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- evolt is the best web community out there.
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- Making a Commercial Case for Adopting Web Standards
There is a new survey over at Netdiver asking about the new trend in independent (and not so independent) sites asking for payment. I tend to lean towards the vision of the web as network of communities and think that payment is only going to close many communities to new members (not to mention members without tons of disposable cash). Information wants to be free after all - that's what they say anyway [more info about that quote here].
I also question whether these sites are going to pay us for our contributions. What about sites that take surveys? Sites that ask for user comments? Sites that track our movements? And what about sites that ask for members to submit articles? How about sites like Slashdot? The value of some sites lies in their aggregation of visitor opinions. If sites start charging money for their content, shouldn't they also pay us for our contributions to their content?
The argument that it takes money to run sites, and that money must come from visitors, is only relevant if their are no other revenue streams possible. Perhaps asking for money for enhanced content - like streaming video and audio - is okay, but community-based sites and independent sites may die off if they force visitors to pay for their main content.
I'm just not sure that asking for money from visitors is more sustainable than banner-ads. What is stopping people from taking your idea for a site and providing the same sort of content elsewhere? If your site is so popular and so unique - then fine go for it. Unless you are confident that your site is impossible to replicate elsewhere, don't start charging for your content, or someone else will provide the same info for free.
And that would be a shame. Part of what makes the web such a beautiful concept is that you *can* find all kinds of different opinions, information and blather that you wouldn't normally be exposed to, and sometimes wouldn't be able to find elsewhere. If much of that information is hidden - only to be revealed by waving your credit card and chanting the magic words - the web won't be as beautiful a place anymore.
Posted by Me @ 04:07PM [Link]
Okay... I have a confession. You already know I'm a little strange. Maybe now, you'll all know just how kooky I really am. I've decided that I'm ready to share the true extent my kookiness with the world. So here it is...
Every once in awhile I reach over to my husband's belly button, scrape out the belly button lint and then hold it on the end of my finger and make a wish on it. Then I gently blow it away. It's kinda like making a wish with a puffy seeded dandelion and blowing the seeds away in the wind. Only it's belly button lint.
But last night I found out I'm not the only one who does strange things with BBL (belly button lint for the uninitiated). In fact, someone's created a whole web site and survey about BBL. Apparently, you have to have just the right amount of belly hair in just the right places to create BBL. The site discusses all kinds of whacked out (and not-so-whacked-out) theories about where BBL comes from, why it's often a greyish-blue colour, who gets it and why. They even asked people to fill out a survey and participate in belly hair shaving experiments to determine why BBL exists.
But nobody admitted to wishing on their husband's belly button lint. So I guess I'm strange.
Posted by Me @ 11:57AM [Link]
It took me a long time to get around to starting a blog. I thought it was kind of geeky. I knew that some critics laughed at people who wrote blogs. But in the end, I decided to write because I wanted to practice writing. I wanted to get back into the swing of it. I haven't written anything even remotely creative since high-school.
It is definitely self-indulgent, this type of writing. Who knows who will read it? Who cares? Is there any body out there?
Erika Meyer has written a great piece about web diaries. In it she tells us why it's okay to ignore the group of popular kids in the corner laughing at all the people writing blogs.
Web writing is different at its very core. Words (and for that matter, images) on the Web are not set in stone, clay, paper, ink, or any other long-lasting material. On the Web, words are made of pixels – of electricity – of light. How could words made of light behave anything like words made of stone?
And on that note, I think I'm done for the day.
Posted by Me @ 07:24PM [Link]
So Dave and I finally bought a new house. The housing market in Toronto is crazy. People are paying way too much money for houses and getting into bidding wars over dilapidated old houses. It's nuts! But our fabulous real estate agent Tami Genge helped us find a great house in the area we wanted, at the price we wanted and managed to finagle her way into not getting us into a bidding war! It's the second time she's helped us find "our house" and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
Anyway, we take possession on May 31st and we'll be doing some renos so who knows when we're moving in... I can just see us, covered in construction dust, eating out of take out boxes for the next 6 months. If anyone knows a good *reliable* plumber (in Toronto) please, please, please email me!
Posted by Me @ 12:37PM [Link]
Trite. I know.
Anyway, it has taken me so long to get around to actually doing this. Maybe, someone, somewhere will actually read it.
Have you heard about geocaching? I've been asking everyone. Someone (very brilliant and interesting) posted this link to the evolt mailing list, and I've been fascinated ever since.
I finally convinced my husband to borrow the GPS unit his boss has. Now I just have to convince him to let me go out treasure hunting with it! I'll let you know what adventures I get up to.
Posted by Me @ 04:00PM [Link]
I was reading Commonspace last night and they were talking about how the Internet economy wasn't just whiz bang let's make tons of cash and then have a bubble that bursts. The internet has a gift economy, whereby everyone profits because everyone gives - either knowledge or stuff or entertainment... The internet is made up of virtual communities that become the marketplace of ideas - and ideas have value. They also talked about the open source community and how that was changing the economy, because it was no longer true that scarcity = value, but that ideas (and code) that became more valueable as everyone improves upon them and can tinker with them.
[read more]
Posted by Me @ 03:59PM [Link]
The prolific lister Madhu "Mad Man" Menon has written a very good article on his blog about how to avoid flame wars. He illustrates and gives very good examples of how to respond (and disagree vociferously) without offending.
Of course, I still get a sick voyeristic sort of thrill watching a flame war on a list - provided that it doesn't happen too often.
Posted by Me @ 03:58PM [Link]