Monday, May 2, 2011

Peter Joseph shuts down the forum

CONSIDERING FORUM SHUTDOWN & REPLACEMENT WITH DATA SERVICE

Friends,

I have taken some time to think about the role of the Global Public Forum, weighing its benefits and downfalls. While the sense of community, friendships and banter are always positive things, the real purpose of The Forum is to spread important information and developments. The Forum Categories are there so such interest can be focused, shared and discussed.

When TZM first began and was rather small, there was a core need for sharing new ideas in this open, often haphazard way. But since we have grown, I have wondered if the energy spent on moderation, resolving disputes, programming, weeding out "noise" and the like could not be better focused. While it might not be noticed here, a great deal of time and energy has been spent on keeping sanity in this place. More than many would like to admit. Is it worth it?

So, I am considering an experiment where we replace the Public Forum with a Data - "News" type service. This would generate a "News Team" and hone in on relevant issues via the community. In other words, a system of news/data submission/compilation - based on relevant categories (such as we have now with Societal Breakdown, Chapters, etc). These interests would be posted as articles.

Users can email articles to a Sub-team which is set for that topic and the Subteam/Team will post relevant posts in a new section on the site.

This accomplishes a few things. One, it reduces a great deal of noise and bored interaction. Two, it can catalog relevant data in an organized way which is much easier to access than forum searches which can get buried.

(It will also possibly draw more attention to regional chapter forums as well- which is important for local community efforts.)

Overall, I think we have done a poor job in the global team to bringing truly relevant info to the surface. After seeing the fruits of Zeit News and the like, I think this could be a very good thing.
Let me know your thoughts.

Peter

VTV does damage control