How to Stay in Touch Online

By Tara Swords

These days it can be hard to keep in touch with family members, former co-workers and friends who are scattered throughout different time zones. On top of that, you might also be a member of at least one organized group -- from a sports team to a book club to a member association -- that you also need to touch base with regularly. So how can you stay connected to all of these people when phone calls or frequent face-time are not an option? The answer: An online group.

Every online group has two useful components: an email list and a web site. The group's email list allows you to use a single email address to send and receive emails among the entire group. For example, your family can get in touch any time of the day by using the email list to spread news or swap helpful resources.

The group's web site is where your friends and family can share digital files, such as family photos. You can also all get together on the web site for scheduled chats. And any email sent to the group will also be archived on the web site. This might come in handy if your pipes burst at midnight and you want to dig up your neighbors' recommendations for plumbers.

Zoe Ballesteros of San Jose, Calif. says one of her sisters started an online group a year and half ago to make it easier for their active extended family to plan events -- such as an annual camping trip, soccer tournament and relay marathon. About 30 family members from California to Oregon to Florida are a part of the online group.

"We have family all over the country," Ballesteros says. "The best way for us all to share what was going on in our lives was to start an online group."

Here's how to start your own online group and how to keep it thriving:

Pick an online group service 

To get started, check out some of the popular online group services, such as Yahoo! Groups, MSN Groups, AOL Groups, or Friendster. Cost won't be an issue -- most of these sites are free.

However, don't worry if you're not tech savvy. Any service that you select will have a step-by-step guide for you to create your group. Because you're setting up the group, you will be known as the group's founder, or moderator. Here's what you'll need to do first:

• Give it a name and a description. Just like the name of a club in the offline world, the name of your group should have some special meaning.  Think about the common thread among the friends and family you're inviting to the group. If your group is for friends who share a fun pastime like rock climbing, then you might call it "Rock-Climbing Moms." Or if your group is a bit more formal, then you might prefer something more straightforward, like "Bronx Neighborhood Association" or "The Smiths of North Dakota."  After you select a name, write a description of your group so people know its purpose.
• Go public or private. An online group can be private or public. If you choose to make your group private, it will be a members-only club. In this case, you'll use the service's invite feature to ask specific people to join. So you might create a private group for extended family members, your fellow college graduates, or your homeowners' association. On the other hand if your group is public, then anyone on the Internet can join at anytime.  People will be able to find your group listed in the directory of the service that manages your group. You could start a public group to connect with a whole world of people with shared interests such as hobbies, jobs or medical conditions.
• Pick a category. Most online group services organize their groups into categories, such as "relationships" or "arts and crafts." This helps other people find public groups easily. Remember, though, if it's set up as a private group, even though you have to select a category, only your members will be able to access it.

Invite others to join 

Once you've set up your group, it's time to invite your family, friends or associates. Just follow the service's instructions for inviting people. As part of the invitation process, you can write a personal note to your invitees to let them know you're the moderator and you'd love for them to join the group. To participate, your invitees will need to accept your invitation and create a user account with the service to access the group's web page.

Get people talking 

When it comes to an online group, your goal as moderator is the same as when you're throwing a party: to be a good host. To do this, you might need to spend some time exploring the technical features of the service so you can help others who might have problems joining or posting items to the web site. You don't want the momentum of the group to be held up with technical snafus.

Also, try to use some of the time-saving features online groups offer such as polls. So instead of calling all your family members to mull over the locale for the next reunion, you can create a poll on your site that lists the venue suggestions. Your family will be sent an automatic email asking them to vote for their top choice.

Or if you want everyone to meet online to talk about reunion plans, you can schedule a chat session, which allows members to have a real-time ongoing conversation on your web site. To arrange something like this, just send out the time and date of the chat to the group email list. When the day comes, everyone logs on to the web page, and clicks the chat link to enter a private chat room where you all can chat about the big event.

Manage the email list 

As moderator, it's your responsibility to keep everyone on topic when it comes to the email list. Some services allow the moderator to review and approve emails before they can be sent to the group. But if you want members to have free reign over their emails, just be sure to read old emails in the web site archive. Delete emails that are disrespectful or inappropriate. It's also a good idea to lay ground rules for your email list. For instance, you might not want to allow people to forward spam jokes or attachments, which can contain viruses.

Get creative 

Finally, try to make the most of all the ways your online group can help you and friends stay in touch. For instance, some services even allow you to create a blog, which is like an online journal.

Let's say you start an online group for your book club that includes your girlfriends from all around the country. As the moderator, you can use the blog feature to announce this month's book pick, post discussion questions and share your thoughts about the plot. Then when your friends have time, they can read your posts and make their own comments, too. In no time, you'll have a virtual book club that has some advantages over meeting in the offline world: no scheduling conflicts and a journal of everyone's thoughts about every book you ever read together.