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ART TALKS

The Art of Networking: Section Three - Chats, Forums and E-Groups
by Rebecca Kemp

Some great ways to get the word out about your web site is to participate in on-line chats, forums and e-groups. These three things are all different, but similar in one way. They all revolve around communicating with multiple people with just one message. Chats An Internet chat is a conversation that takes place in "real time". Real time means that you type in your message and someone in the chat "room" can respond to your message as fast as they can type it. You then receive the response immediately and you can reply in kind. It's almost as if you were conversing with the person as if they were in the same room with you. (Hence a "chat room".) Multiple people can join a chat, so sometimes this can get a bit "noisy". Usually, there are options to select one person to go off and have a private conversation with. You can try out a chat for yourself here: http://chat.yahoo.com/. Yahoo! Provides many services other than search engine capabilities, one of which are special chat rooms with predetermined topics of conversation. Yahoo! is one of millions of sites that provide chats, so you can see how participating in just a few could really generate some traffic for your site. Try participating in chats that have a similar theme to your web site. If your web site is about video games, then search for chats where people are talking about their video game strategies. Mention your site in casual conversation. Be sure to be polite and offer to view other peoples' sites as well. If you have a tough time trying to find a decent chat room to suit your needs, why not start your own? There are many special programs you can download and set up for free at your site to encourage conversation about your topic of choice. This feature would also be yet another reason people would come back to your site because the content would always be dynamic and changing. This has a list of sites that feature some great free chat services: http://www.webimprovement.com/Scripts_CGI/Chat/index.html http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Chat/ (Both of these sites have a HUGE amount of resources. I'd add them to your bookmarks for future use.) Forums A web forum is like a chat where people post messages and the post is there for all to read. They are different from a chat in that they don't happen in "real time". It's like posting and sending an e-mail. You will have to wait for someone to respond, if they respond at all. However, your post can and will be read by anyone entering or participating in the forum. Generally, forums have specific themes or subjects that all conversations and questions must fit into. "Off-topic" posts are usually deleted by whoever is the forum administrator. If the administrator isn't paying attention, other participants could get very angry with you. Make sure you only post if you have something relevant and on-topic to say. Take a sneak peek at a forum that was set up to discuss the Links Program I mentioned above in the Link Exchange section of this chapter: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/perl/forum/. You will see topics where users of the Links Program can ask and answer questions. It's a great place to get the help you need. I run my own forum called The Artist's Rant Board. The program I used is called Discus and it can be downloaded for free at http://www.discusware.com/discus/ I highly recommend this program! However, you must be somewhat perl and cgi literate to install it. There is a comprehensive help section and the instructions are easy to understand. Forums can be about anything, though. A series of many forums involving one broad subject can constitute an immense community of like minded individuals. These places are worth visiting and participating in often. Check out The Vines Network at http://www.thevines.com/. This is the doorway to huge communities of forums like science fiction, games, reading, television and much more. Take the time to check out these communities and don't be afraid to get your feet wet. Create an account for yourself and start talking! E-Groups An e-group is a group of participants with a similar interest or something in common, like a profession or a political affiliation, which sign up voluntarily to send and receive e-mail messages to everyone else who has signed up as well. Once someone is a member, they can send out an e-mail to one special e-mail address and everyone who is signed up in the e-group will get the message in their e-mail inbox. Anyone in that group can reply and everyone will receive the reply. Especially busy groups will end up with a lot of messages in their inbox! Some e-groups offer an abridged version of multiple postings so as to cut down on the number of messages received. E-groups are my personal community building method of choice since I tend to be a bit lazy. I like having the messages delivered to me rather than have to check and see if anything new has been posted at a forum. Chats can eat up a lot of your time without you even noticing, so I tend to stay away from them, too. E-groups are, in my opinion, the best way to build a special and tight nit community of very informative and helpful people. I am part of several e-groups which discuss the troubles and tribulations of being a web mistress, an artist and a freelancer. I can read the posts and I have the option of simply deleting them or replying to them. I can sit back and watch people discuss their problems since all replies go out to everyone on the list. You can learn a lot just from doing this. However, if you want to get the word out about your site, I suggest you speak up and offer some input. Don't tell people to visit your site, but simply ask for feedback or offer help by showing them an example you have set up at your own site. One of the best places to search and sign up for e-groups that would be of interest to you is http://www.egroups.com/ (easy enough to remember, eh?). Another big one is http://www.topica.com/. At both of these places, you can start and run your own e-group or join as many others as you like. Go To: Section Four - Web Rings Page 1 Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 5

 

This article was reprinted with permission from Rebecca Kemp. Please visit her sites at: Becky's Wildlife and Fantasy Art http://www.wildlife-fantasy.com The Artists' Rant Board http://www.wildlife-fantasy.com/forum.html Wild Speculation http://www.wildspeculation.com Quantum Muse http://www.quantummuse.com Quantum Musings http://www.quantummuse.com/musings.html

 

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