Re: [NTLK] Fighting Complacency within the Newton Community

From: Apostolos Koutropoulos <der_admiral_at_mac.com>
Date: Sun Jul 30 2006 - 18:11:49 EDT

Sorry, but all I have to say is "LOL"
I know you mean well, but the Newton community (like other online
communities of its kind) is a community of practice, and such requirements
you propose are against the grain of communities of practice. This causes
the exact opposite effect of what you hope to accomplish.

I think the current socratic method of newtontalk (ask and ye shall receive
an answer) is the best method. Of course there is discussion that goes on,
but the socratic method is how we help fellow newton users.

Just my two cents

On 7/30/06 4:54 PM, "MKow1234@aol.com" <MKow1234@aol.com> wrote:

> Many data exchanging communities require that every participant at some point
> provide some direct contribution by uploading and transmitting data from
> their computer to other members of the community. This sharing/participation
> requirement is a key factor in helping to keep the whole system going. In
> file/data
> exchanging communities such as bit-torrent, etc, members are penalized for
> lack of participation up to a certain minimum standard.
>
> I propose that the Newton Community adopt a similar requirement. Users would
> be required to offer up information publicly, based upon their own Newton
> experimentation and usage. If a member sought answers on Newtontalk.net at
> some
> point in time, they should also have responded in some helpful, meaningful way
> to some other member's posted question at some point as well.
>
>
> The bottom line would be this: you should NOT be permitted to just lurk in
> the background without ever offering anything constructive or productive to
> the
> Community. This is just leeching, and it does not strengthen our Community.
> Nor should users of Newtontalk.net be allowed to consistently ask advice and
> questions without at some point responding in kind to offer their helpful
> advice
> and observations to another member of the Community.
>
>
> We would need some kind of baseline, such as requiring every Newtontalk.net
> member to respond in a constructive manner a minimum of 3-6 times in a sample
> 90-day period. If members did not contribute something approaching this
> minimal
> requirement, their account could be frozen until they provided an explanation
> (to a designated peer review board) as to why they had not contributed.
>
>
> There are a lot of very intelligent people who regularly visit Newtontalk:
> people with Master's degrees, PhD's, advanced business and technical
> knowledge,
> creative talents, and so forth. Yet, I would venture to guess that 99% of
> these talented individuals seldom if ever contribute something back. I don't
> think
> this is a lot to ask. By sharing our knowledge and experience, by creating
> new content, and by continually trying to advance the Newton platform, we
> remain
> a strong and supportive community. We all benefit from this.
>
>
> Matt K.
> Detroit, Michigan, USA
>

*------v--------*
Technology geek
*------^--------*

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Received on Sun Jul 30 18:12:56 2006

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