Without a doubt, there is value to be found within a successful discussion group housed within Yahoo or Google’s system. Unfortunately, this does make them a target for theft. Those managing such discussion groups must do all he or she can to protect the security of their system from malware (virus infection, key-loggers, and spyware), their login information, and the integrity of the group itself. A variety of good articles on protecting a computer system and choosing good passwords have been written already, so herein the focus is going to be on techniques to protect the integrity of the group itself.

One method of protecting a group is to have multiple owners (managers, administrators) of the group in question. Yet, that very same practice presents a high degree of risk. This is because there are no guarantees as to how a person will behave once they have been made co-owner.

Taking a prolonged period to get to know the person is one way to mitigate the risk, as is a process of slowly granting them more and more access to group controls while trust levels increase. Where possible, look at how long a person has been a member of a group before considering any kind of elevation in their status as well as their own messaging behaviors. Have they shown respect to group members with diverse viewpoints? Has their post reflected a history of good behaviors in support the rules established for the group?

One of the big flaws within systems such as Yahoo and Google groups is the lack of a means to document behaviors of members. However, an owner can easily create one on their own within a plain-text file, spreadsheet, etc. Most likely, an owner will not want to track every member in a group, but only those falling at the two extreme ends of the behavior. In other words, those who behave really badly in support of moderation or banning actions, or those under consideration for moderator or above access to controls. Such records will become invaluable decision-making aids over time.

Within the group itself, post announcements whenever someone access to control functions has increased or diminished. Keep in mind that explanations behind such actions are not necessary, and are often inappropriate. If you write ‘bad things’ about someone in a public venue, it could become grounds for a libel suit.

At some point and time, however, the point will come where someone will be elevated to co-owner status. Prior to doing so, make a backup to the membership list as it exists in the system at the time. Think of this as ‘just in case’ insurance. If things should go very badly (old owner demoted down to normal member status or banned) options still exist. With those records, the original owner can still contact the members of that group. Recovering ownership of the group may not be possible. (Read “How does one recover an orphaned discussion group” for tips on this subject.) However, creation of a new group under a new name is still a possibility. Invitations can then be sent out to those in the old group.

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