Better Communities Newsletter December 2020
Welcome and best wishes for the New Year!
We’ve almost made it to the end of a very challenging year. Please share your comments with us about what piques your interest. Every month we will share with you what is at the top of our must-reads about online communities and digital life.
My 2020 #BookDNA - The 'Community' Edition
A must read list from Dr. Lauren Vargas
Every book I read, no matter the quality, has changed something in me - the way I think, feel, and show up in the workplace and at home. Over the course of 15 years, I have mapped every book I have ever read. The map reveals the connections between the books I have read - those books I stumbled across while researching or reading another book - and the map exposes the books that have shaped who I am. I consider these books part of my #BookDNA.
Each year, in December, I like to share the books that have had the most impact on my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I do not start the year with a predetermined number of books to read or even have a specific topic or set of books I desire to read. Rather, I let the books pick me – and then, when the time is right, I read the book. Some books lead me to pick up other books because of a reference made by the author(s) or because the title is similar or a natural continuation of a topic and / or narrative of interest.
This year, I shared my 2020 #BookDNA list, but have also created a ‘Community’ edition for those interested in pursuing “Better Communities”. How might you give the gift of new perspective? I invite you to gift a book to yourself and those who may help you build a better online community - including those who may be skeptical of community benefits.
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” - Charles W. Eliot
Here is Lauren’s full list of books: https://www.bettercommunities.co/community-books-2020
Social Strikes Back
Turns out, rumors of social's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Not only are we seeing the rise of innovative new social networks—from the earshare of Clubhouse to the seamless interactivity of cloud gaming—but having a social component has become a powerful acquisition and retention tool for every consumer product, across education, shopping, fitness, food, entertainment, and more. In this series Andreesen Horwitz contributors reveal what new social looks like, the forces that are driving it, and how to build it. https://a16z.com/social-strikes-back/
Community 2.0 musings…
Ben Thompson @benthompson Author/Founder of @stratechery. Host of @ditheringfm@exponentfm. @notechben for sports. @monkbent on other networks. With a long post about from v1 to v2
“Remember that the key characteristic of v1 digital products is that they simply copy what already exists offline. For Facebook that meant digitizing connections between friends and family, and for Twitter it meant broadcasting conversations as if you were sitting at a bar. Such literal translations, though, have limits: Facebook soon found it necessary to augment content from friends and family with professionally produced content from publishers, while public Twitter conversation has disappeared in the face of performative putdowns and political proclamations. The problem is that digital makes analog goods worse: a lot of what your friends and family believe is boring or objectionable, and conversations constrained by the geography of a bar simply don’t translate to a worldwide audience.
What truly makes a category is v2: products that are only possible because of the unique properties of digital. “
Read more here: https://stratechery.com/2020/social-networking-2-0/
A unique look back at 2020
Yes, there was suffering, heartache, and noise. But if you look carefully, this strange year also served up something surprising: reasons to be hopeful. Here are 18 new ideas that just might shape our whole future that you can read here: https://www.gq.com/story/the-best-things-about-2020
Why it’s easy to hate Facebook but hard to leave
Facebook invested heavily in the one feature it knew people couldn’t leave behind: Their groups. Our question is there enough outrage over how Facebook has handled free speech issues to drive groups and advertiser onto other platforms? Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/19/can-not-quit-facebook/
And not to forget that moderation challenges continue to be swept under the table…
Why social media can’t keep moderating content in the shadows?
Online platforms aren’t transparent about their decisions—which leaves them open to claims of censorship and masks the true costs of misinformation. Read more from this MIT posting: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/11/06/1011769/social-media-moderation-transparency-censorship
Please leave any comments or suggestions for us in the comments.