a room? Or does he only do small jobs like building
bookcases?
-
Thanks for sending me that
number, Carol. I'll call you later.
Related Links on this website
Forum General Information
Using the Yahoo Forum (contents page)
Forum Etiquette and Guidelines on Usage
Offline Conversations
Forum Technical How To
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