To Blorum or Not to Blorum

— That is the question I’d put before regular visitors to D5GW.  Recently at PC and also at Soob, a discussion has arisen concerning the use of what I have termed a blorum:

I’ve also lately considered designing a blog with bulletin board forum software rather than the standard blog software. I had found a plugin for Movable Type that allows any visitor authenticated through TypeKey to post new entries to a common blog; that sounded a lot like the way forums work; and I realized that some forum software is highly configurable, could even be designed to “look” like a blog in its output. Using forum software, I could allow visitors to register with the site but only with permissions to post comments to threads rather than new threads in one section — where I’d blog — and then have another section of the “blorum” where visitors could post new threads and start discussions. I’ve seriously considered making the attempt to design such a blorum.

The thought occurred within another context, while I explored the possibility of creating a new blog called “The Iterate.” However, the discussion has led me to wonder if a blorum set-up, of one type or another, would be ideal for D5GW. For some time now, the contributors to D5GW have had a private forum in which to discuss the blog, topics and links related to 5GW, etc., and have already discussed the possibility of opening that private forum to the public. We ruled out that approach at the time. Having a private area facilitated conjecture, brainstorming, and so forth; these activities were more likely to be “free” outside the constraints of the blog format, where — let’s admit it — the onus of commitment to ideas and clarity of approach/message is in more demand.

The blog format is a bottleneck approach (a la: Richard Dawkins’ Selfish Gene theory) — or, as Soob put it: a hierarchical approach. Any hierarchical approach demands, explicitly or implicitly, the aforementioned commitment and clarity, because an easily defined origin also promotes linear confrontation directed at that point of origin. This, in turn, produces the desire to construct messages which are either extremely well-formed and fortified, approaching the dogmatic, or, it should be added, as ephemeral or vague as an oracle’s pronouncement.

The forum format may also produce a similar confrontation, with each new thread or response that produces a similar point of origin.  However, the addition of many more voices to a debate, each with the ability to add new threads of thought, may have a salubrious effect one might tie to the oft-mentioned static of modern societies.  I have previously considered the negativities related to such an environment — negativities we at D5GW once contemplated when we ruled out adding a forum to the blog — but the potential for healthy friction, the mother of conceptual innovation, should not be dismissed.

In fact, when Soob defines the blorum as “a hybrid or conflation of the effectively concrete or ‘closed’ source approach of a blog and the open source approach of a forum,” he comes close to describing Larry Sanger’s concept of a more perfect encyclopedia:

The new politics of knowledge that I advocate would place experts at the head of the table, but—unlike the old order—gives the general public a place at the table as well.

[from his essay, “Who Says We Know:  On the New Politics of Knowledge.”]

Sanger gave the idea behind the idea of Citizendium; but it is an approach that might serve to advance the theory of 5GW as well — a theory that is prospective rather than reflective (a conceptualization inspired by D5GW commenter Phil.)  The empire of mind, vis-a-vis 5GW theory, is as yet unsettled.  Incidentally, Sanger’s concept for the most advantageous epistemological approach also has close ties to the very bedrock of U.S. society:  which is tripartite, or a system through which multiple organizational levels may interact to create the emergence of a more perfect union.  [Note to self and others:  thus, I doubt the more dystopian elevation of one level over all others as a stable environment/system, whether it be chaotic individualism or totalitarian order.]

Anyone who has been wondering why activity by yours truly on D5GW has trickled of late should be aware of my recent exploration of these formating ideas.  In the spirit of further exploration, the contributor’s forum has been temporarily partially opened to the public to allow further exploration:

• D5GW Forum

There, visitors will be able to view an embryonic set-up (which explains my lack of posts to D5GW; I’ve been tweaking the forum’s design and functionality) as well as a thread recently posted for consideration of the subject of blorums and D5GW, now moved to an open category on the forum for guest viewing:

• ”D5GW —> Future.”

That thread gives some background on my thinking, but vis-a-vis my thoughts in this post, it is more brainstorming than anything else, and I’m certain some off-the-cuff remarks would require editing were the forum posting transcribed into blog format!  The limited opening of the forum is an exploration, subject to change at any time, as explained in another open thread:

• ”Temporary Trial Run.”

As explained there, any current membership registration is subject to disappearance, for various reasons.  Mostly, these links are provided so that visitors to D5GW may assess the utility, viability, and so forth of having a blorum set-up, and to see where my thoughts lie.  Feedback would be appreciated, here or there — although, because the open forum is only a very limited trial run, registering for the forum is not recommended since only feedback on existent threads is allowed, to registered members, and the registration process currently requires Admin approval (meaning, registration for commenting could be delayed.)


Update 5-3-07:

I’ve spent a significant amount of time checking into various permutations of blog/forum=blorum over the last couple of days. I’ve also discovered that the idea for the “blorum” is not altogether new, with threads here and there as old as 4 years or so exploring integration of blogging software with forum software, although no name has been given to such an enterprise (that I know.) A CMS system like Drupal would probably be ideal, but I’m not too thrilled with having to export/import current Movable Type entries.

However, phpBB, in its current incarnation, might serve pretty well. If you’ve recently visited the links above to check out the embryonic blorum set-up, you may have noticed a new section to the forum that is now open to the public (in a limited capacity thus far; I’m still working things out.) In one forum, for now called “Theories of 5GW,” I’ve posted a couple test threads. This forum is tentatively intended to be the main open forum discussing various theories of 5GW, in all their permutations, with new-thread posting permissions for every registered member of the blorum. A couple other new open forums, “Resources” and “Carnival of 5GW”, have also been added.

The Theories forum, unlike the other forums, is being tested for blorum formatting. A pretty cool phpBB mod, phpBB Blog, allows the bare basics of blogging through the forum system, including permalinks, trackbacks, and archives (although commenting on entries is still through the forum system.) Here’s a fairly decent work-up of what the blorum might look like:

Dreaming 5GW: The Blorum.

Heh, pretty cool, if I do say so myself. (Given several hours to style it in the D5GW style, which meant some hacking of the php codes for the mod.) As currently configured, any registered member of the forum can start a new thread, and it will appear not only in the forum but also on the blorum. (That’s why I posted two fake threads to Theories, checking out the functionality.) An RSS feed is also created, which will allow members to keep tabs on those posts.

Some next steps:

Deciding who will actually have access to post to the blorum via the forum. I do not relish the idea of a blorum run wild, with every ridiculous query becoming a post, so some controls, rules, etc., would need to be created:

• For instance, rather than run the blorum off the more open Theories forum, another forum could be created and tied to the blorum, to which only moderators of the forums or members with a certain rank are allowed to post new threads (although all registered members could comment on those threads). This would also permit the singling out of important or very active threads, which would become published on the blorum. Incidentally, where this leaves the normal D5GW blog is up in the air, since quite conceivably D5GW could be published through the forum software instead of MT, in which case it becomes that moderated thread on the forum. [This was my initial vision, although I’m hesitant to leave MT altogether.] Or else the blorum becomes a sub-blog, of sorts, with control placed outside the hands of the D5GW regular contributors but in the hands of others more than capable of moderating it and highlighting the most valuable threads. (There is no easy way to import threads from the forums to the MT installation, although certainly new MT blog posts for the main MT blog could highlight interesting conversations and link the blorum or individual forum threads.)
  
  Plus, posts at D5GW, made through MT, could also be transfered over to the forums, occasionally, I suppose….Or hacked apart by forum discussions, who knows?
• Alternatively, registration for the forums could be limited to either invitation-only (not my ideal) or require admin approval, with well-defined guidelines for participation and continued participation. My general thinking on this is: good idea, but most new visitors would be approved without much further thought, with continued membership being contingent upon good behavior, etc.

Necessarily, if the blorum goes forward, then a well-crafted set of guidelines and rules, and an operational philosophy (re: who moderates, ranking systems, and so forth) would need to be created. I’m not looking forward to this aspect.

Feedback, as usual, will be welcomed!


Update 5-4-07:

Registration for the forum is now open and relatively simple, involving email validation after which registration is complete. Although the blorum side and various forum organizational matters are still being developed, including tweaking the design, registered members may now use the forums to post new threads and start new discussions. Here’s a link to the announcement and a bare guideline/rule framework: link.