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Groups

  1. blaze
    Member

    I just had a fantastic idea! Groups!

    Maybe someone has had this idea for WP.COM before, I'm not sure, but imagine if you could start groups (or belong to a pool - similarly to how flickr does it).

    Essentially it would make for a greater community and a fantastic way to group similar content / interests / people together. I think it's something that could really make this place take off even more.

    I think the perfect example is Flickr. Even last.fm has a fantastic groups example. I know livejournal have groups but are they any good?

    The way I envisage it working is a "group" has a creator/admin and then they invite users to sign up and approve users to join the group. Then the group page shows the latest posts by all group users (and/or selected/featured group user posts). Pages would be handy and a could also be potentially handy.

    A good example of a network of websites that woks well would have to be 9rules.com. Essentially people could create their own blog networks for whatever topic they like (Dogs, Cats, Technology, Gummi Bears, etc).

    I know this is a large feature but I cant imagine it being too hard to actually implement. That's why I believe it's possible and great.

    What does everyone think?

  2. meghanis
    Member

    I would have to agree on the group idea. I have just recently joined wp.com, and I find it a bit odd, that for such a large blogging community, there is no real easy way to find people with similar interests within wp.com. There doesn't seem to be anyway to find others with similar interests, unless you know that they are already on the web. So, I think the group idea is great!
    Cheers to you!
    megHanis

  3. timethief
    Member

    Here's my two cents.
    I *wince* at the thought of re-creating myspace here at wordpress.com. One can find wordpress.com bloggers with similar interest by using the tag page, tag surfer, and "my comments" because people interested in the same topics comment on one another's blogs. And if you want to promote your blog you can do so here http://bestblog.wordpress.com/
    The thought of an official worpress.com forum here for shallow socializing, rather than for technical support the way it is now makes me *shudder*.
    Any blogger who wants to create this "groupiness" can simply apply for another blog for socializing and open the comments to one and all wordpress.com bloggers. It doesn't need to be a forum and it doesn't need to be official.
    It's my very strong preference that any social structure be built by bloggers on their own blogs through the establishment of commentary based on their blog content.

  4. drmike
    Member

    You might want to try following some of the Tag System links within your blog to see other bloggers posting on teh same topic as you are.

  5. blaze
    Member

    The group idea wouldn't just be for "Socialising" - it would be more like "User moderated best-of-the-best for categories" i guess. I mean i look at bestblog.wp.com and it has no relevance whatsoever for me, neither connects me to anyone else with similar interests.

    The tag pages are great. They serve their purpose. But I find I get a lot of "tag spammers" if you will who have only very slight relevance to particular tags. It's also incredibly hard to sift through all of the entries for tags as popular as say "photo" or "funny" or something.

    What I suggest is something like flickr where posts enter a pool and you can easily navigate through the pool. Those not participating well can be removed from the pool & generally it would be a great place to centralise a group.

    Compare this concept to the bestblog.wp.com and you will see it will make a lot of sense. Essentially it would be blog affiliation / blog groups / blog topsites that is human moderated for the best possible content!

    The concept is even making it big in other places. Companies are being funded to collate the top blog posts for particular niches etc (I forget the name of the particular company).

    I think this is one feature that could really tie in a lot of wordpress content together & make it even better than what it already is.

  6. raincoaster
    Member

    There are plenty of such ranking systems; blogging is very competitive, which is one thing that drives the so-called social sites.

    I don't quite see the rationale for starting groups that are WordPress-specific, though. We have tags to help you surf to sites that are posting about the same things. And if what you want is to really find people who are like-minded, it doesn't really make any sense to limit it to WordPress. I'd encourage you to take part in carnivals, like eteraz at Carnival of Islam in the West. These connect blogs across different platforms and allow for great cross-pollination.

    One of the things I like about WordPress is the independence. It allows your blog to exist in the larger context of the blogosphere, and in the social context of your blogroll, rather than in the relatively small corral of "wordpress". We can transcend the platform.

  7. nitawriter
    Member

    I hear the word group and I shudder. Because I am sure I will not be able to fit into any! I have just too many interests...

  8. blaze
    Member

    I don't think it's for everyone, but if it's not... you don't have to join a group! The facility can exist for those who want to join!

    Just look at flickr or last.fm for good, successful examples of groups!

    Trust me, it would work!

  9. sulz
    Member

    i like either ideas of a social forum or a group, but for both to be successful here it must have the support of the wp team. otherwise it won't work. an example would be drmike's defunct wp forum (sorry drmike). one of the reasons it wasn't well received because only forum regulars would actually know of its existence. flickr works because flickr itself supports it and provides accessibility to the users who are interested with links and such.

    so really this topic isn't getting anywhere, sadly.

  10. blaze
    Member

    Well the idea was to post the idea, have a discussion, see all the sides of the story, then hopefully management would see it and possible take it into consideration. So I think this topic is going somewhere if we all post our opinions and in time forward it to the WP.com team.

  11. timethief
    Member

    @blaze
    Are you aware of these threads http://www.fanpop.com/spots/wordpress.com/
    http://wordpress.com/forums/topic.php?id=4512&replies=5#post-29367
    http://wordpress.com/forums/topic.php?id=4360&page=2&replies=36#post-29353

  12. blaze
    Member

    Timethief: Not quite what I had in mind. Nonetheless, it seems to be a solution to a few things but not the overall idea i was aiming for.

    The great thing about WP.com specific features is how easy they are for users to click a button and be involved with something. This is what would be great for WP.com.

  13. raincoaster
    Member

    Doesn't the new Friend Surfer function in this way? First you have to have friends, though. I'd suggest looking through the tags for people who are interested in the same things you are.

  14. sulz
    Member

    strange it's called friend surfer when you don't necessarily know the "friend" whose blog you're subscribing through said fs. i think it should be called wordpress surfer, or blog surfer.

  15. raincoaster
    Member

    Agreed, but maybe they were marketing it to a crowd that expresses itself more personally? They're the ones who've been asking for this kind of thing: I just use my Favorites file.

  16. sulz
    Member

    i used to too, but the fs is better because i don't have to load the blog each time i visit, just the latest post.

    blaze: maybe we're inching towards our goal. :)

  17. hiddenconfusion
    Member

    I agree, I think having a group would be a good idea. I think people are more willing to comment on something when it's directed to a general population rather than to an individual. Then, when they comment, more people can visit their blogs and such.

    - JD

    http://hiddenconfusion.wordpress.com

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