Common Craft Blog
Weblog or Message Board for a Personal Wedding Site
By leelefever on November 12, 2004 - 10:33am
A friend of mine is getting married and asked about setting up something on a web site that would "get some discussions going" regarding the wedding. I wrote her back with my thoughts on what format may work best for her goals. Here's an excerpt:
I agree that it would be very cool to get conversations going on your site. In a message board based online community, this usually means that everyone involved has a stake in sharing information- there is a reason to start new discussions and everyone shares in the responsibility.
For a wedding site, this dynamic is different. You are the stakeholder. You are the centerpiece of the interaction and others may not feel the responsibility to *start* a discussion. This is not a bad thing- just different.
Instead of a message board, what you may need is a weblog. Using a weblog, you post the discussions/entry and others can comment on what you post. You might start posting a wedding journal or something similar. You drive the content and allow people to interact at the same time. Weblogs are designed for this type of interaction.
I just thought this might outline a little more of my thoughts on weblogs vs. message boards.
Weblog or Message Board for a Personal Wedding Site
interesting thoughts, Lee. It seems like you assume, however, that people wouldn't be interested in starting a thread. What is your basis for that assumption?
I certainly see the value in having a weblog for an event, such as a wedding, that only the planners/stakeholders post to. However, I could also see a message board being cool functionality for a wedding site. I have a bit of experience promoting events (although weddings don't really require promotion) to a message board community. And, a wedding is as much about the community of family and friends being involved in the celebration and ceremony as it is about the bride and groom. Think about the bachelor(ette) parties, showers, the rehearsel dinner, reception, etc. Think about all the communications: invitations, responses, cards, thank you notes, etc. And that is just an American style wedding. Ever been to a wedding in India or France. Everyone was actually in the pictures at the French wedding I recently attended. And Indian weddings last a week. I imagine the "guests" initiate many conversations with the bride and groom as well as other guests. So, I could definitely see the utility of a message board.
I'd be interested in more feedback on this topic. We are developing some new functionality that will ultimately test out our theories. So, I'd be interested in any more thoughts you have or if you have responses to my "theories".
Weblog or Message Board for a Personal Wedding Site
What about wikis, Lee? It does not require starting a thread but it does allow readers to jump in if they feel so inclined.
From the author's point of view, I'd also think photos and stories would be the ideal method of communicating. Everybody who has been married or about to be married has a story, or ten or twenty. And there usually are lots of fun, sad, even incriminating pictures that result, too.
So maybe when she posts content, she should think in terms of topics, stories, and photos as the optimal way to elicit responses from readers.
Weblog or Message Board for a Personal Wedding Site
Great thoughts folks. I would certainly not rule out any of the ideas. Here are my thoughts on each:
Pete- One of the weaknesses of message boards is that they depend on more than one person to drive value. You can't have a discussion alone- well, you can, but it looks funny.
I don't doubt that people may want to start threads, but I think it's a risk to make that assumption. If you want to make the wedding site an interactive and interesting experience for others, a weblog can do it without having to depend on visitors to do anything.
Tim- I could see a wiki being a great way to manage a web site's content. However, I don't think that people would take advantage of the collabortive nature of a wiki for a wedding site. Who is going to have the balls to change something on the lucky couple's web site? ::grin::.
Also, I don't know about your friends, but if I told them that the site was a wiki and they could add/change stuff to my wedding site, they would ask me what I'm smoking.
I think my bottom line is that people will be hesitant to get too involved in the content another person's wedding web site. So, a weblog can counteract this by letting the stakeholders drive the content and value.
I'm glad this post spurred some discussion- what other thoughts do you have?
Weblog or Message Board for a Personal Wedding Site
Good points on the wiki. I guess it's my Northern California tree-hugging childhood that would lead me to believe people would not be shy about adding content. It never occurred to me they might change content... 8-)
What I like about weblogs with comments is that you're not compelled to respond the way I feel when I see a newsgroup. I personally find newsgroups intimidating unless there are dozens of posts to read to generate a response from me. So I would agree a weblog is probably the best balance between reading and action.
I would restate my earlier point about topics. I'm sure your experience, like mine, is that people respond to core topics, ideas, issues rather than a more diffuse set of information. So if she created categories around common wedding experiences, like choosing a honeymoon or dealing with the future in-laws, that might help her generate comments. It also might help readers get into her content, offer another path beyond the date-oriented read.
BTW, you've got comment spam from some home equity outfit... If you don't know already!
hi
nice to see it