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

[Laurie J. Rich]

Web-based UIs, though, can be alterable.  I have huge numbers of
Greasemonkey scripts installed on Firefox that do just that -- for a
variety of forum types.  Since I, too, am not good with the
many-clicks-for-one-discussion thing.

Wikis don't alter well under that kind of scripting, though.

On 10/4/07, Marc Hartstein <marc.hartstein at alum.vassar.edu> wrote:
> 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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>


-- 
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired,
signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not
fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953