[LynxMukka]

I promised further announcements in the coming days and this is one of them. No doubt the majority of the membership will be familiar with the idea of ‘liking’ something on Facebook or ‘following’ someone on Twitter. What we plan to do is launch something similar for our own site.

We aim to have 20-30 social groups upon launch, which members can join or ‘like’ at their will with each group having a unique name and purpose. For example, some ideas we’re currently playing with are:

• A group for members who have religious beliefs, such as perhaps a Christian group.
• A group for members who are all in a particular geographical region.
• A group for members who identify with LGBT matters.
• A group for members who absolutely adore Janeway.
• A group for members who consider themselves to be ‘pro gamers’.
• A group for members who love the Borg and their ways (Three of Seven).
• The list could go on…

FEO wants to launch these social groups because of what we see as several benefits:

• It allows members and users of the site, a further customisable experience in being able to ‘show off’ what they like and increase the interactions they’ll have on UFPlanets.com.
  
  
• It would allow people with similar interests to come together to discuss their favourite topics, share news and images as well as potentially arrange events or meet-ups etc.
  
  
• We’re not creating communities within a community here, but we’re wanting to enhance the experience of members where able by creating more personable interactions etc.

AS SUCH, by informing all of you that this is in the works, we need your help!

We’d really like it if you could tell us (by responding to this thread) what groups you think we should have to start off with as well as any name suggestions you have. It’s up to you what theme you want to go with but we think comical/nice to read names might work better than plain names etc. For example a Cardassian fan group could be called “The Ruthless Guls”.

So let us know your suggestions, be creative and we hope you like this idea too!

[Three of Seven]

I do like the idea of Social Groups, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun and add more, also if there are public posts within groups, it'd be interesting to watch how they develop and possibly interact with other groups. I allude to possible roleplay coming up between two groups, or give the Borg the ability to slowly infect another group

I am looking forward to seeing this in action and hope many will make use of these groups, there is only one name for the Borg though, it'd have to be "The Collective"!

[Mazoue]

This is certainly an interesting idea and we would need to be cautious not to have communities within communities. However, I agree that this would be a great avenue to get people with same interest to be social together. Who know this could be a great way to make new acquaintances.

That said I would definitely join a regional "Canucks" Canadian group or a "50 Shades of Color" LGBT group.

[Solace]

I support this idea. I think it is a great opportunity to meet members of the community who are not particularly active on the forums, furthermore this could also facilitate making new friends via common interests such as pro gaming and loving the Borg!

I could definitely identify with a pro gaming group, since that is my primary hobby outside of work and family life, I often play games as a winding down tool or just for fun. I would love to see this idea come to fruition!

[thefed56]

I think it's a really good idea. Especially a group for different timezones, which would make it easier to join in with others on a casual basis.

And as above, pro gaming group would be good.

Also, I don't know if we have any streamers or youtubers in the fleet, as I'm quite new, but a group either for them, so that players who want to join in with streams could join, and provide support (I often watch and sometimes record gameplay, and know that a group in constant communication is a lot better for recording)? Just an idea, but could probably be mixed with pro gamers group.

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[Josh Broughm]

That said I would definitely join a regional "Canucks" Canadian group or a "50 Shades of Color" LGBT group.

With Maz on this.
A group for us Sailor Moon fans would be nice. Silver Millennium for the name?

[Solace]

I'd love to see some sort of community podcast or livestreams during events such as the disintegration tournament or even the Bat'leth tournament!

[Begotten]

Music - a group about music and its many genres.
Sci-fi - a group about science fiction, be it tv series, movies, games or real life gimmicky things.
The finer things in life - a group about the niceties of life like alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, chocolate and silk toilet paper.

[Stormy]

This idea has great potential if people will use it. If you go with a religious group, I think it must be broken down into different religions- Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. so as not to cause conflict. Of course, there are countless options, so asking members for suggested themes and names is a great idea as well. Here are a couple of suggestions I have:

Y'all - A group for people from the Southern United States
Harmony - A general music group
Emmanuel - A Christian group
Good Eats - A food-related group
Those Who Served - People who have served in the military

OK, I'll stop now. Hope this helps.

[Noram]

I could definitely identify with a pro gaming group, since that is my primary hobby outside of work and family life, I often play games as a winding down tool or just for fun. I would love to see this idea come to fruition!

I could get behind this group. I'm definitely pro gamer as well. I've never met anyone whose really anti-gamer, but I suppose there are those people out there. Jack Thompson and his ilk I suppose

[Minnow Raydor]

I am all for this idea in some parts of it my only concern is at this time the UFP has no free speach or atleast I had seen that somewhere mixed in with alot of other text.

Facebook and twitter am sure have there own rules but if I decide to sware or speak my mind on there like am sure most people do on the odd time there is nothing anyone can do. In return people comment back saying what they think sometimes not as nice as my opening statement what ever it maybe.

To finish up it reads like you are giving the community members more places to be open but could this also be controled content.

[Jackie Weaver]

It's certainly an interesting idea and I have questions!

If someone asks for a Social Group to be created in the future, will there need to be some sort of popularity criteria in which there has to be a certain number of people interesting in said Social Group in order for it to warrant creation?

Also, will people who are not part of a certain Social Group still be able to see what that Group is talking about, or would we need to be a member of that Group in order to have access?

[Kains]

While I'm always down for anything that gets people chatting and being social, I do have a concern: Community members being singled out. This could be for a belief system, a political thing, or for even more personal reasons. I know we have systems in place already for moderation, but that kind of thing can turn from a positive and productive conversation/discussion, to something truly ugly in seconds. Especially if it concerns something that is personal, or private, that someone feels particularly vulnerable about. I'll leave that up to the imagination of those reading, but I think everyone can think of an example of where this is true.

I'd love to suggest a solution for this, but I'm not entirely sure what would work in this case. I dislike the idea of simply dumping more onto moderators, but I do want to make sure something that is meant in the spirit of growing a community doesn't instead tear a lot of things down on afternoon while folks are at work or school.

[Noram]

It sounds like there's a simple solution to that: Limit social groups to hobbies and the like. Make them like fanclubs, not support groups.

That said, in my personal opinion, if there are members who use this system to single out other members and attack them because of their beliefs or interests, maybe the problem isn't the system, but those unpleasant individuals, and maybe it would be worth considering whether they belong in the UFP at all.

[Kains]

I'm not saying that people would even necessarily have to join the group, since we'd be adding badges and interest tags, as well as opening the floor to discussions. I've seen it here, it does happen, and we have had members leave over it, so I am concerned.

Some will be very safe, such as interests in sci-fi, gaming, or discussions on fine scotch (With the worse arguments there being whiskey versus whisky) so I'm all for those.

Really, at the end of the discussion I'm really just asking for caution on those social groups, and to make sure we go into this with both eyes open.