I just realized that I think one of the main reasons I’ve been quite frustrated in general over the past few years is that I have had no creative outlet other than this blog. This is quite hilarious when you consider that I used to do the following.
An excellent interview with David Weinberger over on YouTube as he describes the basis of the Cluetrain Manifesto and the perils of identity systems (which I totally agree is a bad approach).
In my last post, I mentioned that community-based administration is a much more effective way to administer a community than the use of spam catcher bots, moderation, or forced registration. I’d like to talk about this a little further in relationship to what I’d actually like to see in blogging software today to make community-based administration much easier for the main site owner to delegate to his community members. Again in effect creating the situation where the larger a community becomes, the easier it becomes to manage (instead of the opposite effect which is happening on so many blogs today).
In my last post, I mentioned that I thought it was ludicrous to try to control the spammers on your site by trying to control everyone entirely. Why? Because if you do, you will not only succeed in driving away the spammers but also your community as well. I mean would you want to live in a community where your freedom of speech was restricted? Of course not but how do you get around this problem while still giving people an open voice? Well below is not a perfect answer (because there are no perfect answers) but it is a practical and effective one that actually allows you to use the strengths of your community, the people within it, to aid you in controlling this problem as a collective group (which is what communities should be all about).
Before I describe the approach though, I want to elaborate a bit more upon the current situation of blogs. Right now it seems that when a blog has a few visitors (like my own for example), comments are low and spam usually isn’t a problem, therefore I myself can administer my own site quite easily at this point in time. As the community around a site grows though, the comments increase in number as well. This brings more awareness of the community to others “malcontents” shall we say who would like to take advantage of the community for their own purposes. Imagine them like thieves and scoundrels infiltrating a thriving growing community.
Therefore, once my site gets very popular and attracts a lot of attention, this problem will probably grow beyond the means of me administering it on my own. It would be like having a single sheriff in a massive metropolis trying to maintain law and order. It’s impossible. This is why site owners usually revert to enabling robots (i.e. spam catchers) to help them maintain order, security gates that moderate those who can speak, or an identity system that tracks their users and only allows those authorized to speak to do so. What is wrong with all of these approaches is that all of them still keep the site owner in control like some fascist dictator who doesn’t trust anyone else to control his kingdom but himself. Yet for a community to be sustainable over a long period of time, trust needs to be an integral part of it.
Ok onto the solution and this will be another one of those “Everything I Learn In Life, I Learned From Video Games”. Back four years ago or so, when I used to play Counter-Strike, I was within a clan that had their own server where in effect we were doing the same thing as people do on blogs today. We we’re creating a community. Like a blog, the more popular that our clan CS server became, the more malcontents arrived on the scene to spoil things. So how did we get around this. Again we leveraged the power of the community around us. Instead of forcing everyone to go through an “Iron Curtain” to access the server, we kept the server completely open to everyone and elevated the roles of community members in helping us keep the “riff raff” out. In effect, we rewarded and empowered our long time community members.
Basically we gave these key community members (who had been a part of the community a while already) administration access to the server so that they could self-administer the server if we weren’t there. Thus the larger our community became, the more easily were we able to administer the server because more and more people were chipping in to help out. After all, we didn’t own the community (even though we created it), everyone did. Therefore why not let everyone truly participate within it and help it grow?
Now just to clarify, people weren’t the only ones administering the server. We did have bots that automatically followed set rules to deal with malcontents who without question were breaking the rules. For example, if a flood of messages (i.e. 10 in one second) appeared, the bot would detect this and kick the person automatically for spamming. If a person repeatedly shot another person on their own team, again they were kicked automatically. The key thing to realize here is that the bots were only used when something was completely obvious. All other situations were left up to human judgement, in effect letting the community administer itself (even to the point of allowing the community to vote someone off the server).
So to clarify what I’m getting at here, instead of setting up “Iron Curtains” on your site and making them your own little dictatorship, why not instead reward and empower your long time members of your community and give them some administration rights. While a lot of blogging systems don’t include all of the tools necessary for good community-based administration (i.e. banning rights to ban spammers IP’s, notification messages to inform the master site owner of the ban, etc), you can still at the very least give certain trusted people in your community the ability to delete comments on their own, so that spam can be removed from the site. Yes, this means that someone might see the spam on your site for the short period that it is there. And yes this means that things won’t be perfect and they may be a little messy but hey that’s life. Again it isn’t perfect. The key thing is that your community can retain it’s voice and in elevating certain members you’re actually creating a stronger community because they will actually feel like they are contributing to the success of the community as a whole.
I’ve always been an advocate of getting out on the Web and commenting on other’s people sites as not only does it generate more interest on their site but it also can generate interest on your own site as well. Lately however I’ve been noticing more and more people either moderating their comments, adding anti-spam catchers, or insisting on registration before commenting. Well basically I’ve had enough of all this crap and I’ve decide that I’m tired of feeling like some homeless person on the street who isn’t allowed into the building because of the way he looks. “Buggeroff! You’ve got nothing we want to hear!”
Um, what happened to the openness of the Web? The great equalizer? People getting tired of it already? Oh well, at the very least I’ve decided that if I’m going to reply to a post or topic on another site now, I’ll be doing it on my own site instead. It’ll be like my own little rogue radio station where I can broadcast to the world on whatever topic I feel like without be censored or blocked in any way.
Update: I’ve decided to join everyone else and remove my comments too! Feels great to be part of the “in” crowd now! Wonder if Britney Spears is reading my blog now!? Maybe I should check my referrer log!? 🙂
Update: Ok enough already. Jokes over. Comments are back up. 🙂
If I could explain in one word what I’d like to see Web 2.0 permitting, it would be “interoperability”. Basically think of the Web like your computer works now. Each folder or application that you use on your computer would be like a different Web 2.0 service that you can switch to without any problems. For example, some people may use Picasa for image management on their computers while others may use ACDSee. Doesn’t matter which one you choose, both give you easy access to the same content. The same should apply to Web 2.0 services.
For example, I might be using Flickr right now for my image hosting. Yet what if tomorrow another service comes out that I’d like to use instead and I’d like to switch over to it. What would this entail for me?
Pretty simple right? Not! 🙂
Here’s what I’d like to see with Web 2.0 services instead then to make things a little easier.
More and more you hear people saying that it is the little things in life that matter the most. I have to laugh at this because what most people define as being a little thing, I would define as being a very big thing because usually that thing has a lot of meaning in that person’s life. For example, you hear people say that it is little things like spending time with their kids that makes their day or life. Again, I don’t see this as a little thing but something huge. If that child adds so much meaning and joy to your life, shouldn’t you be spending as much time as possible with them? Again this relates to my previous post on distractions, as we all need to decide what is really important and meaningful in our life.
To be honest, working in the “typical job” of today where I would be working 10 to 12 hour days for a boss who doesn’t really care about me as a whole person is what I would call a “little thing” because it brings no joy or meaning (or passion for that matter) to my life. That’s one reason why I’m quite happy working only six hours a day right now because it gives me more time to balance my life out and do the things with those around me that provide meaning and enjoyment to my life (i.e. wife, family, friends, and yes even my wonderous feline companions who seem to teach me so much about life without even saying a single word).
Dave Seah has another interesting post entitled Five Things On My Mind that again mirrors a lot of the thoughts I’ve been having as well over the past few years.
1. If conforming to structure is hard, maybe I shouldn’t worry about it.
I’ve realized that that the trick isn’t to conform to other’s structure but instead to create your own, as only then will you be happy. Of course, the greater trick is finding out the structure that works for you.
2. I can’t plan the future, so I’ll make it instead and see how it comes out.
Often times I realize that it isn’t so much the need to predict the future but instead just trusting your intuition to going with what “feels” right to you. More often than not, my intuition has made me aware of the things that at the time only “felt” right but I couldn’t “prove” because I often times couldn’t fully explain what I was seeing or understanding, yet again it just “felt” right to me. Later down the road though, the proof that I needed and wanted usually did appear substantiating and making sense of what only “felt” right to me at the time. As the saying goes, all things are revealed in time. Therefore, sometimes it is more important to just start living life instead of continually planning it.
3. When I’m off the Internet, am I really fully present in the world?
His statements of going outside and experiencing the world in three dimensions is exactly how I’ve felt. The thing I realized though is that often this happens when I spend too much time inside in front of the computer. Often I’ll think back over the last few days and realize that I actually haven’t gone outside once. This may not seem weird to some people but I’m a person who loves nature and who rejuvenates when immersed within it. Therefore, not going outside, is like cutting off my oxygen supply. As I said, often times I don’t realize it until much later when I starting thinking why do I feel so crappy and cranky. I then think back to what I’ve been doing and slap my forehead to help wake myself up from my stupor. What I find really funny is that so many people are looking for these 3D virtual worlds online, yet the real world outside your window often times can offer you so much more if you just give it a chance.
4. Do I really want people to understand me? Or is that a sign that I’m doing the right thing?
Being understood is something that I myself am having troubles with and it is one of my greatest frustrations. However, I do realize why it is occurring. It is simple really. I’m what you would call a “pioneer” or “explorer” (and I’d say Dave fits into this description as well). My intuition lets me see things that others may often not. Some times I actually call it a curse because you feel like a person at the Tower of Babel trying to explain something to someone who just looks at you like you’re a raving lunatic with no sense of reality. The problem is that I actually do see reality quite clearly. The problem is that I seeing glimpses of this new reality that often occurs with paradigm shifts. And of course with paradigm shifts (and as I’ve been repeating over and over again on my site), the future isn’t so much a change of technology but a change of thinking. Often times people won’t see what you’re seeing unless you can give them that one special point of view that lets them see everything as you are seeing it. Again the problem is to figuring out which view is the best view to present to them. I’ve explained some things to some people from many different angles, yet they still don’t grasp what I’m seeing. Therefore sometimes I just decide to shutup and let time reveal things instead (which it eventually does).
5. Is there enough time?
I’m realizing that time is often an illusion. We make our days stressful and fast-paced because we choose to do so. Again this relates to my previous posts relating to distractions. To live in the moment and savour it, you need to let go of those distractions and focus on what you feel is the most important to you. Yes often times this can mean saying no (which is really hard for me) but when you break free, you’ll realize what I mean. It is like I said in an earlier post about looking out my window one day and seeing these white billowing clouds floating through the deep blue sky. For some reason, when I look at this beautiful view, time seemed to stand still and I felt like I could just sit their for eternity. Therefore again, your perception of time is just your point of view. Choose how you wish to perceive it based upon the values and beliefs that are important to you.
Last but not least I want to throw in a little thing that I’ve realized recently on my own as well. Instead of living your live upon a specific set of rules, instead live it upon your a broader set of principles or beliefs. Why? Because often times rules are very rigid, yet rigidity equal death. We need to be flexibility and adaptive if we want to step into the future as it is everchanging. It is like an explorer who steps out onto the shores of a new world for the first time. All he has with him is what he carries and the knowledge he acquired over the years. Does he turn in fear of the unknown, unsure of what to do if he encounters something new or does it instead step forward ready to see the wonders ahead of him, trusting himself that he’ll be able deal with them as they arise? There are no manuals or rule books for the unknown. You just have take that first leap and trust that you’ll be able to handle whatever you encounter, learning as you go.
I remember playing Quake 3 a long time ago on a few of the maps for the game that were situation in “space” with small bridges interconnecting between the different areas of the map. For anyone who remembers playing these maps, they knew that not only did you get a point for killing an opponent but you also lost a point for falling off the map (and falling to your death below in the “void”). For those who understood the basics of these maps, they soon realised that the normal strategy of killing as many opponents as possible wasn’t the most important thing. Instead staying on the map and avoiding falling off was actually the more important goal. Often if you could just stay on the map, you’d have a far higher score than those who continually fell off or got bumped off, as some would even have negative scores from falling so may times.
Why I’m bringing this up is that I’ve been realizing more and more in my life that distractions are what keeps me from achieving what I want. Again, I’m noticing that the strategy isn’t so much to focus on your goals (which is still important of course) but to instead to focus on avoiding the pitfalls of distraction along the way to achieving your goals. This is doubly important today as there are so many wonderful distractions out there to lure us away from our goals like sirens calling out to sailors to lead them to their doom.
Here’s a quick example of what I mean. Back in the nineties, I worked for a cybercafe that had a lot of great people working there and I loved their company, as we’d often sit and discuss various things of interest during the slow points of the day. In addition, during our breaks we had the opportunity to play the latest computer games on the machines there. In effect, there were a lot of enticing and enjoyable aspects to the job. However, one of the owners of the place was probably one of the worst bosses I’ve ever had in my life. He talked to people like they were two year olds who had no concept of what they were talking about, no matter their previous experience. In addition, he was constantly rude to staff and even to customers at times (yet I’m sure he never realized this).
Anyways, the point I’m trying to make here is that it was only when I decided I would no longer partake of playing on the computers, in other words avoid the enjoyments and distractions of the job, that I was able to focus on actually getting out of that job and finding another one. Previous to that point, no matter how hard I tried to focus, I always got distracted by the enjoyments of the job and always felt that “well, it actually isn’t that bad” when in fact, yes it really was that bad. Again, how I achieved my goal was not so much focusing on it but instead focusing on avoiding the distractions along the way (which in turn kept me from achieving my goal).
Laurence G. Boldt: “Learn again how to play, even as a child. One in touch with the vitality of the inner child throws himself into life. He is free to move spontaneously from intuition. His actions are neither dependent on the validation of others nor blocked by his own self-censure. No longer a mere observer or spectator, he actively participates in his life. This child-like spirit of engagement is the road to life’s work. As Thomas Merton said, ‘A man knows he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.'”.