Today is the one-month anniversary of the official launch of MyRagan, Ragan Communications‘ social networking site for communicators. In contrast, Melcrum Publishing’s The Communicators’ Network, has been “live” for less than one week. Is it too soon to compare the two? Yesano (yes and no).
MyRagan (MyR) and The Communicators’ Network (TCN) share some common functionality that can be compared and contrasted. In addition, both offer (or plan to offer) features that are distinct from the other. Finally, the tone of the site designs and writing are dramatically different, and well worth discussing.
Both MyR and TCN have to be considered works in progress–each site has its share of items that will require tweaking or repair. TCN co-owner Robin Crumby has provided some glimpses into new features that will be added to TCN in coming weeks and months. MyR, perhaps because it is more of an “out-of-the-box” solution, has announced less to add in terms of features. Both sites need some tweaking, in my opinion, in terms of the user-experience.
Here is a quick listing of features that both MyR and TCN offer:
- Site Home Page
- Member Profile Page
- Forum for general discussion threads
- Groups for discussion specific to topic or interest
- Blogs
- Message notifications
- Ability to invite others to join the site or a group within the site
- Calendar for member’s events
With a couple of exceptions, most of the above features are available through the navigation bar at the top of each site’s pages. The calendar feature (events) is more useful on TCN because it allows a member to see all public events posted, not just the member’s own events. Also, MyR’s calendar is accessible only through the member’s profile.
Each of the two sites promises functionality that the other does not offer. MyR has an audio/video chat button on the main navigation and within the member profile; but it did not work when I tried it. Sometime within the next few weeks, TCN plans to open a “Knowledge Center” where members can catalog and link to their favorite content (e.g., case studies, white papers, and articles), saving fellow communicators search time. When TCN also implements a rating system, its members will be able to rate the usefulness and quality of that site’s content catalog.
One feature that MyR offers that I really like is the ability to set up RSS feeds and to link to the member’s external blogs through the profile. TCN allows a member to set up RSS feeds on the member’s home page, but it does not offer the easy way to link to the member’s external blog; its blog is strictly for content posted on TCN.
The final comparison points that I plan to cover in this blog post are site design and writing tone. I asked myself if I would be comfortable having these sites visible on my work computer when a coworker or boss would stop by. The answer is a strong “yes” with TCN, and a strong “maybe” with MyR.
TCN reflects the appearance and tone of its “parent,” Melcrum Publishing. It is clean, clearly professional and expects more “proper” (my word) behavior by its members. For example, one of TCN’s rules for its forums is presented this way: “We are all adults here so we should be able to debate issues without resorting to bad language or insults. Depending on the context/nature, posts containing offending copy may just get edited.”
MyR reflects the design and writing tone of Ragan Communications–which is more in-your-face. The home page includes videos that poke fun at communication issues and situations. Headlines and captions such as, “We unstick heads from asses” and “Ragan writer/comic Kevin Allen shows us the King of Cocky, Mr. Sensitive, Suck-Up Sam and Larry Lazy Bones,” share space with amazing free content, including eight pages of tips related to intranets, written by ”intranet gurus.”
MyR has attracted thousands of communicators, while TCN is just getting started, and has several hundred. The larger community can be both a blessing and a curse, in my experience. MyRagan has a lot to offer, but it also feels congested, with too much coming at me all of the time.
Certainly the conversations within MyR’s forums and groups are constant and full of energy. David Murray is doing a terrific job as forum moderator/editor, and demonstrates the value of having someone leading conversations when necessary, or moderating discussions that become TOO lively.
However, I have noticed how my personal desire is waning to wade through the ever-growing list of topics. Search helps, but the search results for more common words or phrases can still be daunting. TCN has less conversations happening, but nearly all of the forum posts offer valuable input.
Do I plan to pick one of the two sites over the other? Yesano.
TCN and MyR are distinct enough to make it worthwhile for me to continue to participate in each community. Because I have to budget my time and energy, I’ll spend more time in whichever of the two communities provides me with the greatest amount of “value.”