Re: [DDN] why not googlegroups - Re: The future of DDN
Steven, You are right about only taking across 25% as a guesstimate. Also it can split the group as one tries to leave the old group running and then it somehow has its own momentum (with perhaps the remaining 75%). Also anyone taking on board social networking would do well to understand the whys and wherefores of that process. As someone who is a user on many if not almost all major social sites I would not wish to impose that on this group, even though it has great possibilities. I see one role of DDN as a gateway for people to come on board to the 21st Internet age. That means de facto it must be at least inclusive - and inclusiveness is is the definition of email-drive group discussion. As such it supports people on poor internet connections also it is extremely well understood by all reveling its ubiquitessness. Social sites on the other hand add functionality that can at least confuse novices and so their strength may also be their weakness. Another weakness of many existing social sites they tend to focus on an all-inclusive all-powerful all-embracing solutions. Ning is quite good in this way of enabling groups to run with cut down facilities, unfortunately I am yet to be convinced about Ning's email support since like most social sites what they really want is people logged onto their servers. (By constrast Grouply is one service that allows a total email service for those who wish it.) My recommended way forward towards social networking is for people to be able to add in bits as they gain confidence. Especially focussing on inclusive technologies. Foremost I would argue twitter (and its like) is a great social device for DDN enthusiasts. It has a simple interface, is very socially inclusive (including support for even those who do not have direct access to the web!!) That's one way forward. Andy On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:58 PM, Steven Clift s...@publicus.net wrote: Anyone know how big the current membership is and whether the current system can export out member directory data? No matter where it moves to (if it needs to), asking people to move will only bring over 25 percent of the folks. Whether it is GroupServer installed at http://groups.dowire.org or Yahoo or Google Groups, the key is ensure that participants may post via e-mail - both new topics and replies. Anything short of that might as well be launched as a new competitive thing for our attention on Ning or some other social networking platform. Cheers, Steven Clift ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -- Andy http://www.tickertxt.org/ ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] in search of volunteer moderators (was The future of DDN)
As an owner-mod of around 30 groups on Yahoo and Google Groups I would be happy to reapply that experience to support DDN, if that is at all helpful. One question seems to be what platform one might use for DDN. Before you get to that one must ask, what is wrong (and right) with the existing one, and if we change what could the benefits pitfalls be. What is wrong with the existing platform? Does it cost money? Is it difficult to manage? At least it has a stable user-base who know its strengths and weaknesses. As I say I use Yahoo Groups which of course is free. Added to Y!G is Grouply which is a social-networking front end, possibly giving all the benefits and pitfalls of social networking, not to mention the benefits and pros cons of Y!G. (It is worth noting that some Y!G and Google Groups seem to be reflecting each others messages into both platforms.) I also use and like Wiserearth and (like all platforms) it has its benefits it also has its issues. One disadvantage (depending on your perspective) is that Wiserearth is primarily a website interface, whereas I love the DDN email interface. I do not know Moodle so cannot comment. To my way of thinkin any virtual group (and DDN is no different) goes through its high and low points. I run a few dead groups, but I know that at the right moment any of them could go live. So quiescence is not to me a core problem. What is needed is good management. This group needs someone to drive its agenda, and that means in part to stimulate the DDN community into self-action. What technology is used is then of secondary importance. Andy If the current owner-mod structure discourages that self-promotion (which it seems is true) then the starting point for me is to support a change that corrects that core problem. Correct that and then see what else is necessary later. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Introducing TickerTXT
Hi I joined this email list a few weeks ago having come across the Digital Divide website and so far finding the posts quite relevant and interesting. Rather than just lurking, if I may I would like to make a paint a brief picture of my company. We are http://www.tickertxt.org/ and are a social enterprise in the startup phase. Our business is that of improving trading for farmers and traders in rural communities in developing countries. We do this by applying some very interesting web and mobile technologies in a both novel and grassroots way to farmers and traders. I think a key difference in our business is that grassroots approach, that is we go from bottom up rather than top down. Values of our business that underpin that term include open-source and community-owned. We recently won an award at the Hasso-Platner Ventures Social Enterprise forum (http://www.hp-ventures.com/) in Postdam, Germany and later were finalists at Seecamp 08 (http://www.seedcamp.com/) in London. What came home to us at this last event was a better understanding that for our business to better succeed we needed partners in the same social enterprise sphere. I am finding some resonance to that here in Digital Divide. Part of that engagement is immediately finding partners of all types who are interested in mobile phone and trading aspects of developing countries. Downstream there are hopefully spin-offs for a wider audience, including education and other infrastructure improvements. So, if you see yourself or know of someone who might be interested in talking to our company then feel free to contact me off-group. Otherwise you at least know where I come from (which is Oxford, UK!). Anyway thanks for reading. Regards Andy Swarbrick ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
