Jason Van Anden
Since 2004
Works in Brooklyn, New York United States of America

ARTBASE (2)
BIO
Jason Van Anden is a new media activist, artist, inventor and robot maker. His creations are exhibited internationally, receiving recognition in the art, science, technology and gaming communities. More about Jason and his work can be found at his website www.smileproject.com.
Discussions (224) Opportunities (1) Events (4) Jobs (0)
DISCUSSION

Re: Blog vs Board (re: Blogging Survey)


Thanks for asking Francis. I am not going to be able to post again until tommorrow, and I am still formulating what it is exactly that I mean, but here is where I am currently at:

Community Involvement == What can be done to inspire the Rhizome membership be more motivated to participate in it's success?

My insistence on focusing the discussion on "community involvement" is a continuation of thoughts that I had after you reported the very low particpation in this year's gaming commission voter turnout. The system you had created was wonderfully conceived, and executed - so it was not for lack of trying. It amazed me that so many members did not take advantage of this unique opportunity. How come? How do you motivate individuals to cooperate?

Not a new question for most life forms sharing the planet - and for good reason (ie: bees and flowers, the creation of the city state, slashdot). I do not think that this has anything to do with technology, but rather human nature.

Artists of course, are ten times more protective of their autonomy as most, thus the current trend to homestead many mini-Rhizomes (uni-blogs?) all over the net instead of collaborating.

Darwin would predict that this will eventually lead to a few strong blogs succeeding, and most failing. As people start to weigh the cost/benefit of this reality, collaborative blogs will evolve. Thing is, we already have this in the form of Rhizome.

I would like to skip to step two, accept that pooling resources is for the common good and expedite the process.

Recognizing that these ideas are not new, I ordered two books: "Protocol" and "Bowling Alone". Perhaps they will shed more light on the topic.

Jason Van Anden
www.smileproject.com

DISCUSSION

Re: Blog vs Board (re: Blogging Survey)


Those of us who have blogs, seem to think it would be super to connect them to Rhizome in some way. It seems like a good a way to maintain one's identity (autonomy, individuality, percieved star power...) while benefiting by the strength in numbers. From this vantage it provides the best of both worlds. Cool.

The question still remains: how does facilitating the inclusion of blogs as part of Rhizome actually improve the service to the community and content it delivers? At what cost and at what benefit? I am convinced that more focus should be on fostering community involvement rather than encouraging it's diffusion.

It takes a village...

Jason Van Anden

DISCUSSION

Re: Blog vs Board (re: Blogging Survey)


Hi Alex,

Are you actually suggesting a Re-Re-Blog? It seems to me that Re-Blog does a really great job at what it does, so why would we need another? I don't see how a Rhizome Re-Blog would taste any different than the Eyebeam flavored one - the topics of interest are pretty much the same. The only obvious difference to me is the effect of many super users moderating instead of one rotating one.

What if they endlessly Re-Blogged into one another?

Jason Van Anden

DISCUSSION

Re: Blog vs Board (re: Blogging Survey)


Has my original post been preempted?

Dyske's well written thread (3 of 22) sets up an experiment to examine how invested the community is in actually reading each other's posts. The impetus for this was an actual conversation he and I and t.whid had in real life. I like Dyske's method. It's a very clever way to measure the participation of the membership.

My original post (1 of 22) takes this ambivalence as fact, and questions whether the trend towards blogs dilutes a board like Raw. I feel that the thread was going in a really productive direction. I am concerned that focusing on how ambivalent and detached the memebership may be, doesn't address what can be done about it.

If members felt more secure participating in this board, I feel that a lot more would decide to participate as a community, rather than opting to secede into their own blogs. This has less to do with how new technology can accomodate this activity, but rather how this already huge community could be motivated to become more invested.

Jason Van Anden

DISCUSSION

Re: Blog vs Board (re: Blogging Survey)


I think all of Dyske's questions are spot-on and super thoughtful (as usual).

I feel the most important one is:

>Do I want Rhizome to be a casual place where people can express their
>opinions freely whether they are intellectually or emotionally motivated? - Dyske Suematsu

I would like Rhizome to be a lively and respectful forum for new media artists to share their intellectually or emotionally motivated musings about the state of the art. I think the current structure is a really good one, it's just not as lively and respectful as it could be.

Curt Cloninger expressed that "The achilles heel of rhizome is fear of critical discussion."
I wonder if more energy could be harnessed if the members felt safer about participating. I share Curt's concerns. I am guilty of second and third guessing myself about what to say for fear of being horribly misunderstood by who knows and at what costs?

I believe that if the environment felt more safe, the content on Rhizome might have a better chance of flourishing without having to touch the technology. The current structure would suggest that this is up to the membership. Rules of Engagement? A Constitution?

Jason Van Anden