What can this forum help us accomplish?

[Cramulus]

going back to both my second post ITT (the part about the pd/blog) and RWHN's critical mass note:

I think that having a media platform which exists OUTSIDE OF THE FORUM will help a lot of this.

1) it'll help us focus on creating media for that platform. Over time, we'll organize ourselves to better do that.
2) it'll provide an entry point for outsiders to find us


we've had a group blog before, but something about it didn't work. I think our content was awesome, the problem was that we only had like 3 people producing it. Rather than explicitly trying to create a blog, maybe we need a broader platform which everybody feels like they own.

[Doktor Howl]

PD isn't going to change the world.

But some of its members might. 

I like this idea of a media platform.  I've been canning video and audio rants for some time now, but the project for which I was doing this failed to materialize.  Don't know if they'll change the world, but I'm willing to try to do my part.

[Adios]

Yeah, possibly. To a small degree. Most won't listen.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The distinction I was trying to make is the same as the one Dok made; The forum is a forum. Its value is in its ability to bring forum members and ideas together. The forum doesn't DO anything; members of the forum do things, brought together by this venue. It enables collaboration. The forum is a platform for a meeting of minds; nothing more, nothing less. The minds and ideas that are here are what attract and influence new members.

You cannot motivate "the forum" to do something, because the forum is not an entity. What you can do is engage members of the forum.

What can we do? I don't know. What do YOU want to do? Are you doing it?

[Cramulus]

The word "forum" is just shorthand for this social network and the things its structured around (Dok's "five pillars"). I've updated the thread's subject line to further clarify my intent.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I guess what I am doing is steadfastly maintaining my independence from the idea of community-as-organism. If I am part of a community organism, it is the one I am physically local to. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm a free agent, not a team player.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I find PD.com a fun place to hang out, but I don't get the AWESOME ENERGY vibe that Cram does... I mean honestly, we seem to behave like normal primates doing normal primate things (me included). Our debates tend to be the same debates with the same people making the same arguments... or shoehorning the same arguments if the topic is close enough (me included). Energy here for new projects seems to run like energy I've seen in Linux/Open Source communities, or SCA communities or InfoSec communities where an idea gets hyped, lots of cool stuff explodes across the community and four or five months later there are two guys struggling to make the idea work while everyone else is off doing whatever it is that they do. I don't think that's particularly bad, just that its not something unique and special for this forum.

But maybe I'm just old and jaded.

[Doktor Howl]

I guess what I am doing is steadfastly maintaining my independence from the idea of community-as-organism. If I am part of a community organism, it is the one I am physically local to. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm a free agent, not a team player.

I'D LIKE A COMMUNITY ORGANISM.

Oh, wait.

Anyway, I'm both a team player and an individual, as the occasion warrants.  I'm down with doing something.  I mean, I've been waiting for 8 years for something resembling a concerted effort.

[Doktor Howl]

But maybe I'm just old and jaded.

Sounds accurate.

[Cramulus]

Remember Dok's "five pillars of Discordia"? while I respect that some of you are here for mainly social reasons, some of us are here to do projects. I started this thread to talk to those guys -- like dimo and nephew twiddleson, who are still excited about collaboration.

Speaking for myself and I suspect a lot of others around here, I want to be doing cool stuff that's worth telling other people about, and I actively use this forum as a resource to that end. I see it that way due to my experiences here - this forum has channeled a lot of awesome energy through my life. There are probably other forums out there where this is possible, but none of them are about Discordia.

Our creative processes can be examined and made more efficient. That is the aim of this thread.

If you think this forum isn't useful for that, or that's not why you're here, that's cool. But kindly GTFO MY THREAD AND STOP VAMPING OTHER PEOPLE'S ENERGY.

seriously, every time I start a thread like this, I spent most of the time trying to justify why I might want to talk about this stuff. Sometimes I do wonder why I even fucking bother trying to use this place as a creative platform, thank you guys for reminding me of that.

[Doktor Howl]

Um, okay.

If you didn't want the videos and MP3s, you could have just said so.

[Cramulus]

hm what?

ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.

I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.

[Doktor Howl]

hm what?

ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.

I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.

Oh, okay.

Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it.  I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.

[Cramulus]

do you think principaidiscordia.com/blog is the right spot? We could get everybody back into the habit of jizzing stuff over there?

[Freeky]

hm what?

ah hold on - dok, I wasn't talking to you. You produce more high quality text during a bowel movement than most of us do in an entire week of posting. Also, you use this place not just for your personal creative goals, you help people with their projects. And what's even better, you CREATE projects which spark other people's creativity.

I'm talking to nigel and ratatosk, who are posting as if I was looking for a yes or no answer to the question "can we do anything of value?" and the answer is no.

Oh, okay.

Anyway, I'll ifile that stuff when you have a place to put it.  I think I can manage some of it Monday, and the rest I need the okay from my partners in crime, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Plus, Ima draft Freeky into some vids/audio.

Woot!