On Behalf Of Tim Erickson > Sent: 21 June 2005 00:38 > To: mpls@mnforum.org > Subject: [Mpls] New Software for MPLS-ISSUES? > > > E-Democracy.Org has begun to move our forums to a new software > package called Groupserver. The two new Local Issues Forums in the UK > both run on Groupserver, as does the St. Paul Issues Forum. We'd like > to see MPLS make the move someday as well. >
This will be a big step forward for the Minneapolis list. Take a look a Brighton and St. Paul's messages - notice how posts with the same subject line (yes, strategic posters will want to stop changing subject lines for expressive purposes) neatly pack into digests by time: http://forums.e-democracy.org/brighton-hove/groups/bh/messages http://forums.e-democracy.org/stpaul/groups/stpaul-issues/messages It also has an integrated member directory where you can opt-in to share basic information about yourself that will be just one click away from a URL inserted in each of your posts. The big "democratic" problem I see with e-mail lists and web forums is that conflict and difference is accentuated by the medium. People tend to reply first to what they disagree with an opinion and second, they might correct or add additional information. The "silent" majority or minority has no way of expressing "me too" support for a post without cluttering our mailboxes. Measuring the silence is something those deeply connected to local politics can do naturally, while those new to the community might over estimate the level of conflict in the community. I don't have a technical answer, but perhaps you do? Now that E-Democracy.Org is investing in the open source GroupServer tool as a solution, we can raise funds to have new features built that we need and share them with others as well. So please come along to the meeting and offer your input. If you can't make it, here is a web movie tour of GroupServer: http://e-democracy.org/groupserver Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org P.S. The switch should happen at some point over the summer. REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
