Communities

communities of interest and practice

Web 2.0 – the next e-mail?

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Ross Mayfield on on Many2Many notes that Web 2.0 (aka the two-way web, etc) is an attempt to create the next e-mail. The current version  doesn’t suit anyone’s purposes anymore:

The reason we are building Web 2.0 is because we were not able to build Email 2.0. The first web didn’t support our social needs, so we used email for everything. But we couldn’t really hack it. Most social software has by now adapted to email, but email could never have adapted to it.

Given all the hype around Web 2.0 over the past few weeks, I think that this may be the best elevator pitch so far, – Web 2.0 is the next stage in the evolution of Internet technologies that are everywhere and anyone can use them – including your grandparents. For me, the closest tool to E-Mail 2.0 so far is ELGG, but we’ll see what else comes down the pipe.

The New Workplace

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In the Future of Work Agenda October issue, the authors discuss the hidden economy, driven by the movement of knowledge workers to smaller towns, creating much-needed revenue for the local economy:

What makes all this interesting – and important – is that these "free agents," entrepreneurs, and remote employees of large organizations based elsewhere are essentially "exporting" their services outside the local economy – thereby importing income that they then spend locally on food, clothing, toys for their kids, home improvements, recreation, restaurants, and all the other necessities of life.

They go on to call for the creation of Business Communitiy Centers (PDF), which are similar to the Innovation Commons that Boris Mann has proposed. The authors are also offering to manage the networking of these centers or BCC. Their approach seems to be much more of a top-down or franchise model than the grassroots, community-led initiatives in Charlottetown and Vancouver:

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, we are currently in the process of forming that national management company precisely we can promote and support Business Community Centers around the country. And we are actively discussing the BCC concept with several different commercial property developers and local economic development groups at this very moment with the goal of launching one or more of them in the very near future.

The BCC is an interesting concept but there doesn’t appear to be anything in these articles that the Queen Street Commons hasn’t already discovered and done.  Yes, Canadians are leading the way in creating a new workplace model, so let’s get the word out.

Another Commons Node

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I first stumbled on the idea of a work commons when I saw the San Francisco-based Gate-3 Work Commons, which is now closed because they ran out of money. I don’t know the details but it seems to have been a "build it and they will come" type of operation. Meanwhile, here in Canada, the Queen Street Commons is based on a more grassroots model. On my recent visit to PEI, I met with Robert Paterson at the QSC and saw a dynamic community. The model seems to be working. Even more recently, Boris Mann is actively pursuing the creation of an Innovation Commons in Vancouver. Early seeds are being planted for a potentially large network.
With more people working from home or having clients spread all over the world there is a growing need for work Commons to share knowledge and provide social support. The QSC is a good example of "think globally and act locally". I am still hoping to get a Commons started  in Sackville, as there is a lot of interest from the many independent contractors and artists in the community. Once we get a few more going we may have the makings of a "wirearchy" (see previous post) of Commons as a viable alternative to The Corporation. We have the technology (cheap broadband, low-cost hardware, open source software) we just need to keep working on the business models. At least there are now pioneers like QSC that we can use as examples to learn from.

ELGG 0.3 Available

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ELGG is an open source system that facilitates communities on the web. It has several functions including blogs, file uploading & sharing and social networking. You can create communities and groups on the fly, so there are no built-in constraints. The user decides who to connect with and what information is available for viewing publicly, personally or only for selected groups.
Version 0.3 provides multilingul support that is easy to implement with only a single text file that can be localized for your particular needs. I’ve been impressed with version 0.2 and see many improvements with the latest version. Other good news coming down the pipe is that ELGG will likely integrate easily with the Moodle open source learning system. Then you could have small pieces loosely joined – one for communities and the other for more formal learning.

CBC Radio – Precursor to Internet Communities of Practice

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When I was in graduate school I wrote a paper on educational radio programming on the CBC during the 1930’s and 1940’s. I wish that I had kept that paper, as the achievements of early radio have similarities with the current proliferation of communities on the Internet. Two of the more popular programmes on early CBC radio were the Citizens’ Forum and the Farm Radio Forum [search CBC archives for “farm radio forum” and “national citizens forum” – without quotation marks in search query].

“Farm Forum innovations included a regional report-back system, whereby group conclusions were collected centrally and broadcast regularly across Canada, occasionally being sent to appropriate governments. In addition, discussion – leading to self-help – resulted in diverse community ‘action projects’ such as co-operatives, new forums and folk schools. Farm and community leaders claimed that the give-and-take of these discussions provided useful training for later public life. In 1952, UNESCO commissioned research into Farm Forum techniques. Its report was published in 1954, and consequently India, Ghana and France began using Canadian Farm Forum models in their programs.”

Radio is a one-way medium but innovations such as programme guides by mail one week in advance, local discussion groups, and national feedback on individual responses kept people actively involved. Imagine a group of farmers gathering at a neighbour’s house, bringing food for a communal supper, and then discussing issues of great social relevance,  like the possibility of medicare. This was real public radio, not just commercial-free airwaves. Today, the CBC produces programmes such as Cross-Country Checkup and the Radio Noon Phone-In for similar purposes.

Therefore, after more than 30 days of the CBC lock-out, I feel that it’s time to speak up. The locked-out employees have been doing an excellent job without pay at CBC Unplugged. The problem is that the legacy of the CBC in community-building is being undermined by years of inconsistent government financing and what appears to be misguided CBC management. I blame the politicians, the bureaucrats, and management — in that order. A nation of our size and diversity needs a strong public broadcaster. I really appreciated the CBC when I was serving with the Armed Forces in Europe, and I’m sure that our troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere could do with some good programming from Canada. So please get off your butts and get the CBC back on the air, for all our sakes.

Is this a “real” blog?

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Just received this note from the folks at Blogflux, as I was adding this site to their directory (thought it was good idea at the time):
Hello hjarche,
Your blog has *not* been added to the Blog Flux Directory. Due to the amount of submissions, we cannot explain the reasons for each. Most likely it is due to one of the following:
        – site is not a blog
        – site contains nudity
        – site is a shill site intended to simply promote products/affiliates
        – site construes something illegal
 In its simplist form, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a Blog as, "Blog (noun, short for Weblog): a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer".
But I guess this isn’t a "real" blog according to the wise folks at Blogflux. Tell me it isn’t so …
Update – only a few minutes later. BlogFlux tell me that I had two entries (one for jarche.com and one for /blog/1). They only deleted one. My response was that their form letter didn’t exactly strike the right chord for me ;-) I must say that I’m impressed with the speedy response :-)
All’s well that ends well, says the Bard.

Listening Outside the Walls

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Still not sure that the web has any influence on your organisation or how it does business? Even if you work behind a firewall and many external sites are blocked by your IT department (you know who you are), the outside world is still talking about you, so you should get involved in the conversation. I’m not saying that you should try to control the conversation, because you can’t, but hiding inside your Intranet won’t help either.
Look at these two cases. First, a few technology-savvy folks set up a web site called Rate My Professors, and over time this site becomes the place for students to check out profs as well as their universities. Conversations about your institution are happening all the time and no one can hide from them. Does this site have more influence than the famous Canadian MacLeans Magazine poll?
A more recent service is the UK’s National Health Service’s Patient Opinion that lets you see what patients are saying about local healthcare facilities and providers. Word of mouth (or word on the Net) can influence many people. Some of those people could be the politicians who approve healthcare budgets.
That’s why it’s important for those inside organisational walls to understand what’s happening outside and the technologies that enable these conversations.

ELGG Contract Call

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Mancomm Performance has just issued a contract call for the development of a calendar function for ELGG. We have been testing ELGG for a while and like many of its functions, such as the integrated blog, easy creation of groups & communities, and its ease of use for web novices.
This contract will pay for the development of a module of an open source system which will then be given back to the ELGG community. Mancomm is the first private sector company offering to pay for ELGG development.
If you’re an experienced developer looking for some paid OS work, then check out the post and contact us at Mancomm.