In reply to Jeff Chandler.

"Yes it can if the right person is energetic, outgoing, and works hard everyday to bring people into the discussion." - I would love for this to be the case... but Facebook is already so well understood and accepted by everyone (people are already so familiar with it and know how to use it etc) -- heck it's even already installed on everybody's mobile phones and has a specific app that has a 'good' interface etc -- people can set up alerts etc and are already generally so tuned in with it all it's like second nature to many, plus people all already having profiles there and login details etc etc. In short: Facebook has all sorts of advantages that will (and have) helped groups thrive. A standalone website like WPChat just isn't nearly as smooth or easy to access. I'm no expert though, and I'd love to see some other WP-focused community come to life somewhere else. Another huge difference between a forum like WPChat and the AWP Facebook group is one is a forum has many threads and the AWP is just one thread... this is a totally different dynamic -- one that almost invalidates any kind of direct comparison perhaps.