Today we are excited to announce the launch of “social groups” on Grouply!  A social group is a new type of online community that combines the best features of social networking sites and traditional online groups. The press release is online here.

As we discussed previously, traditional online groups systems such as Yahoo! Groups – with dead-simple email interfaces accessible to everyone – are really good at fostering rich dialogue among members.  And since there are so many online groups out there – Yahoo! Groups alone offers more than 9 million with 110 million members – you are sure to find a group that matches your interests.  The two main issues with traditional online groups are that they don’t offer customizable websites and they lack the modern social networking features that users have come to expect on sites like Facebook.

Facebook, as we have said, offers strong interactivity features and the ability to share rich media and express yourself in a variety ways.  Plus the Facebook site itself looks clean and professional, unlike traditional online groups, which were designed primarily for email interaction.  However, Facebook Groups lack customization tools and email-based discussion support.  The typical Facebook Group turns out to be a “profile label” rather than a real group with a defined objective, active discussions, and a passionate user base.

Social groups on Grouply give you the best of both worlds!  Social groups offer the social interactivity, media sharing, and modern design of social networking sites like Facebook.  Social groups also provide the rich discussions, popular email interface, and people-discovery opportunities found in traditional online group systems like Yahoo! Groups.

While social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace help you reconnect with people you already know, social groups help you discover new people who share your interests.  In other words, social groups are built around what you are interested in rather than who you already know.

With Grouply, you can create a new social group about anything you like, or join a social group and connect with others who share your interests.  If you already run an existing online group on Google and Yahoo! Groups, you can give your group an “extreme makeover” on Grouply!  Your old-style email list gets a brand new, modern, professional, fully customizable website that automatically interoperates with Google and Yahoo! Groups.  All for free!

We think you are going to love the new Grouply.  To find out more about social groups on Grouply, take a tour.  Or, just dive in and create a new social group on Grouply. Get out there and connect with others who share your interests and passions!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 7:24 am and is filed under New Releases.