Community Site in a Box

March 9, 2007 · Comments

The Groom

I answered a question about how to use social software tools to build a community for diabetic youth. Here was most of my answer:

So, if I had absolutely nothing to do, I’d go out and buy the website name: xxxxxxxxxxx.com. I’d set it against a multi-user blog software (http://mu.wordpress.org). I’d build a free video hosting account at Blip.tv (http://blip.tv), and I’d share account information with all the young folks you’ve got interested in contributing. I’d also build a group for photo sharing and hosting at Flickr ( http://flickr.com) for your xxxxxxxxxxx kids. Oh, and maybe build a group calendar at http://30boxes.com

And then I’d turn them loose on the general theme: what do you do to improve your days living with diabetes?

Hacks are things you do to bypass annoyance or generally make your day easier. For instance, if drawing your day’s portion needs out in a graphical form on 3×5 cards makes an easy tracking system, that’s a hack to improving your dietary ideas.

You can occasional seed the blog with information, clips, and other stuff that would make it a great place to belong. Build the sense that people should be there. Give them all a great notion of community, and let them loose to create their own world.

That’s what I’d do. What would YOU add to the question?

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  • Meg
    So many opportunities, not nearly enough time. You've gotten me thinking again.

    BTW, where's Kat? Someplace lovely, I bet.
  • Hi Joanne- The person who asked the question works with kids with diabetes. The question was how to introduce her youth constituency into a digital community that could work together on fun media projects together.
  • Technical support, bandwidth, maintenance, expansion.

    Those 4 things cost money, and I hope that if an idea such as that were to get up and running, that the costs are covered by such things as Annual Walks and donations.
  • Joanne Campbell
    Suzy is fabulous with that creative stuff. By the way, what was the genesis of your diabetes comment? My son has juvenile diabetes -it got him at age 27 - apparently young folks can be stalked by Juvy Diabetes up to 30 years old. Rotten luck and all that!- Yikes.
    Anyhow, Suzy Q does know him and helps out with Annual Walks for the Cure and all that blah blah blah. We need more fabulous ideas to make money to stop and reverse this sucker. , I'm working on that too. Juvy Diabetes really SUCKS!

    Hey Chris, this is Joanne from Ottawa, the Ottawa Citizen, - Suzy Q is my buddy and business partner when I wear my other hat. I know you and Ms Murphy have been communicating and thought you should know we are linked - not like a chain link fence, more like a personalized charm bracelet. Now, I don't wear jewellery but I can relate. It's a warm and fuzzy thing.

    I was out scrutineering for my paper today, trying to keep those big bad Teamsters at bay. Yow!

    Take care and keep on moving......I just got home from a very LONG day of srutineering the voting. So, If I seem a tad incoherent, forgive me. I'm still swooning over the last fella that came in to vote. He scared the crap out of me! TGIF


    Cheers
    JC
  • Well share with us, Suzy. Share. What will the project be? : )
  • SuzyiMac
    I would do all of the above. Too often the organizations that are doing all of this wonderful work for great causes get caught up in their own politics and administration. They forget why they are there in the first place - to help people in need.

    It's all about giving a voice to those people...for when they have a voice, they have the power to change things for the better.

    This gives me a brilliant idea for the next big project I am working on. I'm off to create....
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