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All Points Blog on slashgeo.org and Aggregators
posted by Satri
on Thursday December 29, @03:13PM
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from the land-of-cooperation dept.
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from the land-of-cooperation dept.
Adena at All Points Blog discusses blogs and content aggregators in the geospatial community, including slashgeo.org and Planet Geospatial. Adena underlines interesting realities, but I'd also jump in the discussion, sharing my opinion. Especially on parts related to "stealing" and adding no value to content. You can read my opinion below.
First, I really like Directions Mag. They often provide great content and it's with pleasure that I send potential readers to this website. I also like All Points Blog (APB is in Direction Mag's group) along with the great RSS aggregator Planet Geospatial.
Stealing. I don't feel we're stealing at all (and Adena doesn't claim we are). We only provide a short summary of the original source of content, generally 2-4 lines. If a slashgeo reader feel he want to read the article, we provide the required links. It is similar to RSS feeds. slashgeo regularly link to APB and Directions Mag where people can read interesting articles.
Content. True, slashgeo, same for APB, does not generally directly create content. But I disagree with Adena when stating that we do not "find/create/add value to content". When I meet McGill's Knowledge Management department, they clearly indicated how user comments is original content. On content, Adena also writes "Only the "good" aggregators stay in business, because they add value as good filters". This is exactly what we're trying to do at slashgeo: filtering and linking to the best online content for the geospatial community. When Adena writes "I have to believe there are those only vaguely interested in GIS who read the geo aggregators [...]", I tend to believe otherwise. For me, the main use of news aggregators, such as slashdot, is to get a good overview of what's going on in a community of practice and allow reading more on the subjects that interests a reader. There are so many sources of content for our community, I feel slashgeo and APB are a necessity. slashgeo.org also provides content through the "Ask Slashgeo" section.
APB, like slashgeo, is often acting as geospatial news aggregators even if APB sometimes offers their analysis of the content they link to. There are differences between APB and slashgeo. slashgeo.org is ad-free, it is user-driven managed by a non-profit organization, provides three levels of moderation to ensures only the best content reach the readers, it offers a complex and very flexible structured comments system. I am not against anything: sane competition is often good, it acts as an motivator to improve ourselves.
Let's not forget, we aren't ""taking money" from the original sites" like Adena writes (again, Adena doesn't claim we are, but it comes in a sentence right after identifying slashgeo: confusing...). Actually, we have no revenues at all and we're ok with this. slashgeo.org is a new three months old project spending money and a lot of time for the benefits of a community we love. Have great holidays! :-)
Stealing. I don't feel we're stealing at all (and Adena doesn't claim we are). We only provide a short summary of the original source of content, generally 2-4 lines. If a slashgeo reader feel he want to read the article, we provide the required links. It is similar to RSS feeds. slashgeo regularly link to APB and Directions Mag where people can read interesting articles.
Content. True, slashgeo, same for APB, does not generally directly create content. But I disagree with Adena when stating that we do not "find/create/add value to content". When I meet McGill's Knowledge Management department, they clearly indicated how user comments is original content. On content, Adena also writes "Only the "good" aggregators stay in business, because they add value as good filters". This is exactly what we're trying to do at slashgeo: filtering and linking to the best online content for the geospatial community. When Adena writes "I have to believe there are those only vaguely interested in GIS who read the geo aggregators [...]", I tend to believe otherwise. For me, the main use of news aggregators, such as slashdot, is to get a good overview of what's going on in a community of practice and allow reading more on the subjects that interests a reader. There are so many sources of content for our community, I feel slashgeo and APB are a necessity. slashgeo.org also provides content through the "Ask Slashgeo" section.
APB, like slashgeo, is often acting as geospatial news aggregators even if APB sometimes offers their analysis of the content they link to. There are differences between APB and slashgeo. slashgeo.org is ad-free, it is user-driven managed by a non-profit organization, provides three levels of moderation to ensures only the best content reach the readers, it offers a complex and very flexible structured comments system. I am not against anything: sane competition is often good, it acts as an motivator to improve ourselves.
Let's not forget, we aren't ""taking money" from the original sites" like Adena writes (again, Adena doesn't claim we are, but it comes in a sentence right after identifying slashgeo: confusing...). Actually, we have no revenues at all and we're ok with this. slashgeo.org is a new three months old project spending money and a lot of time for the benefits of a community we love. Have great holidays! :-)
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Geospatial Blogs, Slashgeo's Future and Dilution 19 comments
[+]
Last week several blogs started discussing the state of online exchanges occuring on the geospatial blogs. This subject is very dear to me and important to Slashgeo's future. How will online communications evolve within the geospatial community? Is Slashgeo pertinent and what role should it have? Are there too many geobloggers? Read more below for my opinion and personal analysis.
Adena at All Points Blog on PlanetGS and Slashgeo 1 comment
[+]
Adena at All Points Blog offers a followup of last Christmas' story about what she thinks of Planet Geospatial and Slashgeo. From the blog: "And, if you look at Planet Geospatial, that's what we have - a group blog created from lots of individual blogs. The only difference, and this is where SlashGeo hopes to help out, is putting all the comments in one place." I also commented on her post directly on APB.
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All Points Blog on slashgeo.org and Aggregators
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Vector One on blogging in the Geospatial community
(Score:1)( http://alexandreleroux.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 17, @04:07PM )
http://geovisualisation.com/WordPress/?p=250 [geovisualisation.com]
From the Vector One:"Blogging is the most prominent phenomenon and change in the geospatial community in 2005. More people are doing it, reading it and participating in it. It has enabled the geospatial community to exceed beyond mere technical products into a social phenomenon - and sharing and increased communication can only be positive. "
google
(Score:1)( http://www.piratelaws.com/ )
Pirate Laws [piratelaws.com]. The rules for being a pirat
Surveying, Mapping and GIS blog comments
(Score:1)( http://alexandreleroux.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 17, @04:07PM )
David (this latest link), Adena (APB) and Jeff (Vector One) provide interesting point of views on blogging.
Congratulations, you're on the radar!
(Score:2, Interesting)I do however think you should reconsider your stance on cash. Even charities have ads on their web sites, and money can lead to growth.
Re:Congratulations, you're on the radar!
(Score:3, Insightful)