Agree with everything you said about *why* groups are important,
except that: now that it's 2015, Facebook groups is really a better
place for this.
No, Facebook is not a better place. Vast billions of people do not
(will not, refuse to) use Facebook. Onerous Terms of Service, the
feeling that a telescope is being shoved up our...there are many
reasons, let us respect those choices.
I agree with Richard (Fairhurst) here: "(Facebook) is not an answer."
If OSM is going to do "groups" let's do them. Not outsource,
delegate, or "use my favorite platform." Heck, if you wanted to be
kind of quick (and admittedly crude) about it, you could almost turn
our existing wiki system into such a thing. OK, don't (really,
DON'T!), but please, let's invent the right wheel here from within
the folds of our very own project. We have good (software, forum,
"groups,"...) toolsmiths, let's grow this within OSM. We could even
use an off-the-shelf solution from the open-source world, if the
right fit is found and it well meets our needs.
To further Greg Troxel's point: for us, the only platform which is
not an $OBJECTIONABLE_PLATFORM is OSM.
Luis Villa writes:
"The question is not whether you should start conversations there;
the question is whether or not you're engaging with and benefiting
from the conversations that are already happening."
OK, if I accept that, then it is incumbent upon those users to "post
back" (or otherwise "make informed") users on the OSM platform. Heck
(again), even software could do this. Facebook translation bot,
anybody?
I find it almost unbelievable that after an entire decade of
spectacular growth to millions of people in this project, we are
still quibbling about basic communication platforms that allow us to
identify and grow our community. We truly can do better.
SteveA
California
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