Posted by Michelle on November 10, 2011 at 4:29pm
The purpose of this group was discussing making online communities using Drupal. For quite some time now all the posts have been about the Drupal community specifically and not really anything to do with the original intent.
I was going to clear out all the off topic posts but then started wondering if there's any point? Does anyone want to discuss building communities anymore? Or should this group just be changed to "Drupal community"?
Michelle
Comments
Continue to discuss making online communities using Drupal!
Hi Michelle,
I joined this group to discuss how to build and improve online community sites using Drupal. I haven't been very active, but I hope that this group continues to stick to its original focus!
We host an international community of human rights practitioners (a community of practice): http://www.newtactics.org. Not necessarily "local" but definitely a community of people that have something in common. We bring community members together each month to discuss human rights tactics and people share challenges, lessons learned, questions, advice, etc.
Thanks!
Kristin Antin
New Tactics Online Community Builder
New group specifically for the Drupal community?
Perhaps a new group should be created specifically for these Drupal community conversations?
I say go for it...
I have no problem with you moving off-topic posts (or jobs) from this group and keeping it as it was meant to be.
The posts you're referring to (and I'm pretty sure I know which ones they are) could probably live just fine in the Drupal Association group.
Perhaps re-purposing http://groups.drupal.org/drupalorg-improvements to a more "Drupal Community" group would be something to discuss.
~silverwing
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Ok, I've gone thru and removed this group from all the threads that aren't on topic here. I also deleted all the old job postings (2+ years old) because there is no point in moving something that old.
During the clean up, I also discovered this isn't the first time I've brought up this issue. LOL! I guess I never followed through with http://groups.drupal.org/node/87879 . Do people still think that's a good idea?
Michelle
The original intention of this group
Community group was about building community within a site. Everything from technical solutions to problems, to community management issues people were encountering, like how to moderate participation, deal with trolling, encourage engagement. It grew out of a session I led at the OSCMS conference in Sunnyvale in 2007 (or did the session grow out of the group?).
Social Networking (mentioned in the other thread) has had more of a focus of connecting to outside social networks. Facebook, etc.
If people are fine with merging these, that's okay with me. Needs evolve. Siloed communities have limited value these days.
However, this is not and never has been about the Drupal Community. I don't know what a group about the Drupal Community would mean? There are already plenty of groups focusing on improving the Drupal community experience. I do not believe it would be appropriate to shift this group to making it just about the Drupal Community.
PINGV | Strategy • Design • Drupal Development
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I'm glad you agree with the intention because I already went and cleared out all the Drupal community posts. :)
The description of Social Networking Sites is:
So that's not really specific to interfacing with other sites and I think there's a lot of overlap with building a community site. This group is more general whereas the other group is more specifically the tools involved. So, really, Community should incorporate Social Networking. I need some input from that group's managers, first, though, before moving forward on anything.
Michelle
My 2 cents ...
I just found this group because of this post. I'm in the process of attempting to define a community of practice and to put together a site to support it. I'm having some issues trying to dig through the Drupal documentation and actually understand the key features of different modules in terms of how I can use them to support my needs. I very much appreciate having found this group and would appreciate participating in discussion around these topics.
From what I'm reading I think there are three potential topic areas that I've seen brought forth. Two from the central theme of what I understand this group might be about, and a somewhat different 'essence' to the Social Networking Sites group. (BTW - I had previously joined the Social Networking Sites group because it was the closest group I could find to this topic.)
From my perspective I think that the type of technology requirements and how it would be applied is probably different between #1 and #3. (#2 is really an offshoot of #1, and a similar point could be added to go with #3.) So the real issue is #1 vs. #3.
I see the Social Networking Sites group as more focused on #3. I would see some of the same tools (Organic Groups, FOAF, Private Message, etc.) coming into play, but with somewhat different requirements when focused on #1. In addition, there may be other tools that make more sense if the focus is #1 rather than #3. I would see this group as more focused on #1.
If the distinction between #1 and #3 is worthwhile, I think the groups should remain independent. If the distinction is insignificant, maybe the groups should merge.
Edit: After reading http://groups.drupal.org/node/75028 I might add 'local community' as another variation. However, I think that is closer to #1 above than #3, and could possibly fit as a geographical distinction on #1 in terms of purpose or focus of the community.
Edit2: @Michelle, have you attempted any form of membership comparison between the two groups?
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No, I haven't compared the membership. I would imagine it's similar, though SNS has more people. Possibly because the title is clearer.
Michelle