Considering a Move from Yahoo to Facebook

Up to this point, the Texas HSP Group has always had its home on the Yahoo Groups network. In the beginning, this worked quite well, as Yahoo was one of the better forum providers out there.

Unfortunately (for us and many others) Yahoo Groups went through a major format change a couple of years ago, and the new layout and features for groups are really not very conducive to interaction and conversation.

Even Yahoo old-timers have found the new interface difficult to use.

We are gradually coming to the realization that maybe the idea of having an "email group" has more or less run its course.

One possibility under consideration is to simply move the group's "headquarters" to Facebook. I have written about this previously, and shared the idea inside the group... with a somewhat mixed response.

Of course, a lot of HSPs don't like Facebook, and avoid the social media giant like the plague. However, we have to consider the fact that activity in the HSP Texas group has dropped to almost nothing in the last few years. So it's safe to say that the YahooGroups format is NOT working out for anyone.

After all, there's not much point in being a member in a group if there's never any activity!

Some people would probably follow us to Facebook, and by having a group (possibly a "closed" group) there, we could also gain more exposure, and hopefully help the group grow.

After all, the entire point in forming this group in the first place was to help HSPs connect with each other for friendship and support. And that is NOT happening, at the moment... so the group is not serving its original purpose.

Comments and feedback invited and welcomed!

Facebook, twitter and other Social Media

We have been cautiously considering the possibility of having a page on Facebook, as well as a twitter account, to help promote the group. Even after almost four years in existence, the group still only has 66 members... in a state with almost 25 million people.

For the moment, we're playing it pretty low key. The challenge with using venues like Facebook and twitter is that (a) they are global, and we are a statewide group, and (b) HSPs are not necessarily comfortable with the idea if social media... and how "public" these venues are.

We will continue to discuss and consider. In the meantime, we will look at other ways to add new members to the group.

Our Growing Texas HSP Group!

Today-- May 22nd-- marks an annniversary of sorts, for the Texas HSP group.

Two years ago today, the first message was posted to our online forum on YahooGroups.

In the time since those tentative steps, the HSP Texas group has grown to 40+ members, and the "conversations" keep growing, month by month. Our group is actually on its way to becoming one of the most active "state level" HSP groups on the web! Which is saying quite a lot, given that the "original" Texas group for HSPs "went away" due to a lack of interest/activity.

Thank you to everyone who has joined and is now part of our group! Let's continue to build a supportive and safe online community for HSPs in the Lone Star State.

If YOU are a Highly Sensitive Person and are reading these words from a computer somewhere in the state of Texas, please consider joining our group. Just follow one of the links in the left margin, under "Where to find us."

HSP Gathering in Colorado, October 1-5, 2009

This is an initial announcement that there will be an HSP Gathering in Estes Park, CO this October. The event will take place at the YMCA of the Rockies facility on October 1-5, 2009-- near Rocky Mountain National Park.

This is the second HSP Gathering to take place in Colorado (the first was in 2007, and drew visitors from around the US, as well as Canada and the UK), and it is the closest venue for HSPs in Texas.

Colorado is beautiful in the fall, and it's not a terribly long drive, from most parts of Texas-- or hop a Southwest plane to Denver, and share a car rental with other attendees.

Don't be misled by the event being "at the YMCA." YMCA of the Rockies is a huge sprawling "campus" in beautiful natural surroundings.

Make plans to attend, early-- there's usually a discount for early registration. For more information, please visit Gathering Creator/Organizer Jacquelyn Strickland's web site:

Jacquelyn Strickland's HSP Gathering Page

So why attend an HSP Gathering? After all, the idea of "a group" probably sounds counterintuitive to most HSPs...

The purpose of these retreats is both to help HSPs learn about the trait, as well as to help us find fellowship with each other. There is nothing quite like spending several days with other people who truly "get it!"

How this got started: the old Austin HSP meetup

I got an email, asking how the Texas HSP group is listed as starting in December 2007, while I keep talking about the "Austin HSP group" and the year 2004.

Well, there was a previous Texas group for highly sensitive people which was active from 2003-06, and a group of Austin and Central Texas HSPs started a "meetup" out of that group. That group was partly made possible after Elaine Aron taught a weekend workshop at The Crossings in Austin, in the spring of 2004, based on her Highly Sensitive Person book.

With the combination of people from the workshop, the Texas group on Yahoo, and HSPs listing themselves as "interested in an Austin HSP meetup," we ended up with enough of a "base" to have local get-togethers. Fairly small, but none-the-less an HSP peer group in Austin.

The current group is an attempt to create something similar, but not as "Austin-centric," and hopefully with the outcome that there could also be local HSP groups formed in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, as well as in Austin.

So, that's the "short version" of the history behind this group.

As for the current "incarnation" of the Texas HSP Group, all things take time. The "old" Yahoo discussion group was active for 16 months before there was actually a get-together. I expect this group will also take a while to get going, even though the general level of awareness of high sensitivity as a trait is much higher in 2008, than it was in 2003.

Opening Remarks

This is the blog attached to the Texas HSP Group.

The Texas HSP Group is an online discussion and support group on Yahoo Groups for highly sensitive people living in the Lone Star State.

The blog is intended to serve as a space for group announcements, local meetings, events and other ongoing happenings, relating to the group. Information about the group will be posted as it becomes available.

If you're not sure what an "HSP" is, or you'd like to join the Texas HSP discussion group, please visit our group's web site for more information, both about high sensitivity, and the group itself.

To go directly to the group's home on YahooGroups, go here.