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A place to comment on the "End of the Experiment."
Just read Rick's post about ending the docent model:
"After more than a year of working with a group of docents who have helped to run the blog, I've decided to end the experiment. The docent model was not entirely successful, in no small part due to an overall lack of organization and commitment, but lately due to some specific personality conflicts. I'm not sure what will take its place, but I'm hopeful that we can develop some sort of community-governed system. Stay tuned."
...and it appears it has happened. Sounds like something the Olyblog comunity might what to talk about. So here's a place to do it. Please keep it constructive and civil so it doesn't get pulled.
Added: There are two threads on this topic. This one and this one.
- Guglielmo's blog
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Thank you to everyone...
Congratulations to all on the wild successes!! :)
Don't eat meat, ride a bike...that's how you can brake global warming, the head of the United Nation's Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change said...
A suggestion.
One of the most popular community moderation models out there is the "Digg" model. (http://www.digg.com for those of you who have never seen it.) Basically, you can either "Digg up" or "Digg down" a story. It works the same way for comments. If a comment gets a certain number of negative hits, the comment collapses and you have to physically click to expand it.
It seems to work well in a lot of social communities, especially because the voting process is anonymous.
Just a suggestion... I may have suggested it before. I don't remember.
Civil Wars are the Worst Sort of Wars
OlyBlog will be three years old next month. According to my account I've been a member for 2 years 46 weeks (member #31), so I have watched this experiment from almost the start.
As one of the first hyperlocal blogs in the nation, OlyBlog has been cutting trails through the cyber wilderness where no one has been before. It can be fun and exhilarating to be the pioneers. It also means we take wrong turns. We screw up. Some ideas are better in concept than reality. But sometimes we don't know until we try. That's life.
Both Rick and enpen are among my favorite OlyBloggers. Both of them are creative men of vision I respect who turn their ideas into reality. However, conflict and creativity go hand in hand.
My hope: No blood. And, enpen doesn't leave. And, OlyBlog doesn't get vaporized as a result of this. If there is anything I can do to realize my hope, including being a mediator at a place of your choice, please let me know.
Thanks for creating this thread, G-Guy.
Another discussion about this
Will someone just explain
is it that hard to follow?
OK Matthew, Rick decided rather abruptly to discontinue the "docent model", which means the site is not gonna use docents...
...that is about it (no "bannings" or ritual disembowelment as far as I can tell =)
Make of it what you will, but I see no reason to get upset and certainly no reason to "demand" anything-
-this is between Rick and who-ever wants to make it confrontational (my take)...
...in reality it is no big deal and it is just a change in the way a blog is moderated (get outside and build a cob bench or something already =)
I guess it all started when enpen/Jason called for Rick to resign or something in an email between them-all (which I don't get nor do I need to).
Oly = too much drama, not enough queens (<-- OK, that didn't make much sense, I'm just trying to provide a bit of whimsy =)
I hope they take you up on your mediator offer
Nt
Yes, it is hard to follow.
From the perspective of a casual Olyblogger, who visits regularly because it has good hyperlocal news and conversation (and gossip), and who doesn't care about governance structures or theoretical philosophies of community engagement or crap like that, it is very hard to figure out how a bunch of volunteers who basically agree with each other can't manage to run a web site together.
Actually, I do know. I've been there, and I've seen relationships get much worse than this over issues much more significant that this. It's all about personal pettiness and the inability to effectively deal with personal pettiness in oneself and others. (And, yep, I've been guilty of that too.)
One thing I've learned is that sudden unilateral actions don't work. (If you are so inclined, insert masturbation joke here.)
Another thing I've learned is that not talking about it, and pretending it doesn't exist, actually will work for a while -- but eventually will fail catastrophically.
If any of this has a negative impact on the things that attract the visitors to Olyblog (as defined by the visitors, not by the "leaders"), then the visitors will leave and none of this will matter any longer anyway.
Matthew
"can't manage to run a web site together"
very harsh comment
Well, you didn't ask that question Matthew, and I was just talking about reading the posts...
...is it that hard?
In a more literal answer to your question,
Yes, it was hard to figure out, for someone not familiar with the backstory, because the initial posts were kinda cryptic. I appreciate the subsequent fuller explanations.
And I think "can't run a website together" is self-evidently and literally accurate.
That said, I'm not trying to be too harsh, just real. If they can't do it together, well...then don't. Do something else. But recognize that Olyblog will be changed, for better or worse.
And perhaps I'm just a bit sad that good things sometimes go bad for stupid reasons. (I'm hoping that Olyblog won't go bad, but obviously some relationships did.)
Matthew
I can only speclate for now
But a little context is available here (in the first link).
If Olyblog is ever to be a community-run resource, the docents must be immediately reinstated and personal conflicts resolved or suspended. Only then can next steps be considered. There will be no progress to that end as long as a "this is my blog" Sword of Damocles hangs over Olyblog. Trust and goodwill must be reestablished.
But perhaps that's not what Rick has in mind anymore. That's fine too, it's his blog. Added later: And I'm not being sarcastic.
starts have stops along the way
OlyBlog has been very, very good to me. I'm still a relatively new Olympian; our nest has green leaves. OlyBlog provided me a place where I could share my developing love of Olympia and in return find a warm and welcoming community. But I still have a lot to learn about being an Olympian.
stevenl, golly gee,
you made me laugh with ambergris.
Your midget made my family smile
I couldn't walk your shoes a mile.
I'll be around, this city's small,
Chance would laugh were it the Mall.
"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe
The docent model...
...is just one of many possible approaches to involving the community, and it has its strengths and weaknesses. Another model would be to have open meetings (physical) where decision-making and planning occurs. I would like to try this model for a change. I'm sure it will also have strengths and weaknesses. But, this is an experiment, so the only way to learn anything is by changing a few variables.
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
I am more than a variable.
So are the rest of us, more than variables.
I might be misunderstanding you here Rick. If so, apologies.
I've all along understood that this is your site, always supported that. I wish you'd been able to make these changes a little more gracefully so that I and others didn't feel a big -ouch- as the door slammed in our faces.I am very sorry about that.
You, Emmett, Rob R., and Rob W. did nothing to deserve the door slam, and I apologize. I also didn't mean to communicate that you folks were an experiment. I appreciate all the hard work that you've done over the years, and I hope that you'll continue to blog your heart out over here.
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
not an experiment?
Back into the cage with you!
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
I'm not surprised
nt
Thanks for this Gug
Obviously there was a breakdown, and some were not happy with the resulting call to action. It's really too bad.
Not to shamelessly link to my own blog
Shame, shame, shame
But thanks for posting about this issue and providing a link to the "conversation."
I'm not sure the goal of Olyblog is to be the one and only blog. I think it's the blog that promotes local citizen journalism and was a blog run by members of that community, not just the owner. The latter is a very attractive quality. The docent model has some problems, I agree. Without clearly assigned responsibilites, too many things fall through the cracks. The docent model, however, is also the only reason I signed on to Olyblog. Still, something needs to change. But that change should be the product of a community conversation, not a unilateral decision. If one desires broader ownership of and commitment to Olyblog, you do so by engaging the community.
RSS plug-in
I'd love to see OlyBlog as a content hub for folks to RSS-in from other 'blogs.
Build your own
I want to do this, but don't have the spare cash.
Something like FeedTacoma.
What kind of cash
~$100 give or take
A disappointing turn for OlyBlog
I don't know what the motivation could have possibly been for this, Rick, but a personal dispute between you and Jason doesn't warrant this response, in my opinion.
We can only wait and see what is in store for OlyBlog. I became a docent here because I wanted to be a part of a community resource. Not having community members involved in moderating the site and planning for the future, in my opinion, makes OlyBlog less of a community resource.
There's a lot more going on in my head, but that's enough for now.
How long did this experiment last?
1.5 years
Half the life of Olyblog by my count.
Also, just a further editorial comment, I'm partly to blame for the downturn in the docency. I wasn't active on the threads, I didn't attend meetings and should have resigned a year or so ago.
I think you should have
Drinks are...
Beers indeed.
Could you wear a sign?
I look exactly like Edward James Almos
Or perhaps a fedora with an
Awww, c'mon
He does not look like Wilford Brimley
Regardless of what name badge he might be wearing.
Mondays at the Broho, huh? Will the earthquake if I walk in the door? Afterall I'm not really hyperlocal. I'm from Scott Lake.
nt
That just depends on how
That just depends on how much weight you've put on since I saw you last. Otherwise, I doubt it. Besides, I'd probably be the only one there and I don't quake...I roll.
Anyway, the Broho is mostly a convenient place for me to hang out until someone comes up with a venue that works. Perhaps no one is interested. Okay, So let's expand the scope beyond Olyblog and talk about local blogging in general.
I suppose a line about...
Well, an explicit condition on this thread is
change is ok...
...and volunteers will volunteer in whatever capacity as suits them...
I never thought that "the docent model" was a mechanically sound idea for an online community, so I'm eager to see other designs "experimented" with =).
Thank you to all of the
Glad you brought that up