[sustran] "I think Facebook is good as a social networking site, but . . ."

eric britton eric.britton at ecoplan.org
Fri Aug 24 22:49:03 JST 2012


Dear Carlos and All,

That is why I think we might at least consider using both, efficiently. We might think of one is a hammer, the other a screwdriver and we probably need both and more if we are to get the job done. 

The original Sustran site makes, as you point out, a fine shared archive. Like you I use it often and with gratitude to the people who created it.

What I like about our Facebook sites is that they permit the exchange of not only of information and references, but also graphics, videos and images, as well as html etc. text, which the older sites by and large do not. But to my mind, that is no reason to turn our backs on not only the wonderful context we have all worked to build up over all these years on the original site, but also its good potential for efficient searching. 

On the other hand, at the speed they are advancing, I am sure that we shall fairly shortly see good search utilities so that anything you, for instance, may have added to, say, our Sustran Facebook site will be quickly indexed and found. When I do not know, but it seems pretty clear that there are some smart people over there who are working on it. ()But not to worry since in the meantime we have the great original archives at hand.)

In our sites we have three basic rules which we try to ensure are respected. (a) In the case of Sustran/Facebook we stick to the very specific topic, as has by and large been so well achieved by the original Sustran site. (b) We discourage chatting (but not peer exchanges and certainly not wit). (c) We do not encourage personal information on our peer group sites.  (There are plenty of other places on Facebook etc. for that. There is an important job to be done and we thus need to stick to our last.

Does that sound a bit austere?  I hope so.  That's the intention.

Eric

PS. I love the original Sustran because not only is it an interesting and useful place to hang out, but also because I do not think I have ever once seen an incident of aggressive behavior or rude language, which all too often is to be found.  We have, together over all these years, developed a Sustran culture, and for that we can all be both grateful and proud.



-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+editor=worldstreets.org at list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+editor=worldstreets.org at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Carlosfelipe Pardo
Sent: Friday, 24 August, 2012 14:41

I think Facebook is good as a social networking site, but not as an archive of discussions. I love the fact that I can search something in the sustran archive, because many people are always giving many useful links or anecdotes or references that sometimes I've needed to support an argument. Facebook wouldn't have that capability, I think it is too ephemeral for these discussions... unless we want to have ephemeral discussions, in which case I'd suggest we do a Facebook page for that purpose.

Carlos.


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