At a simplistic level yes. Include also Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Kohort and Ning.
Difference is what happens when the community gets large. None of them really deal with that well, let alone the identity of a community, politics and how each community shapes and defines itself, and decentralised control of communities so that ever smaller niches can grow within a large community.
At the very basic level, forums are closer to what I'm building, functionality wise all of the above fit. But it's the way the combination is delivered that is different from anything I've found to date.
At a simplistic level yes. Include also Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Kohort and Ning.
Difference is what happens when the community gets large. None of them really deal with that well, let alone the identity of a community, politics and how each community shapes and defines itself, and decentralised control of communities so that ever smaller niches can grow within a large community.
At the very basic level, forums are closer to what I'm building, functionality wise all of the above fit. But it's the way the combination is delivered that is different from anything I've found to date.