How to Fix Social Media GIS Groups

How many geospatial communities or groups have you joined? Are you a member of Geo Geeks on Google Plus? Or GIS Group on LinkedIn? Do you see the same posts in each group (sometimes with the "sorry for cross posting" notice)? Do you visit these groups regularly? Is it a satisfying or frustrating experience?

By Der Hupe under CC-BY-ND-2.0

I've found most of the GIS and geospatial groups I've visited or joined in need of improvement. Reddit/GIS and GIS.Stackexchange, by contrast, are the exceptions. Why? I think it's because they focus on questions and answers, provoking actual discussions. 

So what's going on in the Google Plus, LinkedIn and Facebook Groups that makes them so unsatifying? Mostly it's the "promotion" posts. Instead of posing authentic questions, a great many posts are about new press releases or articles or events. Here's an example. I'm on the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) Facebook group. Jill Jenkins regularly posts generic education articles there. The latest one is titled "The Importance of Teaching Values in School Part IV of V."