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Decentralization of web services into small (or large), focused communities...
Messing around with Vanilla and recently visiting Yay Hooray!, got me to thinking about the possibilities of decentralized communities that will serve your particular interest area instead of just one general site that does everything for you.
For example, instead of using del.icio.us, a Vanilla forum/community could have its own bookmarking manager.
Instead of using Blogger, a Vanilla forum/community could have its own blogging system integrated directly into the forum software.
Instead of using Gmail, a Vanilla forum/community would have its own e-mail system integrated directly into the forum software/private message system.
Flikr-esque photo galleries, heck, even search engines using the Yahoo API or such could be integrated directly into your local community site.
That way, instead of having to use someone else's server, or using a faceless and centralized service, you can visit a focused community that serves your interests. To me this would produce much more relevant content than a lot of the current sites out there. The most important part of all of this would be that everything would tie directly into the underlying forum system and make interactions/comments commonplace.
It goes along with my "social blogging" idea I had earlier. Users spool their content together which obviously creates content for a site, and the users have a reason to come back with the inevitable community that would be created. Of course, if you get disatisfied with the current community you are in, it should be simple to pack up your blog/photo gallery/links, etc, and move somewhere else. Site administrators should even have the tools to have a small subscription fee if needed.
I dunno, maybe none of this makes a lot of sense, but I'm just thinking about the possibilities, as it is obvious to me that smaller communities are a lot more effective, close-knit, and hold off spam a lot better than just large services. Also, a lot of the time, del.icio.us or such would be great, but you need that capability on a network of computers that isn't connected to the Internet - but what are you to do? Software that could be easily installed on any system would be a blessing for many people.
For example, instead of using del.icio.us, a Vanilla forum/community could have its own bookmarking manager.
Instead of using Blogger, a Vanilla forum/community could have its own blogging system integrated directly into the forum software.
Instead of using Gmail, a Vanilla forum/community would have its own e-mail system integrated directly into the forum software/private message system.
Flikr-esque photo galleries, heck, even search engines using the Yahoo API or such could be integrated directly into your local community site.
That way, instead of having to use someone else's server, or using a faceless and centralized service, you can visit a focused community that serves your interests. To me this would produce much more relevant content than a lot of the current sites out there. The most important part of all of this would be that everything would tie directly into the underlying forum system and make interactions/comments commonplace.
It goes along with my "social blogging" idea I had earlier. Users spool their content together which obviously creates content for a site, and the users have a reason to come back with the inevitable community that would be created. Of course, if you get disatisfied with the current community you are in, it should be simple to pack up your blog/photo gallery/links, etc, and move somewhere else. Site administrators should even have the tools to have a small subscription fee if needed.
I dunno, maybe none of this makes a lot of sense, but I'm just thinking about the possibilities, as it is obvious to me that smaller communities are a lot more effective, close-knit, and hold off spam a lot better than just large services. Also, a lot of the time, del.icio.us or such would be great, but you need that capability on a network of computers that isn't connected to the Internet - but what are you to do? Software that could be easily installed on any system would be a blessing for many people.
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Comments
I was originally meaning decentralization away from the larger companies/services, but I guess it ends up being a centralization intoa lot of smaller services/communties.
Maybe the best way to look at it is its a bit like the American division of states. Instead of having all the power focused in a single government that runs the entire country, the power is divided into individual states.