Social Networking - Part 5

This is my continuation of looking at Social Networking and the various avenues available to us.

Yahoo Groups. I think they can be considered them Social Networking, depending on their purpose. I belong to about ten but in all honesty, I am a lurker. Rarely do I make a comment, but I try to read all of the messages. There I learn some industry gossip, who has a book coming out, who has finaled and/or won in a contest, what subject someone is blogging about in a particular place, online classes being offered, etc. These are almost as necessary to me as my critique group and blog following.

As far as commenting in a Yahoo Group, this is beyond my comfort level. So many of those who are posting comments seem to know each other and appear close. I sometimes feel like and intruder or stupid when I think about responding. I know, I am probably being silly, but this is another thing I need to work on. Maybe I will tackle it while I am preparing to be brave at the next conference.

How do you feel about Yahoo Groups? Do you belong to any? Do you lurk like me or a regular participant? Which ones do you recommend for an author, romance author, or someone who loves history?