Showing posts with label NewAssignment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NewAssignment. Show all posts
Thursday, November 1, 2007
no "community" for NewAssignment?
MORE: looks like Jay's got much more serious issues to deal with... oh, well -- as always, I hope he succeeds but I think it's a big mistake to not even attempt to provide some sort of continuity and keep the people after you got them interested...
Sunday, December 10, 2006
"interpretative history" (no shit!)
Jay: great interview!
Arlan: I agree with you that it's disturbing but I'm not so sure objectivity will become more critical as a matter of course.
Delia
P.S. The way I see it, the idea that we are just not naturally objective is a valid one. I think the disturbing part is to conclude that because we all have our smaller or bigger handicaps in that respect, we should just revel in them and not even attempt to overcome them. That seems to result in abandoning the job altogether. (http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/11/14/ptwo_mcquaid.html#comment30557)
More suggestions
I think there is a big difference between what works at the beginning as compared with later on (from the *volunteer’s* POV)…
For instance, most people take some time to become valuable contributors (and for good reason: what do they really know at the beginning just how worthy of their time a particular project is, for instance).
So it would be a mistake not to accommodate for that — I think newcomers should be treated differently (they need to get the feeling that their contributions are *valued* even if they are not necessarily all that valuable…)
And I see a little bit of a problem with this as far as the current NA site goes. I think, at a minimum, all people who made comments (especially if it was their first comment) should have been greeted. If they are not… plenty of them would not bother commenting again… And this probably also affects *potential* contributors that haven’t posted a comment yet (they see what treatment others got and are less likely to post themselves).
re: “A lot of what Asa does amounts to cheerleading for people who are doing things that add value”
and more ...
re: this comment...
Jay,
Looks good! Don't get discouraged if you don't get a "huge turnout" -- it's just a starting point. I think what's important is that people get the feeling that you are *sincere*... that you'd only suggest projects that you would yourself participate in and (to the extent that it's feasible) are there to provide assistance if needed.
Delia
P.S. Feel free to email if you'd like my opinion on anything.
(http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/11/02/pppp_ancr.html#comment29731)
Jay,
I'd consider adding a chat room to the NA page (I think the immediacy aspect of it would be much more conducive to encouraging people to gather and talk among each other).
It could be a free for all (and see what happens) or much more structured (I'd see if I could get the advisers together for a weekly hourly chat -- maybe a digest of the week's news with an emphasis on stuff relevant to NA -- , on Saturday afternoons for instance).
Delia
P.S. Something tells me that could prove to be a very powerful magnet: you, Dan Gilmore, Jeff Jarvis and (maybe) Craig Newmark casually talking about news...
Re: why I said "(maybe) Craig"
Jay,
Just to clarify. The way I see it, Craig comes with a caveat: you'd *have* to get him to actually TALK (beyond his regular cutesy fare -- that would get boring quick) and I suspect that's not an easy feat. If you can't do that,(my opinion is that) the "chat circle" (you, Dan Gillmor and Jeff Jarvis) would be stronger without him.
Delia
Jay, wondering if you think this could work:
re:
# Delia Says:November 14th, 2006 at 2:12 am
Jeff,
Interesting experiment, except the other way around: get 'the internet' to assemble a news portal that ignores newspaper and wire services for 24 hours after their release on the internet and see how well it would or would not work.
Delia
P.S. Wondering if NA could test this (just state the premise and invite contributors). You'd probably have to do it for quite some time before you conclude if it could work and how well.
(http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/11/13/how-to-kill-newspapers-in-one-easy-lesson/#comments
P.P.S. Forgot to mention in that comment that part of the premise would be that they could not use info from the printed version, either (a commenter suggested that could be done).
Second thought: forget about the 24 hour thing (completely ban all info originating with newspapers and wire services)
The point of the experiment would be to test if you can get decent NEWS -- as opposed to opinion based on news already gathered -- without using info that originates with the newspapers or wire services.
Of course, there is plenty of this stuff *somewhere* on the internet... but it's not all (or even lots of it) in one place so I think it's much harder to form a well informed opinion on... say... how would news fare if (God forbid) the newspapers were dead tomorrow...
So if you could get a lot of the people who actually go out and gather news themselves, to at least post a link on a master page connected with NA, I think you'd get a much better idea of what's really going on...
I also think it would probably encourage at least *some* new people (that are not currently going out and gathering news) to at least consider doing so...
Delia
P.S. I posted a follow-up comment on the Buzzmachine blog... well... I *tried* to :)... and it appears that Jeff Jarvis "moderated" against it... I don't know why... If there is something not quite right about this idea, don't bother answering (I'll understand). D.
NAN's first project (sort of...)
MORE: my posts...
I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to attract and keep *NewAssignment* volunteers.
I know you said the AIGA people will be the “core” of the network (which implies others, presumably NA volunteers among them, would also be part of it) but I don’t think that provides enough direction and cohesion for what will hopefully end-up being a network of NA volunteers that will be here to stay (so you could count on them for future projects).
Things that I’d consider:
— have the NA volunteers post the pictures uploaded to a separate page — something connected with NA, preferably — (not directly on the official project page) and just SHARE them with the project;
— this would not only give a sense of “community” (ah — I know you don’t seem to like that word much… just let me know what you’d prefer I used instead and I’ll just do that…) but by separating the NA contributions, would give you a good idea of how many volunteers *you* have at this point;
— or you could ask for some sort of contact info when uploading the pics and compile a list of people who have volunteered with NA (with their *permission*, of course — a question such as “would you consider volunteering with NA in the future?” would probably help)
I’d also try to take the project on the ground (even in a very minor way):
e.g. I’d *seriously* consider being PART OR IT: I mean, pick a voting place most convenient to you and actually *do* what you are asking the volunteers to do; if you could get some local volunteers to join you, it would be even better… And you could maybe have a podcast so people would have a good idea of what was involved? It seems to me that it could be very useful for volunteers to see *you* talking to people and finding out what are the legal bounds of taking pictures at the particular location you have chosen; and of course it would be good if you did this ahead of time (I think this would probably give them confidence that they could do it too…)
Delia
P.S. Looks like at least *some* journalism students would be interested interested in NA kind of projects… (re: http://www.newassignment.net/blog/jay_rosen/welcome_to_newassignment_net...
P.P.S Oh… I’m afraid some people (who otherwise wouldn’t mind participating) might not respond too well at being given “assignments.” It’s the name you’ve chosen and it’s not necessarily a bad name, it’s just that I’d consider phrasing it differently when asking people to volunteer for particular projects.
...
worried about Jay's missing out on things again (his response: second post *up* the comments thread)
worried about Jay's strategy
MORE: my posts...
Jay,
The thing looks a bit scattered to me (I think it needs to get a lot more focused). Who are all the people that would be interested in this and what kind of problems do *they* see? Why not have some sort of an *informal* meet-up with interested people in NYC, for instance?
Something in the line of: Anybody who would possibly consider this meet me at this or that coffee shop and let’s talk about it! (I’d make sure most of the NYU journalism students could attend – the meeting would not be at the time they would be in class for a mandatory course or something…; if you end-up having a huge turn-out you may have to head over to some big classroom somewhere).
I think people would respond a lot better face to face than over the internet. Especially at the beginning, you want some sort of social interaction going (I think….). If they like the meeting (and I think most would), they would likely tell their friends etc. (so you get some word of mouth going on). I think a whole lot more people would be posting comments and getting involved as a result.
Delia
P.S. Oh… I wouldn’t be telling people: “What are you waiting for?� I know you didn’t mean it that way, but it can come across as not very respectful… I think it’s good to keep in mind that none of these people *have* to do any of this stuff… (and most of them are not just sitting around waiting for something to do to turn up…) So in some way they need to be shown that their efforts would be acknowledged (as basically a sacrifice on their part) and made clear that NewAssignment would really appreciate them.
P.P.S. I like Amanda’s suggestion too (getting a list of volunteers through other non-profits if possible). I’d still try to informally meet up to the extent that I could.
(http://www.newassignment.net/blog/jay_rosen/developments_with_new_assignment_aug_20_sep_9#comment-64)
Jay,
I think the beginning of a project is very important: it’s like making a first impresion. This is all would-be volunteers can *see* (at this point… right! but you have good publicity… *now*… so I suspect quite a few potential volunteers have been looking at this stuff). People get a gut reaction of what the project would be like from what you tell them now…
Yeah… having a “huge turnout” was the (maybe overly) optimistic way to look at it, but even if you just get 5 people talking about it (and none of them journalism students), I see no harm in trying. I still think you might be surprised what a face to face would do (both in terms of turnout and in terms of the quality of the discussion and positive externalities following from that).
But I maybe wrong, of course… All I’m saying is that… *I* would give it a try…
Delia
(http://www.newassignment.net/blog/jay_rosen/developments_with_new_assignment_aug_20_sep_9#comment-66)
...
... why wasn't he taking advantage of the great publicity he was having?
(couple of posts *up* -- the NAN blog comments go the other way round)
Jay,
The thing looks a bit scattered to me (I think it needs to get a lot more focused). Who are all the people that would be interested in this and what kind of problems do *they* see? Why not have some sort of an *informal* meet-up with interested people in NYC, for instance?
Something in the line of: Anybody who would possibly consider this meet me at this or that coffee shop and let’s talk about it! (I’d make sure most of the NYU journalism students could attend – the meeting would not be at the time they would be in class for a mandatory course or something…; if you end-up having a huge turn-out you may have to head over to some big classroom somewhere).
I think people would respond a lot better face to face than over the internet. Especially at the beginning, you want some sort of social interaction going (I think….). If they like the meeting (and I think most would), they would likely tell their friends etc. (so you get some word of mouth going on). I think a whole lot more people would be posting comments and getting involved as a result.
Delia
P.S. Oh… I wouldn’t be telling people: “What are you waiting for?� I know you didn’t mean it that way, but it can come across as not very respectful… I think it’s good to keep in mind that none of these people *have* to do any of this stuff… (and most of them are not just sitting around waiting for something to do to turn up…) So in some way they need to be shown that their efforts would be acknowledged (as basically a sacrifice on their part) and made clear that NewAssignment would really appreciate them.
P.P.S. I like Amanda’s suggestion too (getting a list of volunteers through other non-profits if possible). I’d still try to informally meet up to the extent that I could.
(http://www.newassignment.net/blog/jay_rosen/developments_with_new_assignment_aug_20_sep_9#comment-64)
Jay,
I think the beginning of a project is very important: it’s like making a first impresion. This is all would-be volunteers can *see* (at this point… right! but you have good publicity… *now*… so I suspect quite a few potential volunteers have been looking at this stuff). People get a gut reaction of what the project would be like from what you tell them now…
Yeah… having a “huge turnout” was the (maybe overly) optimistic way to look at it, but even if you just get 5 people talking about it (and none of them journalism students), I see no harm in trying. I still think you might be surprised what a face to face would do (both in terms of turnout and in terms of the quality of the discussion and positive externalities following from that).
But I maybe wrong, of course… All I’m saying is that… *I* would give it a try…
Delia
(http://www.newassignment.net/blog/jay_rosen/developments_with_new_assignment_aug_20_sep_9#comment-66)
...
... why wasn't he taking advantage of the great publicity he was having?
(couple of posts *up* -- the NAN blog comments go the other way round)
still thinking about it while travelling in Europe...
Jay,
Great News! Been traveling (still am) so I only have time for a quick note at this point -- it's just a comment on whether or not you *need* to have a "community."
re: "I'm not sure "community" is the right word for the eventual users of New Assignment. People use that term too loosely, in my opinion. But if NewAssignment.Net develops a base of active, loyal and intelligent users, it's not unreasonable that they can help police the site, especially if they understand that verifying information and preventing fraud are basic to everything we are trying to do."
I think it would be extremely difficult (if at all possible) to attract AND *keep* people that would be able and willing to police the site without having them feel that they are much more than "users."
If you don't think "community" is the right word for the kind of social glue needed... I guess you can call it anything you like... but I seriously doubt it could work without having *something* that fulfills the function of a "community"...
Delia
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