Discussion groups are forums where people can interact and exchange questions, information and suggestions. Discussion groups are typically formed around a theme or industry subject. Web based discussion groups include social network groups (LinkedIn), blogging sites and chat rooms.

Discussion groups can be reviewed to identify content that may be included in a white paper, submit requests for white paper editors, and gather references for white papers, which can be used for discussion topics, discussion engagement, earned media and white paper reference links.

Discussion Research - Discussion groups may contain questions and commentary for which members may have a need or interest in understanding. If the discussion group is focused on a topic that is similar to the white paper, a discussion with numerous comments may indicate a likelihood that it is a good topic to include in the white paper.

Discussion Engagement - Discussion engagement is the amount of communication activity that is associated with the discussion topic. Some of the methods that can be used to get a high level of discussion engagement are to ask thought provoking questions in the discussion, or to ask for lists of companies that can provide products or services, since members like to list their companies as a way of getting free publicity.

A simple method for finding discussion topics that produce high levels of engagement is to find similar groups (on the same social network or other social networks) and look for discussions in those groups that generated many comments. The question can be rephrased and posted to a similar discussion group.

Earned Media - Earned media is the promotional value of content that is created by the contribution of content or services. The way to achieve earned media is to provide the reader with relevant information or something they did not already know (reader value). This can include providing interesting factoids such as controversial statistics. The combination of multiple information sources into new summary factoids can generate significant earned media value.

White Paper Reference - Discussions may contain links to resources such as white papers. While it may be possible to join groups and post many links to white papers, the discussion group and topic should match the white paper topic and the commentary should identify that the white paper is a helpful reference, so it does not appear as a promotional message. If the discussion group leader determines that the link to the white paper is a promotional message, the discussion post may be removed and the member who posted the comment may be expelled from the group.