The best Google Groups alternative

Independent community platforms like Disciple, offer a great alternative to Google Groups. For starters, community platforms provide improved discussion forums and offer much more user friendly communication tools across web and mobile. As a result, engagement is much higher and you don’t ever have to worry about any privacy concerns because you own your data.

A Google Groups Alternative You Can Control

If there is one thing that is constantly tripping up community builders it’s Big Tech’s tendency to reach into their communities and impose a corporate agenda. Google Groups are no different.

They will argue that without strict control, any group of people online could quickly spiral out of hand, and to an extent they’re right. But there’s control, and then there’s CONTROL, and Google Groups tend to exercise the latter. That means that all their moderation decisions can be traced back to what’s good for Google, not what’s good for you.

Moderation Done Right

When it comes to moderating user content and activity our approach is to return control to community leaders. Here are some of the ways we do that:

Shadow banning – Shadow banning is a discreet and effective moderation tool that enables community leaders to make posts from problematic members visible only to them. That way, they continue to feel engaged but their content does not wind up causing offense to others.

Automatic post scores – Disciple uses AI technology to scan all posts and provide you with an “appropriateness” score that can help you make moderation decisions.

Removal of content – The next step up from shadowbanning is disabling or unpublishing user content. You need to have this tool in your moderator’s toolbox and Disciple provides it. Keep in mind such decisions can be reversed in due course should you reach an amicable settlement with the member.

Members blocking members – Disciple Google Groups alternative software also allows you to enable members to block others they simply don’t wish to engage with. This real-time tool helps provide community members with a sense of personal control that they appreciate.

Trusted reporters – If you are pressed for time and need a more efficient way to keep tabs on your group assign “trusted reporters”. These are team members with a history of making fair and accurate assessments of other user’s content.

One of the downfalls of Google Groups is that there aren’t any options to monetise your community. Having your own community platform with a provider like Disciple, provides you with a range of flexible monetisation features for you to choose from. One option is our subscription model; your members will pay a monthly or annual fee to be part of your community. Or, you can set your community up as a paid download from app stores. That means you set the price and your members pay a one-off fee to download and join your community space. Our community software comes with in-app purchases and freemium functionality, meaning you can put a paywall in front of any exclusive content or areas of your community platform. You can also use any combination of these monetisation options to make money in the ways that work for you and your community.

Google Groups hasn’t had a major update for years. It is running for existing users but unfortunately it doesn’t get updated or improved, making it a very dated platform to build a community on. Google has previously had a history of shutting down services which haven’t been taking off and Groups would fall into that category, so it could happen.

Migrating your community may sound like a challenge. But here at Disciple, we help communities of all sizes migrate from social media, websites and mailing lists into their own, dedicated and highly interactive community spaces. We’ve got plenty of resources, best practices and guides to help make sure your community moves with you when you’re ready to go.