tag:google.com,2010:buzz:z13lxtijjwvajncg504ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
28 Oct 2010 28 Oct 2010 Mobile Public
Group discussion is something that is extremely important and at the core of what it is to be hum...
Group discussion is something that is extremely important and at the core of what it is to be human. Reed recognised that group forming networks have extraordinary power as the volumes go up. Networks that make group forming ridiculously easy should do well. And yet both online and offline, we have yet to find or create the right tools to enable group forming and group discussion. There are many attempts but they are all broken in some way and often that failure is not obvious from the design. I have yet to see a system that really works well for few-to-few communication.
Group discussion is something that is extremely important and at the core of what it is to be human. Reed recognised that group forming networks have extraordinary power as the volumes go up. Networks that make group forming ridiculously easy should do well. And yet both online and offline, we have yet to find or create the right tools to enable group forming and group discussion. There are many attempts but they are all broken in some way and often that failure is not obvious from the design. I have yet to see a system that really works well for few-to-few communication.
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tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z13lxtijjwvajncg504ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1288259204491000
Thomas Morffew Thomas Morffew 110352049954858592591
I think Buzz is a good effort. 28 Oct 2010 28 Oct 2010
tag:google.com,2010:buzz-comment:z13lxtijjwvajncg504ccnti2wb4ejnxysk0k:1288260028181000
Julian Bond Julian Bond 106416716945076707395
Thomas Morffew Indeed. There's a tension between topic based and group based discussion. If I want to talk specifically about electric bicycles (for instance) Buzz doesn't cut it. Neither does Twitter, Facebook, orkut or whatever. I need to go to google groups, yahoogroups or one of several web forum based sites. Each of those has it's own problems usually due to the medium affecting the style of discussion. However if I find friends in one of those forums, it's uncomfortable taking the discussion off topic. I really need to switch to a group based discussion or go looking for the niche site for the new topic.

Perhaps the tension is not between topic and group but between structured and unstructured.
28 Oct 2010 28 Oct 2010