Google+ alternatives for small community
October 24, 2018 5:04 PM Subscribe
Our daycare has been using Google+ to communicate with families, post pictures of children, post announcements, etc., but now that the service is ending, we need a replacement. What should we look at?
We need something that will handle pictures, important announcements that everyone needs to get, longer text and documents, and which is easily accessible to everyone we want in the group but invisible and totally private to the outside world.
We need to be able to respond to posts and manage membership as new families join or older children graduate. We also need something that is well-organized and which can be administered by people who are not tech-savvy.
We don't want to have to install software or run a server.
Google+ was perfect, and I'm struggling to find a suitable replacement. A closed and secret facebook group might be an option but people are worried they won't get all announcements because of how facebook's algorithm works. An email listserv might be an option, but people aren't excited about more email threads. One of the parents suggested a WhatsApp group, but some raised the issue of phone storage and posting text/documents longer than a short text message.
What options are out there?
We need something that will handle pictures, important announcements that everyone needs to get, longer text and documents, and which is easily accessible to everyone we want in the group but invisible and totally private to the outside world.
We need to be able to respond to posts and manage membership as new families join or older children graduate. We also need something that is well-organized and which can be administered by people who are not tech-savvy.
We don't want to have to install software or run a server.
Google+ was perfect, and I'm struggling to find a suitable replacement. A closed and secret facebook group might be an option but people are worried they won't get all announcements because of how facebook's algorithm works. An email listserv might be an option, but people aren't excited about more email threads. One of the parents suggested a WhatsApp group, but some raised the issue of phone storage and posting text/documents longer than a short text message.
What options are out there?
With WhatsApp, you can turn off auto-downloading images. I really, really hated that feature of WhatsApp because for a while a bunch of images from a high-volume group got all mixed in with my personal photos and automatically uploaded to my cloud storage by mistake.
Facebook Messenger group seems like a good choice. You would be guaranteed to get the messages, and you can share photos and plan events and everything.
Slack is another idea. However unless you already know how to use it, it can be hard to get into.
I work with a very large online community, and we use a combination of Slack and Google Groups. Google Groups / email has the best engagement. People understand email. Fewer privacy concerns than Facebook. Easier to understand than Slack.
OTOH if your group was using G+ of all clunky things, then Slack should be a breeze. Slack is also less complicated than FB Messenger, although most people already have Messenger.
posted by JamesBay at 5:14 PM on October 24, 2018
Facebook Messenger group seems like a good choice. You would be guaranteed to get the messages, and you can share photos and plan events and everything.
Slack is another idea. However unless you already know how to use it, it can be hard to get into.
I work with a very large online community, and we use a combination of Slack and Google Groups. Google Groups / email has the best engagement. People understand email. Fewer privacy concerns than Facebook. Easier to understand than Slack.
OTOH if your group was using G+ of all clunky things, then Slack should be a breeze. Slack is also less complicated than FB Messenger, although most people already have Messenger.
posted by JamesBay at 5:14 PM on October 24, 2018
Does it have to be web-based or can it be an app? My friend uses the app Cluster, which I believe is free, to share photos and notes about her baby. I've enjoyed using it and it is private (and easily managed).
It doesn't have a message-board capability though, it's just photo and note sharing. People can respond to photos with comments but they're not threaded and people can't reply to specific comments, the comments just get listed in chronological order under the photo.
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 5:15 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
It doesn't have a message-board capability though, it's just photo and note sharing. People can respond to photos with comments but they're not threaded and people can't reply to specific comments, the comments just get listed in chronological order under the photo.
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 5:15 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Google Groups (or a combination of Google Sites for photos and Google Groups for communication) might be a good option.
posted by belladonna at 5:17 PM on October 24, 2018
posted by belladonna at 5:17 PM on October 24, 2018
My daughter’s daycare used Kaymbu, which was super easy to be on the receiving end of.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 5:30 PM on October 24, 2018
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 5:30 PM on October 24, 2018
Our daughters' schools have used both Bloomz and Class Dojo and they're both terrible. Avoid them if you can.
posted by saladin at 5:57 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by saladin at 5:57 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tinybeans works well for this.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:30 PM on October 24, 2018
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:30 PM on October 24, 2018
A secret Facebook group with notifications turned on (that’s up to the individual) would handle your requirements.
posted by valeries at 6:37 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by valeries at 6:37 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
My kid's daycare uses ParentSquare, which is purpose-built for schools. I like it pretty well. There is a phone app or you can view the posts on the web. It has calendars, polls, private messaging, you can post photos, etc. I'm just a user, not an administrator, so I can't vouch for how easy it is to set up, but I'd imagine it's not too hard.
posted by number9dream at 8:27 PM on October 24, 2018
posted by number9dream at 8:27 PM on October 24, 2018
I think Facebook is what most people use for this. You said folks are worried about getting all announcements. There's two ways to help with that. One is to go to the group in question, click the "Notifications" button in top middle, and set it to "All Posts". (You can also do this by doing "Edit Settings" on the group subscription.) Another thing is to tell your community to get used to explicitly visit the group's Facebook page, by bookmarking it or somehow otherwise visiting it every day. The group pages seem to pretty reliably show all posts, at least for groups with no more than a few posts a day.
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on October 25, 2018
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on October 25, 2018
Just found this helpful site yesterday: https://switching.social/
posted by terrapin at 1:10 PM on October 25, 2018
posted by terrapin at 1:10 PM on October 25, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by juliapangolin at 5:12 PM on October 24, 2018