What Will the Phasing Out of Yahoo Groups Mean For DC Listservs?

• October 17th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

The end of a Yahoo product could put several local DC forums in jeopardy. 

Yahoo announced on Wednesday that, as of October 28th, Yahoo Groups users will no longer be able to add content to the website, and everything from the site will be privatized starting in mid-December. The groups will still be able to communicate via email between members, and people will still be able to search for private groups on the Yahoo Groups site and request membership from group administrators.

For well over a decade, Yahoo Groups has served as the prime communication and forum platform for DC neighborhoods, ANC single member districts and even individual streets, with membership ranging from a couple dozen users to several thousand. These groups provide a place where neighbors can share news of events, post about missing pets, and keep each other abreast of crime in the area. 

A quick search of the platform reveals that many local Yahoo Groups have been defunct for years while others haven't had "activity" since January, perhaps due to the rise in popularity for other neighborhood-based social media like Nextdoor and Citizen (which have sometimes been seen as giving cover to discrimination). Still, neighborhood listservs in Cleveland Park, Brookland and Chevy Chase that use Yahoo Groups remain very active. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/yahoo-groups-website-to-disband-in-december/16029.