The message board world

Gospel music fans cannot say they don’t have the opportunities to express themselves on the internet…there are message boards and chat rooms galore for fans who want to share their love of gospel music with the world.



I am a member of six such boards, all of which have auxiliary chat rooms in addition to their boards. I will rate the boards I’m on here, in order of general quality and reputation on the web. I will not attempt to be comprehensive here, for I can only comment on the boards I know most about.



1) SOUTHERN GOSPEL NEWS BOARD-One of the first ones, it is the largest of the boards by far(some 4800 members at last count), and has the most variety in terms of topics and areas of interest. As many others have noted(Doug Harrison, for example), this board is worth reading alone for the often spirited gospel music discussions that spring up on a regular basis. Because of the sheer numer of posters, there are a number of viewpoints that are regularly aired there, and when they can keep personalities out of it, there’s lots of stuff worth reading!



The SGN boards also have sections discussing politics, religion, recipes, computers, sports, and virtually any other subject under the sun. The one weakness of the SGN boards is a tendency to over-moderate the discussions somewhat arbitrarily, but the positive paart of that moderation keeps discussions from getting too far out of hand(as they can do at times when people get too emotionally involved in what’s discussed). Overall, the SGN boards do the best job of offering stimulating discussion of gospel music while simultaneously offering other areas of interest for those whose interests are not confined to gospel music alone. And you CAN have fun there!



2)SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC LOVERS-This site originated in 2004 when several members of the SGN board community felt constrained by the aforementioned moderation policy there, and so they(members of the Pioneers Quartet and a few others)launched this alternative to the SGN board community.



The site suffered the predictable growing pains at first, then went through a period where it segued into the World Center for Emoticons, endured the departure of a few key members, and has matured through it all as a fine alternative to the SGN community, now with the second largest membership roster of the boards spotlighted here.



There also was a period where the rivalry with SGN threatened to engulf the board in negativity, but those days seem safely behind them. The site has not only expanded into a full-fledged website, but the quality of the discussions has grown exponentially over the last year or so, to the point where it can finally be said that it is a “must” place to go for those interested in good gospel music discussion. and as is the case with all these boards, the fellowship and community are outstanding.



3)SOUTHERN GOSPEL NUTS-This site began as a sort of “SGML Jr.”, having been started by a departing memeber of SGML, MsJudy(known then and thereafter as DaJudge)…and in fact, the board is modeled after SGML, even today(with music topics, games, a “soap box”, where thoughts can be expressed with a minimum of moderation, even a history section[led by yours truly]).



The Nuts board has also gone through a number of changes, coming out with a more community-type emphasis than the other boards, and there is a determination to emphasize the gospel aspect in the fellowship as much as the music, led by the board’s two leaders nowadays, Precious and RevTabasco.



The board lost several members due to some necessary pruning of the membership rolls, but those who remain are committed to making it not only a fun, but educattional and imformative place. It’s not where it could be yet, but it’s getting there…and quickly.



4)THE SGM RADIO BOARD-This site is an adjunct of the website of this internet radio station, and began as a quiet, friendly community always more interested in the fellowship within than discussing gospel music exhaustively.



In many ways, the board there has not changed much, but with the addition of posters such as John Crenshaw(whose history forums have relocated there from SGML), there’s been a more concerted effort to incorporate gospel music discussion into the mix.



Still, though, despite the growth of the board, the community is still small, and there are only about a dozen mrmbers who post on a regular basis. But, if you like the warm fellowship of like minded people(and I do mean LIKE minded!), you might enjoy what the SGM Radio board has to offer…if you can get past all the incestuous self-promotion and the seeming insularity of the community.



5)GOSPEL MUSIC FRIENDS-DaJudge’s latest board project…do we need one more of these?



By that I mean nothing malicious, I just mean to point out that SGF offers nothing to date that boards such as SGML and the Nuts board don’t currently offer…thus it seems a bit redundant at the moment…however, with time something more distinctive could develop.



As with all the other boards mentioned here, the fellowship is very warm and inviting.



6)ANN DOWNING’S MESSAGE BOARD-This is probably a typical example of the artist-based board…being part of artist Ann Downing’s web site. There is no pretense to full-fledged gospel music discussion here…it’s a place for Ann’s fANNtastics to gather and fellowship, and they gleefully do that. I would guess most other artist-based boards are much the same.



So then, for news and gospel discussion, the first two boards are the places to go. The others are more fellowship-oriented, and for that, if you’re a gospel fan, they’re all worthwhile places to go.



I might emphasize once more that the respective communities on all these boards are all fine, Chrstian-based communities, and no doubt you’ll make new friends regardless of where you choose to go.

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