Forum vs. Facebook group Pros and Cons

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Neo
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Forum vs. Facebook group Pros and Cons

Post by Neo » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:04 am

Having a Dedicated Forum Site such as ROBOT.LK
Pros
  • Keeps members onsite
  • Easy to search for information and previous discussions
  • More advanced features such as text formatting, private messaging, statuses
  • Full member profiles specific to the site
  • Signatures at the bottom of posts for non invasive promotion
  • Automated access – no having to manually approve or remove members
  • Better categorisation of topics and posts
  • Fully focused on your brand and product
  • Members are there specifically to talk about your product and content
Cons
  • Need to consciously login to the site to access the community
  • Learning curve if new to forums
  • More chance of a member having technical issues
  • Can be harder to get engagement initially
  • More members needed for a ‘buzzy’ atmosphere
  • More complicated to set up and more tech implications to think about
Having a Facebook Group
Pros
  • Most people have an existing account
  • Many people will log in daily or at least weekly
  • Can be easier for initial engagement
  • ‘Known’ platform and most people know how to use it already
  • Quicker responses to posts
  • Apps for easy phone and tablet use
  • Instant notifications of posts and responses
  • Quick and easy to set up
Cons
  • Difficult to keep track of topics
  • Personal profile needed
  • Poor search functionality
  • Offsite and away from your content
  • Quick post turnover – easy for things to be missed
  • No automated access – members need to be approved or removed manually
  • Playing by Facebook’s rules, which can be changed any time
  • Competing with other Facebook ‘noise’
  • Members not necessarily in the right mindset
Best thing I see with a forum is that, we don't need to keep replying to the same question over and over. Users could search whether the question is already asked by someone else before. Since ROBOT.LK now supports Facebook login, I think we can engage with more people than before.
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