(no subject)
Just finished my first panel here, and I'm beginning to wonder exactly what my chances of being able to pull off a return trip are.
The panel in question was "Craigslist and Online Community", and unfortunately, it seems to be a whole lot of... well, crap. It started out well, dealing with how the founder thought that his list had achieved such success, dealing with issues like trust, self-policing, customer service, and other good things, and degraded into a lefty rah-rah let's get Bush the fuck out of office.
Now I can't argue that I don't share this opinion, as the lefty blogs are a frequent starting point for my daily routine. Unfortunately I'm more of the opinion that this is not the way to develop community. In this case, politics are like a burr under a saddle. Something is *really* wrong, and people want to deal with it, but once it's not an issue, people will, quite frankly, forget about it. This is *not* online community; ever the pessimist, I fail to see how basing a social construct on a subject like "get Bush out of office" will succeed past doing its appointed task.
It's entertaining that the film I just hit beforehand, "League of Ordinary Gentlemen", set more things in my mind than the last panel did. "League" is the story of the decline and fall of the Rpofessional Bowlers Association", and its subsequent rebirth thanks to new ownership made from Microsoft alumni and some ad execs picked up from Nike. One of the speakers they had was the author of a book I read about in marasca's journal, "Bowling Alone", talking about the breakdown of community due to the privatization of entertainment. I can see that this is a book I need to check out. It may just give me an idea of the problem we're currently trying to solve at work, regarding developing an online community among faculty at work. Anyone out there with other ideas regarding community or the breakdown thereof?
Current plans: Panel on making the most of SXSW (I figure *someone* has to listen to the guys :) ), dinner at Magnolia Cafe (if the crowds have decreased somewhat) possibly preceded by another trip to the gym; Evening entertainment is "Super Size Me" and "Ju-On: The Grudge". I wish I liked the Dobie better, for all the films I'm seeing there. Some more air conditioning would definitely help.
The panel in question was "Craigslist and Online Community", and unfortunately, it seems to be a whole lot of... well, crap. It started out well, dealing with how the founder thought that his list had achieved such success, dealing with issues like trust, self-policing, customer service, and other good things, and degraded into a lefty rah-rah let's get Bush the fuck out of office.
Now I can't argue that I don't share this opinion, as the lefty blogs are a frequent starting point for my daily routine. Unfortunately I'm more of the opinion that this is not the way to develop community. In this case, politics are like a burr under a saddle. Something is *really* wrong, and people want to deal with it, but once it's not an issue, people will, quite frankly, forget about it. This is *not* online community; ever the pessimist, I fail to see how basing a social construct on a subject like "get Bush out of office" will succeed past doing its appointed task.
It's entertaining that the film I just hit beforehand, "League of Ordinary Gentlemen", set more things in my mind than the last panel did. "League" is the story of the decline and fall of the Rpofessional Bowlers Association", and its subsequent rebirth thanks to new ownership made from Microsoft alumni and some ad execs picked up from Nike. One of the speakers they had was the author of a book I read about in marasca's journal, "Bowling Alone", talking about the breakdown of community due to the privatization of entertainment. I can see that this is a book I need to check out. It may just give me an idea of the problem we're currently trying to solve at work, regarding developing an online community among faculty at work. Anyone out there with other ideas regarding community or the breakdown thereof?
Current plans: Panel on making the most of SXSW (I figure *someone* has to listen to the guys :) ), dinner at Magnolia Cafe (if the crowds have decreased somewhat) possibly preceded by another trip to the gym; Evening entertainment is "Super Size Me" and "Ju-On: The Grudge". I wish I liked the Dobie better, for all the films I'm seeing there. Some more air conditioning would definitely help.