When Brigada first formed, back in 1995, we relied heavily on a group called CrossConnect for our first few years of life. (And by the way, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the internet education they gave us. To a large extent, our format is what it is because of them. They argued heavily — and effectively — for being “kind” to the internet. They suggested clean emails with few, if any, ads. They minimized pictures and maximized content. They taught careful links. So much more. Thank you CrossConnect!)

Next, we transitioned to eGroups.com, then we spent a few years in oblivion using tools like GoogleGroups and YahooGroups. Transitioning over to MailChimp as our primary sending service didn’t happen until relatively recently. We finally concluded that, although it was expensive, it was more dependable and we valued the reliability factor more than the money.

Recently, we’ve been watching the growth of Groups.io. Will it become the new eGroups? (Will it serve as a greenhouse for a new forum while it grows and acquires stability?) What’s your take on Groups.IO? It looks free and we can’t see a downside for those who are starting. Please click “Comment” following the web or app version of this item and share your experience with the Groups.io service, if you have any.