So you bought a new community and you’re mesmerized by all the wonderful applications that the IGLOO platform provides. You look closely at two words that strike you as modern and hip: blogs and forums, and you think to yourself “Well, that’s nice, but what am I going to use this for?” Well … that’s why I’m here.

If you’re like me, then you like to attend conferences, lectures, or seminars about interesting subjects that trigger your attention. Usually, that involves a person going on stage and addressing their audience with a well prepared presentation. They provide a PowerPoint presentation or a video, allowing the audience to enjoy a visual display of the information as well as adding visual interest. The speaker gets to address the audience first. Once the speaker is done, he or she asks the audience for a Q&A (Questions and Answers) session. Now, it’s the audiences turn to comment or ask questions.

This is how a blog behaves. The blogger writes about a subject of interest, adding sometimes images and videos. Once he provided the information and posted the blog, comments are encouraged.

After the Q&A session is done, you join a group of people at a table who are discussing the lecture by the speaker. Each one of them is sitting contributing their thoughts on the matter, all of which have their share and time to collaborate their ideas.

The similitude of a meeting or discussion group at a table is like that of a forum. No one is taking up a stage for themselves. It’s a discussion where information collaboration by all is key. Information is sourced from everyone attending the forum, and not by one individual followed by a Q&A .

So forums and blogs are both very useful for their intended purposes. But the questions arises, what will you be using? The beautiful thing about the IGLOO platform, you won’t need to decide. You can use either a blog or a forum depending on your needs.