Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Your favorite DG interfaces? Clubbing

Author:Phil Wolff
Posted:1/7/2000; 10:03:00 AM
Topic:Your favorite web-based DG interfaces?
Msg #:14193 (In response to 14067)
Prev/Next:14192 / 14194

Continuing the conversation on Editing, Registration, Navigation, and Measurement:
Clubbing.

DGs are not just a forum for refining or promulgating memes and solving problems. This is a social medium. Like a dance club or private club or chess club, a meta-activity is seeing the other people who post, hooking up for private encounters (jobs, discussions, romance, buddies, etc.), and networking in the human sense.

Think about the fictional pub Cheers, where everyone knows your name. At Dave's club everyone knows his, but as others become regulars, we get to know them.

How can we enhance this social dimension?

- support for collaboration.

- tools to bring people back.

Yahoo! Clubs, for instance.

- Founders Message. Not an FAQ but the message that sets the tone and rules of engagement.

- Shared tools: events calendar (syndicated to my.yahoo calendar/palm pilots/etc., to-do lists, wish lists, links, rolodex, photo catalog. News assembled from syndicated feeds just for this membership.

- List others who are online now or recently. Membership in my club automatically makes these people more likely to be interesting to correspond with. Freshness of activity (either as a reader, lurker, or poster) is valuable information over time.

- Club stats. Club Stats Members: [8] Page Views: [109] Founded: [Dec 29, 1999]
-- Club stats for the last few days of activity: who logged in, number of page views.

- Anonymity. Multiple personal profiles so you can belong anonymously to one group and openly to another. Without going into privacy issues, this is great for people who want to participate in the breast cancer, sex change, or armed revolution DGs without having to reinvent their aliases each time.

- Viral tools.
-- easy to mail a post to someone
-- easy to invite someone to join
-- Syndication of recent posts to my.Yahoo home page, drawing me back.
-- email digests of activity and news

- Feedback tools
-- broadcasting to membership
-- membership surveys
-- letters to the founders/managing editors

Amazing how many of these features have been emerging in the Userland world! Please continue.



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