Discussion paradigms (was Re: [Icehouse] IGDC Winter (and beyond))

[Marc Hartstein]

On Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 01:57:34PM -0400, Dale Sheldon wrote:
> On Thu, 4 Oct 2007, David Artman wrote:
>
>> Summary: forums are best, wikis a close second (functionally), and lists 
>> are lame
>
> I feel (almost) exactly opposite.  Forums are lame (imho), wiki talk pages 
> are lamer still, and lists are great.

I disagree with both of you. Forums are conceptually great, but the
typical execution is lame.

Mailing lists allow *me* to choose a UI, so I can decide how I want the
data presented and how I want to interact with it.  Most forums are
implemented with only a single (these days typically web-based) UI layer
available.  Using Wiki has the dual problem that it forces and single UI
*and*, as Dale mentions, it's not designed for discussion.

The UI thing is a big deal for me.  If I have to mouse around to read
anything and to go from topic to topic and to reply etc, I'm much less
likely to interact with the community as much as if going from message
to message (in a threaded fashion, no less) is as simple as pressing
'j', and replying is as simple as pressing 'r' or 'L'.

I'd support a move to a multi-UI supporting forum, but I only know of
one, and I'm not sure whether the project has all the features we'd need
to justify the switch.
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