Re: Comments on Webizen proposal

On Mon, 12 May 2014 18:43:30 +0200, Robin Berjon <robin@w3.org> wrote:

> On 12/05/2014 18:32 , Ian Jacobs wrote:
>> Without more information about what purpose the card would serve I
>> can't really say much. However, in general I think a "card" may be
>> less useful than a digital badge, or a physical badge, or a sticker.
>> Those things also do more to promote the program than something
>> hidden in a wallet.
>
> Agreed. It feels like those "Certified Detective|Secret Agent|Whatever"  
> cards you could cut out and fill out yourself in kids books.

Yeah, that was what I was trying not to say in so many words.

>> I am concerned about opening up the W3C blog to a large number of
>> people due to the moderation cost.
>
> Also agreed.

I'm not so sure. If you set the bar clearly, it becomes something  
worthwhile. As Robin says, there are zillions of open platforms to blog  
in, and running another one is a bad idea IMHO. But if you suck up a bit  
of work at the start (or get it sub-managed by people like the AB so you  
only have to check a bit) to set the level for real, you might get some  
decent relevant community-provided content on the W3C blog, and get people  
aspiring to produce content at that level.

To be honest, I think the combination of effort required and value  
provided will make the moderation relatively painless (reject, reject,  
[…40 more…], Oh! Ask W3PR because this is actually interesting and  
well-written, reject…), *and* make the webizen project something where  
people really feel ownership *if* they want to reach to the standard  
required.

Voting rights seem difficult to value effectively in a context like  
webizens - if they matter you'll get a mass of candidates and the vote  
gets very random even with a system better than the one proposed (which is  
garbage if you have an extra 2 candidates), if not, you may not have  
enough candidates to fill an election.

> IMHO listing a lot of trinkets provided as "benefits" when most of them  
> are of very little value only serves to diminish the (perceived) value  
> of the overall package.

Agreed.

Cheers

> The heart of the project is about engagement and support. If I shell out  
> $100 I want voting rights and I want to support Web standards. I'd be  
> very happy with a t-shirt and two stickers so I can tell people how cool  
> I am to support a cool project (e.g. the "Let's Build a Goddamn Tesla  
> Museum" t-shirt is a great way to start up conversation about why you  
> would give money basically to a charity that supports science), but  
> please don't give me blogging rights (I already have those in a million  
> other places) or some low-value objects that'll just end up as more  
> landfill. It doesn't make the programme more appealing, it's just yet  
> more kipple, it's not eco-friendly, etc.
>


-- 
Charles McCathie Nevile - Consultant (web standards) CTO Office, Yandex
       chaals@yandex-team.ru         Find more at http://yandex.com

Received on Monday, 12 May 2014 17:32:19 UTC