Yahoooooo for Yahoo Groups
Written: Mar 24 '01
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The Bottom Line
Two thumbs up for Yahoo Groups. I would definitely recommend this service!
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| Full Review |
I discovered Yahoo Groups back in March 2000 when it was known as Onelist. A month or so later, the name was changed to eGroups. Then, in January 2001, Yahoo took over and the name was changed from eGroups to Yahoo Groups.
The first group I joined was called teen_mamas. I was 18 years old and about five and a half months pregnant with my first baby. I had nobody in "real" life who could relate to what I was going through. I received an invitation from a girl named Mia (who at the time was 18 and pregnant with her second baby) to join the email group she created to bring teen moms together. I took her up on the invitation and joined the list. Joining that list resulted in meeting girls who would soon become some of my best online friends. They could relate to me in a way that no one else could. I quickly became addicted to the idea of email groups and decided to see what other kinds of groups there were.
I soon found out that there was a group related to just about any topic you could think of! All I had to do was type a keyword into the site's search engine and numerous results would appear. I became a member of quite a few more groups over the next few months - one called youngmilmoms, for young military moms (my husband is in the Army), one called ebaymamas (for moms who sell on eBay, and about six or seven others. I even started two groups of my own.
Yahoo Groups has many different features which make the groups fun to use. They aren't just for sending email! The features include:
Polls Members of the group can create polls to survey the group's opinions on any topic. After voting, the person who created the polls can end them and have the results sent to the members of the group.
Bookmarks Members of the group can add links to their favorite websites so others can find the sites easily.
Database Members of the group can create a database to store information. Several of the groups I belong to use this feature to create address books for the group members.
Promote Allows members to get the HTML code for a "join" box to put on their personal website to promote the group and recruit new members.
Post Allows you to post messages to the group from the Yahoo Groups website instead of sending the messages from your personal email account.
Files Members of the group can upload pictures from their hard drive to the Files section of the site. After uploading, a notice is sent to the group stating that a new file has been uploaded, and it includes the URL to the file. I like this feature because I am still able to view people's pictures, yet my inbox does not get clogged with huge files.
Chat Members of the group can enter the chat area at Yahoo Groups and chat with other members. I don't particularly like the chat rooms, I find them to be quite slow, but that's just me :) I know of others who really like this feature.
So as you can see, there are many different features to play around with at Yahoo Groups. It isn't just an email loop service. It creates lasting friendships and bonds. I have made many great friends through the groups I belong to. I know that if I have a question about something, I can send a message to the group and more often than not, someone will have an answer for me.
Of course, along with the good things, there are usually some bad things. This is the case with Yahoo Groups. I find that when I send a message to any of the groups I belong to, it sometimes takes hours or even days for the message to go through to the group. This can be quite irritating, especially if there is a question I need an answer to right away or if I just need advice about something that has been bothering me. I'm not sure why this happens. I know it isn't just my email that's acting up, because many others have complained about the same thing. And of course, Yahoo can't tell us why this is happening. I don't really think it has anything to do with the switch from eGroups to Yahoo Groups because the delay in messages has been happening ever since I first joined a group (back in the day when it was still called Onelist).
Even though the message delay can be quite irritating, I still love Yahoo Groups. I love signing on to find my inbox crowded with 300 messages :) As a stay at home mom, I don't get much adult conversation, so the mass amount of email I get makes up for that. I can talk to my online friends at any time of day or night, and reach a number of them with just one email.
All in all, I have been very satisfied with my experiences with the email lists. I would definitely not hesitate to recommend the services at Yahoo Groups.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Erika Kelly
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 17 members
About Me: I'm a 19 y/o stay at home mom and Army wife.
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