We all know that social networking sites on the Internet allow strangers to call each other "friends" and acquaintances to join each other's professional networks. Certainly the value of using social networking sites—as well as the risks—have been well documented online and in traditional media. The cautionary rule, "Don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to read," is a good one for most everyone to follow.

But what if you are trying to find help, support, encouragement, or advice and really have nowhere else to turn? Can social networking sites help you connect with a person who might be facing the same problem you are? While you feel like the only person in the world who is still trying to get your child to sleep through the night at 24 months, you know you are not alone! If only you could talk to someone else going through the same struggles! And then there's your kindergartener who can't seem to follow directions at school and has a hard time with his teacher. If only you could talk to a mom who has been through this struggle already and lived to tell about it!

You know there's help out there, but you don't necessarily feel so comfortable putting your personal problems out on Facebook for just anyone to read. After all, motherhood is hard enough without being judged by a group of "friends" who may not really be all that sensitive to your plight.

That's where private social networking sites like Big Tent come in.

Over six months ago, we launched a private group on Big Tent for listeners of our podcast. We had tried forming groups on Facebook, MySpace and Gather with varying degrees of success. What we quickly learned is that our moms did not want to share the personal details of their lives in such public forums. Sure, there are privacy settings and ways to control group membership. But moms joining our groups were not fully engaged until we moved the conversations under the Big Tent, a platform described as the place "where trusted groups connect online."

As owners of the group, we approve every application for membership. We are able to set tiers of membership and  even include a paid subscription or dues option. This is a great benefit if you are running a community group or club. Imagine, a single platform that allows your members to connect with one another, but also allows you as the group administrator to create multiple membership types and forms, collect payments, create editable report forms and much more. You can also assign different permissions to members of your group so if you want someone else to have access to the membership files, or be able to send group-wide announcements, you can designate that person with a few simple clicks.

Trying to decide what fundraiser your group should do this year? Add a quick poll to the group's home page. Post news and announcements and push out emails to your group. Do you have groups within your group? Add subgroups so members can easily identify others with similar interests.

Since launching our group under the Big Tent, moms have really started talking about the issues that matter to them most. Over the last few weeks, as hurricanes caused chaos for many families, moms were posting updates and well wishes. When a member of our group announced her brother had been killed in Afghanistan, the heart felt words of encouragement came pouring in. There are no angry commenters on our boards, just crazy busy moms trying to keep it all together and help other moms do the same.

Interested in learning more? Big Tent is free and they even have humans who provide customer support. Do you participate in any online groups? Where do you gather and how do you communicate?