BP Update 7.2: The End of BiggerPockets Groups

[Joshua Dorkin]

As we continue our mission to improve BiggerPockets via Project Simplify, I come to you with a big announcement. Today we removed groups from BiggerPockets.

The move was a large one, but one that really had to happen for a few reasons:

Groups were certainly effective for allowing people to show their interests, however for many years the vast majority of our groups were being used for one purpose: ads & spam. As we clamped down on the spammers, we also ended up clamping down on legitimate group posters by the same token. While there was little to no spam as a result, there also were fewer people engaging in the groups as well.

In evaluating our groups in our site overhaul, we realized that many new signups to the site were joining groups, but when they noticed that the groups were mostly dead, they were becoming turned off.

The simple fact is that our groups were actually a detriment to the site. No one wants to participate on a site that has no activity, and our groups with no activity gave people pause when exploring BP.

By removing groups, our users have one option for posting forum discussions and questions -- our main forums.

No longer will they worry about posting something in a group, only to get no response. Posts on our main forums rarely go unanswered.

Additionally, any post that isn't an ad should really be one that the entire community can learn from, so having it public for all is just a net positive for everyone.

Ultimately, while I'm actually saddened by the removal of our groups, I do believe that it is the right move for BiggerPockets.

And the site just got a little simpler....

[Steve Babiak]

Ah, but now politics will rear its (ugly) head in our forums again ...