Slide 1:
Hubski: A Thoughtful Web
Yes, it looks like a wall of text. But in that with that text we create meaningful conversations, relationships and that is where the big ideas happen. Like anything worthwhile in life, it takes an investment of time to see what Hubski truly has to offer. (edited thenewgreen's recent comment)
It has also been described as an online pub with creative and thoughtful people belly-up at the bar of reason and sanity. It is a location for intelligent, rational social discourse and offers habitat for creative ideas to roam and grow as they become self-supporting. (katakowsj recent comment)
Slide 2:
So how to I get invested? How do I find content that is meaningful to me?
Slide 3:
Let's start with tags. Click "tags" at the top of the page. Here, we see all the tags that have ever been used.
Click a tag that interests you. Follow that tag. But more importantly, follow the people who use that tag.
Slide 4:
Hubski is about following people. These people will have similar, but not identical, interests. This is partially how meaningful discussions happen - by talking with people who are interested in things you've never known about or with people who have viewpoints that differ from your own.
Slide 5:
But how do I know if I really want to follow that person? What if they're a weirdo?
Well, they seem to share a common interests with you. So that's a good reason. If you want to get a deeper sense of that person, click their name. You can use this page to check out what else they're about.
Slide 6:
Okay, this is tedious. I want instant gratification and I want it now.
Slide 7:
If you want to look at posts, regardless of who you follow, you can click on the hubwheels at the top. Happy?
This is another way to follow people that share content that you find interesting.
Don't be afraid to follow people. You can always unfollow them later.
Slide 8:
Is that it?
Well there are a lot of layers and nifty features on hubski. Things like data-filled TMI page and the awesome "badged posts" page. The chatter page only has comments that are recently posted. You'll discover more and more as you explore.
Slide 9:
Remember, hubski is what you make it. Share stuff that interests you, start discussions about stuff you don't know much about, posts original things you create, or just post that adorable story about your weird toe. Share, follow, learn, discuss, and most of all, enjoy.
Slide 10:
Links to posts with more info? How to contact mk/tng? How to report a bug & request features? What else? All those stupid little details.
Now rip me a new one, lovers. I wrote this is 20 minutes and you know I prefer pretty things over writing, so, help. Feel free to revise, rewrite, take slides out, add slides, move shit around, tell me I'm a horrible writer, you hate my headphones, whatever. I need you to perfect this.
Thanks insom. Do you see this as a set of intro slides? I ask, because forwardslash has been putting together an intro.js type of tutorial (that highlights and explains elements) for new users. Do you think we should we have one, or the other, or both? I'm one of those people that never reads instructions, so I'm probably not the best judge here.
I'm not sure. There are two ways to go about it. I really love the intro.js, but I'm not sure if it can fully capture everything we want to capture. My main concern with intro is this: Will the focus will be on the navigation and aspects of a the page/UI rather than capturing the essence of hubski and how to make it work for you. I know my writeup isn't the best at capturing this yet but I hope we can create something that really boils down the experience of hubski - the following of people, the building of relationships, the serendipitous findings of new things and original content that comes with following people over a forum based on one topic, etc. I think the JS is well done and pretty, but can it capture these things as it points out the elements? I am in no way 100% attached to slides and won't be insulted if none of this gets used. I just want someway to introduce new users to the site thats inviting and captures what hubski is all about and allows new users to be guided a little bit so they don't just see a wall of text and peace out. Perhaps we can take a look at the intro.js and find a way to integrate more of the bigger picture as well as the specific elements.
I like the idea of pointing out different functionalities on Hubski. What the hub wheel is, how to share a post etc. These are all things that people may not automatically know. What I think may be dangerous is telling someone how to use Hubski beyond submitting a post etc. Different people use Hubski differently.
What if when people joined, the first thing they experience is the tag wall or whatever it's called? Then, maybe once they start clicking on threads, say, #science or something and they see some user names pop-up more than once, for example, insomniasexx a suggestion could appear that they follow insomniasexx since the new user seems to be interested in some of the same things? Basically, what if the features kind of revealed themselves to the user as they begin to use hubski? If the user hasn't tried something yet then maybe the user could receive a notification or a mail or something?