3 ms·

Understanding Cognitive Surplus and Television for Smoother Social Apps

26 points by zackattack 16y ago

Groxx 16y ago
In summary: People do nigh-everything socially, seemingly one-way interactions help define group activities (and are thus not just one-way), and doing stuff for free really is its own reward, in a way, because people like feeling generous and it raises their view of themselves / their standing in society. It... feels too loosely aimed, however. Like a set of rambling thoughts rather than a discussion with a purpose. --- edit: also, personally, I think the line spacing is too large. It feels like I'm reading lines instead of sentences which continue past the line. Probably because the side-bar has normal spacing, and the spacing between the <p> tags is roughly the same as the vertical gap between the content and the sidebar, which makes the content feel divided up more than it is.
- zackattack 16y ago
  Hey, thanks for the feedback. I agree. What do you think of the line spacing now? http://www.zacharyburt.com http://www.zacharyburt.com
  - Groxx 16y ago
    Much better :) After flipping to a couple other blogs, I realized yours is pretty much at the "standard" right now. Which could very well account for part of the reason why I like it better - you're used to what you're used to. If you like it wider, a little poking around suggests to me that another couple pixels doesn't seem to make reading any harder, and then it still stands out a bit compared to other blogs. (what was it at before? I didn't check the # until just now) Something I noticed later: I'd also recommend shrinking the Disqus container a bit, as the text there is rather noticeably larger than your posts' text (especially since their h3 is the first thing you see after your content).
gojomo 16y ago
Love the observation from David Weinberger via Clay Shirky via this post: "Clarity is violence" -- meaning, clear rules can be coercive and over-constraining in social situations, and especially-dangerously-prematurely so in an evolving online community.
- jamesbritt 16y ago
  That's an amazing observation, and explains (or justifies) why, when I'm organizing social events, I'm reluctant to try to set up rules and such, until there is some notable problem that some clear, enforced rule might solve. I'm a big fan of setting up situations and seeing where people want to go and helping to give it form. The trick is to choose some initial basic constraints while not being an impediment to some more interesting spontaneous behavior.

26 points by zackattack 16y ago

Groxx 16y ago

In summary: People do nigh-everything socially, seemingly one-way interactions help define group activities (and are thus not just one-way), and doing stuff for free really is its own reward, in a way, because people like feeling generous and it raises their view of themselves / their standing in society. It... feels too loosely aimed, however. Like a set of rambling thoughts rather than a discussion with a purpose. --- edit: also, personally, I think the line spacing is too large. It feels like I'm reading lines instead of sentences which continue past the line. Probably because the side-bar has normal spacing, and the spacing between the <p> tags is roughly the same as the vertical gap between the content and the sidebar, which makes the content feel divided up more than it is.

zackattack 16y ago
Hey, thanks for the feedback. I agree. What do you think of the line spacing now? http://www.zacharyburt.com http://www.zacharyburt.com
- Groxx 16y ago
  Much better :) After flipping to a couple other blogs, I realized yours is pretty much at the "standard" right now. Which could very well account for part of the reason why I like it better - you're used to what you're used to. If you like it wider, a little poking around suggests to me that another couple pixels doesn't seem to make reading any harder, and then it still stands out a bit compared to other blogs. (what was it at before? I didn't check the # until just now) Something I noticed later: I'd also recommend shrinking the Disqus container a bit, as the text there is rather noticeably larger than your posts' text (especially since their h3 is the first thing you see after your content).

gojomo 16y ago

Love the observation from David Weinberger via Clay Shirky via this post: "Clarity is violence" -- meaning, clear rules can be coercive and over-constraining in social situations, and especially-dangerously-prematurely so in an evolving online community.

jamesbritt 16y ago
That's an amazing observation, and explains (or justifies) why, when I'm organizing social events, I'm reluctant to try to set up rules and such, until there is some notable problem that some clear, enforced rule might solve. I'm a big fan of setting up situations and seeing where people want to go and helping to give it form. The trick is to choose some initial basic constraints while not being an impediment to some more interesting spontaneous behavior.