[K12OSN] Opinions on a Forum

[Les Mikesell]

On Tue, 2006-11-14 at 07:45 -0600, Burke Almquist wrote:
> I have to say that I agree. The COMBINATION of a wiki and mailing  
> list seems to be better than using a forum. But a forum would be  
> better than either a mailing list or wiki alone.

I think the real flaw of a forum is that while it is easier for
someone starting out and barely interested in computer-related
topics to post their questions there, the answers are more likely
to come from people who found them because they are watching an
assortment of related mail lists and don't have time to bounce
around through forums.

> The major weakness of the mailing list is that it not easy to search,  
> as it tends to be chronological, and have a lot of noise compared to  
> a forum.

I've never seen a forum that was any better at being searched.  The
sound/noise ratio also doesn't seem better to me.  If there is less
noise it is because there is less general interest.

> The major weakness of the wiki is that it doesn't do the  
> realtime Q&A like a forum or mailing list.

That's a weakness in the wiki users, not the platform which lets
you make it whatever you want it to be.

-- 
  Les Mikesell
   les at futuresource.com