Invision Power Services (IPS) announced the upcoming release of their IPB software today. IPB 2.2.0 includes several new features that community owners will find quite nice. In response to the latest friend networking trends of MySpace and similar sites, IPB 2.2.0 will include a new “Friends list” where members can manage a network of friends. Members will be able to comment on each others profiles, view member content (blog posts), write a personal bio, rate other members, and set their gender. This is a big step forward for IPB.
But, will it detract from the “forum” concept? With sites like MySpace, users have their own little worlds that don’t extend past their friend network. Members of a forum actually “belong” to the community. They can participate with the entire group and not simply their small group of friends. Will adding “friend” features encourage users to communicate in their profiles, and less in the forums? Is Web 2.0 the direction forums should be heading in or should they remain seperate, focusing on building a larger, more dedicated community of members who “belong” and are not simply someones “friend”.
More on the IPB 2.2.0 release can be found here: http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?showtopic=226814
Author: Chris Kenworthy
http://www.dreamincode.net
vBulletin (along with add-ons) has had these features for a while now. Grats on IPB for being miles behind yet again.
Anyways, I don’t think the Myspace-type features (friends list, Myspace-style profile pages) really take away from the forums that much. As long as the basic functionality remains the same, I see nothing wrong with it.
Good info Chris. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting, where can I see a live demo?