Thoughtful replies. This type of conversation fascinates me as it is very close to one aspect of a large project that I am working on…Therefore, my reply will indirectly and discursively address the topic of the thread…
Before the Yesterweb forum shut down, I had written an article that briefly touched upon the subject of using different types of (polycentric) governance structures within online communities: Building Vital Communities Virtual & Actual
The few people who were still interested in focusing on similar ideas split off into another forum, The-Web-Raft. It was never very busy, and hardly anyone posts there anymore, but this subject of online governance cropped up in different ways when exploring why the Yesterweb shuttered as a whole, trying to figure out what artists who are stuck within “social media” might do instead, and conjecturing how online concerns can spill out into real life to effect massive changes within society. I am attempting to create a collaborative study tool that implements some of those ideas, but it is only one aspect of that large project that I’m talking about, so I haven’t really focused on programming it.
I have posted snippets of some of that research here, particularly within the threads Creation of Computers on the Local Level and Creation of Computer Networks on the Local Level, but many of my posts on most places are directed at the same overarching goal of furthering life for everyone.
Generally, I see that the frequency of posts regarding more fundamental social issues seems to be increasing. I think many people have an idea or feeling that massive changes are coming, but I am not sure how many know the extent or the significance, hence my rambling…It’s almost like WWII meets the 1960’s counter-cultural revolution amidst global ecological crisis…The ways that people communicate and the types of information that they share plays a pivotal role within how all of this will unfold…