In personal or business computing, a user group is a set of people who have similar interests, goals, or concerns. The members have regular meetings where they can share their ideas.
Ideally, the members of a user group live in the same geographic area, so they can get together in person. However, some user groups have members distributed throughout the world, and they meet using Internet chat rooms, message boards, or mailing lists. Members may also correspond by telephone and e-mail on a one-to-one basis. User groups often have Web sites that each member can visit on a regular basis to stay informed.
A user group may be devoted to a particular technology, application, or corporation. For example, a digital-photography user group might discuss the assets and limitations of various digital cameras and image-processing programs. A user group devoted to wireless Internet would share their experiences with the various providers of that technology. Some user groups are involved only with the products of a particular corporation. When devoted to a narrow range of products or ideas, the user group is sometimes called a special interest group ( SIG ).