Learning a lot of shit in my new role at a diversity and inclusion consulting firm. A lot of it is really interesting, though quite a lot of it is over my head. If anyone knows anything about automating workflows, Zoho, LMSs, or online learning, I'd love to have a chat. I know that I'm not super active here anymore, but I do come back! One of the things we're trying to accomplish with the online learning platform is a community for thoughtful, engaging discussion. If anyone would like to chime in to give their perspective on what makes hubski the kind of place that people want to come back to, or to engage with one another, I'd really like to hear those points of view. For me, part of the appeal of hubski is the individual personalities, and the space to interact with various, recognizable personalities over time. I also really like the willingness of the community to take ideas and run with them, whether it's the threads where people are collaborating on things just for the fuck of it, or continuing discussions over a number of threads over time. It would be great to get something similar going on in a more focused way, but I'm not sure if such a focus might have a negative effect on engagement. If anyone has thoughts on this point, I'm happy to hear those perspectives too!
But seriously, those who continue on hubski after the honeymoon tend to demonstrate qualities I appreciate.If anyone would like to chime in to give their perspective on what makes hubski the kind of place that people want to come back to, or to engage with one another, I'd really like to hear those points of view.
ummm, the ongoing possibility of meetups?
I've been thinking on these issues recently, and plan to eventually create a post to discuss it. For one, I believe that we can lower the entry barrier a bit once again, enabling new users to post more readily, and yet keep our anti-spam effective and low-effort. Here, we take the approach of putting as much moderation as possible in user's hands. I consider how we as people moderate our interactions in meatspace, and take a lot of cues from that. IMHO there are social dynamics that arise from top down moderation that can be positive in the short run, but often decay in the long run. I believe that the summation of individual choices results in the best of spaces, because participants do not have clear leaders which give them cause to champion opinions or to form factions that result from such opinions. I do not believe that there is such a thing as a proper space, or a safe space, or even a thoughtful space. However, I do believe that people can feel that spaces are proper, safe and/or thoughtful, and that they can choose to frequent them for those reasons. I believe the fact that physical architecture outlasts social architecture says much about the human condition. All this said, I do think that Hubski could sustain more thoughtful interaction than it does, and that it could be a better example or counter-example for online interaction in general. It's a goal I'd like to meet.
Man... you have hit all of my areas of (mild) expertise... Online Community. I've been moderating online communities since the mid-1980's. A good and positive community does not come without constant vigilant moderation, in subtle ways. (The Ban Hammer never works.) I have a facebook group of 2,500 people that we manage to keep polite and civil with a team of 6 moderators/admins. It is an art, not a science, and it is exhausting and requires constant tending. People who sit at keyboards are utter and complete dicks. Period. Workflows. Taught myself Microsoft Flow (now called Power Apps), which is built in to SharePoint. If you are asking about Zoho and LMS's, then I assume your company has not bought in to the full Microsoft environment (Active Directory, SharePoint, Outlook, etc.), and therefore MS Flow (and other associated apps) will be useless. Zoho and ZenDesk and even tools like SmartSheet are often used to automate data collection and dissemination... all are basically glorified FAQs and knowledgebases. They are all the same thing: A configurable database of objects that tries to make associating different objects with each other simple, or automated. There are three distinct branches here that each do different things, that you have conflated into one: - workflows, which attempt to create 'wizard-like' interfaces for data collection; - knowledge capture and dissemination, which are glorified databases, but are highly configurable environments where you build your own customized solution using the vendor's tools (Zoho, Smartsheet, ZenDesk, et al). The end result is never as good as the demos they show you, because you suck at designing with their tools (because you have never done it before) and will do it wrong, and before you can fix it, too many people at your organization will have already adopted it, and you will always be stuck with a half-finished solution; - learning management systems, which are effectively glorified XML file creators, that allow you to create a series of steps and if/then decision trees that contain assets like images/text/video, then output those steps and assets in a standard file format so they can be imported into other LMS's (because most large companies have their own LMS, and don't want to use yours, but they want your content in their system.) --- Effective online communities: 101 - Moderators are online 24x7 monitoring the system. - New users are only allowed in after some basic vetting steps. - Community rules are posted next to the commenting area. - A core group of "high power/visibility" users are connected together and coordinating efforts in a separate online chat (usually WhatsApp) where they strategize about how to guide conversations or tamp down embers before they become flames. - Any moderation is first done in private 1-on-1 conversation with the "problem user", discussing your concerns, and asking them to edit/update/delete their comment that caused the kerfuffle. - Users are almost never banned, but when they are, it is permanent. No returns. Note that none of this exists in Hubski. That's because Hubski doesn't follow the "rules" of community engagement; new people can't post, so they have to hang out for a bit and see the flavor of the place before they can interact with it. In every way, that is the "wrong way" to build a community... but look at us! I am not aware of any community-building tool that is designed from the start to make it hard for new people to interact. It's counter-intuitive, and it works for this unique space we have. I do not see how it could work using any of the off-the-shelf community tools available on the internet today; they are built with a different purpose in mind. Anyway. Yeah... those are my thoughts.
It's like you've been looking over my shoulder the whole time ;_; That said, thanks so much for your insights! If you'd be open to me further picking your brain, particularly about online community moderation, please let me know. What's here is really great, but I find myself wondering if showing you in more detail what I'm working with and discussing what we're going for might spark other thoughts. If you're not interested in that, then again, thank you for taking the time to collect and to share your experience with me.- knowledge capture and dissemination, which are glorified databases, but are highly configurable environments where you build your own customized solution using the vendor's tools (Zoho, Smartsheet, ZenDesk, et al). The end result is never as good as the demos they show you, because you suck at designing with their tools (because you have never done it before) and will do it wrong, and before you can fix it, too many people at your organization will have already adopted it, and you will always be stuck with a half-finished solution
Happy to chat about it, and help in any way I can. But you need to understand this is never a TOOLS problem. It's not something the right software can address. You can use any of dozens of different software tools. What it comes down to is the HUMANS who are pulling the strings in the background; the moderators. Not many people have the skills/perspective/talent to be a good moderator, and without the right people, the tool you choose won't matter. It's almost like you are approaching the problem from the wrong direction - looking at the tools first - rather than figuring out how to make your existing community leader's job easier. But yeah! Hit me up! Let's chat.
diversity and inclusion consulting firm
A firm that couldn’t have existed 20 years ago and though most likely a net positive for the world and needed, may not survive a recession. Tread carefully, my friend. But good on ya!
Cheers! Many companies survived the last recession that shouldn’t have due to special interests. Who knows? Maybe you’re right, maybe it will be the same, maybe the next recession is just around the bend. Hopefully, I’ll get no empirical data on that front!
I'd like to answer, but I feel like the ideas need some time to incubate. Ask again in a week?If anyone would like to chime in to give their perspective on what makes hubski the kind of place that people want to come back to, or to engage with one another, I'd really like to hear those points of view.