For the community, by the community.
It has been a long time since I have been part of a community project and have learnt a lot from the gurus there. The project has been an issue of debate since the past year or so as there is little that has been done from the part of the already tight volunteers. The project has been live since 1997 and wow thats eternity when it comes to the age of the Internet. Now we stand questioning that whether or not its worth the effort.
My friends, some of them who have worked hard enough to keep this project going and have contributed their time heftily "working in the trenches" have also been questioning the worth and value of their time.
Recently, we had asked our community members to comment on what they would like to see from the project and what were their expectations from the project. To my astonishment, no one even bothered to comment. One of them asked for a lot of content. Let me sketch my feelings on the entire scenario.
Community projects are for the community and by the community. People wish to have a lot more from the projects that are devoloped for the community but forget that they need to put a lot of input themselves when it comes to reaping the gains. Where we stand the community grows in terms of quantity but not quality.
If you want your community to grow and reap benifits from it then you should consider contributing activly to its growth. Content does not come from mere writers. Quality writers are needed and then those who would take the innititive to publish that content. What about those who have to keep the infrastructure intact to make the content available. Does the community lack people of such expertise or is there a different reason why talent does not want to contribute to a community project where there is less exposure to the world of fame and glamour.
Lets face it we are not enthusiastic enough to work our way through.
My friends, some of them who have worked hard enough to keep this project going and have contributed their time heftily "working in the trenches" have also been questioning the worth and value of their time.
Recently, we had asked our community members to comment on what they would like to see from the project and what were their expectations from the project. To my astonishment, no one even bothered to comment. One of them asked for a lot of content. Let me sketch my feelings on the entire scenario.
Community projects are for the community and by the community. People wish to have a lot more from the projects that are devoloped for the community but forget that they need to put a lot of input themselves when it comes to reaping the gains. Where we stand the community grows in terms of quantity but not quality.
If you want your community to grow and reap benifits from it then you should consider contributing activly to its growth. Content does not come from mere writers. Quality writers are needed and then those who would take the innititive to publish that content. What about those who have to keep the infrastructure intact to make the content available. Does the community lack people of such expertise or is there a different reason why talent does not want to contribute to a community project where there is less exposure to the world of fame and glamour.
Lets face it we are not enthusiastic enough to work our way through.
Labels: mumineen.org
posted by Juzar Sh Yusuf bhai @ 2/27/2006 10:13:00 AM
1 Comments:
It is sad to know that a great community effort near extinction not because of the volunteers not being able to do it, but because the media (in this case the people) dont give their inputs (appreciate it).
I think, it is also a matter of people not knowing what to expect. The scope is limited because certain things cannot be discussed without raza. Which leaves it to basically being a social entity if not for Akhbar.
Anyways, let me give my input for the site while I am at it.
a. More Content = Different articles on various topics (there is a good repository already and the need is to add to it)
b. More Content = Different ways of presenting articles/ideas. People comprehend the visual way better than reading, so maybe something to the tune of multimedia, etc.
c. More content = Invite people to send their content. The best ones can be selected and posted and recognized. This can be done in a contest format.
d. More content = Poems / Madeh / Marais. (Again possible with people input)
Once again, thanks for the wonderful effort and hats off to those working behind the scenes.
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