Forums for All

Before there were Twitter chats and Facebook groups, there were bulletin boards. If you’ve ever tried to figure out how to see Mad Men in HD in Canada or change a rear turn signal on a Jetta, you’ve probably read a bunch of bulletin board entries and learned something along the way.

Listen and engage. Listen and engage. Listen and engage. It’s all I seem to write about and my intuition says you all might be tiring of this mantra. Heck, I am. So let’s talk about something else, ok? Let’s talk about learning.

Before there were Twitter chats and Facebook groups, there were bulletin boards*. If you’ve ever tried to figure out how to see Mad Men in HD in Canada or change a rear turn signal on a Jetta, you’ve probably read a bunch of bulletin board entries and learned something along the way.

Bulletin boards are the socially awkward geeks of the social media world who have near encyclopedic knowledge on any given topic. There are two primary distinctions between bulletin boards and other social media. One is that they are narrowly defined communities of passionate (occasionally rabid) enthusiasts. Two is that bulletin boards are usually organized around a very niche topic. A successful bulletin board is defined by the intensity of involved participants not by the number of members.

Besides the depth of knowledge available on bulletin boards, another positive attribute is that while you learn from your online peers, you are free from much of the vanity that surrounds other social media. To the best of my knowledge, none of the typical “help me build my social media head count” games, that are rampant on other platforms, have much of a presence in bulletin boards due to the limited community size and reach of bulletin boards. Generally speaking, if you’re participating on a bulletin board, you are there for the topic at hand — not to grow your ego.

On the flip side of all of this online learning is the ability to host your own bulletin board. Say you are really into Building Automated Systems (BAS) and the Siemens, AdamCommunity, IntergratorsForum or Minco bulletin boards don’t address the market niche you want to discuss. And, let’s assume, you’re known in a few online circles as “the guy” — why not start your own bulletin board? You can invite others to join you and share your passion about BAS with like-minded folks.

Technically speaking, you will most likely need some geek help to launch your bulletin board. But if you’re fairly handy online and don’t mind swimming around the internet for answers — you can probably do it yourself. Also, make sure to explore the pros and cons of hosting your own bulletin board versus using a free service.

Although I really don’t want to use the “e” word, if you’re looking to learn something new or understand a topic with greater depth, spend some time engaging on bulletin boards. They are a great learning resource populated by knowledgeable people who truly and deeply care about the topic at hand. They are sharing their knowledge because they want to — not because they need to boost their Klout score.

And whoever posted the video tutorial showing how to replace a rear turn signal on a Jetta — I owe you.

*Some people use the term “bulletin board” and some use the term “forum”. Feel free to use which ever term makes sense to you. However, when using the wise olde Google, the two terms return considerably different results. So, if you’re looking for a Bulletin Board online, Google with care.

Social Media Masterclass is a collaborative initiative developed by Reed Construction Data and EllisDon. Christine Zakrajsek is EllisDon’s social media manager. Social Media Masterclass appears every Monday in the Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce. Please send any emails to editor@dailycommercialnews.com or editor@journalofcommerce.com