the porous city

Webrings 2k16
Okay, idea: have a javascript widget you can insert on article pages on your blog. This widget collects basic tracking data, offers the ability to follow the author, and depending on how the author configures it can do a few other things: display related articles the user might want to read, let users fav articles, and let users comment on articles (using Twitter OAuth, maybe with Medium's highlighting UI.)

Basically it's Medium for the decentralized web, or an up-to-date version of webrings. To replicate Medium's success there would have to be editorial judgment applied to who can join the network, but it would be interesting to have an "unlimited class" version of the widget where the only control exercised is what's necessary to avoid malicious activity (easier said than done, I know.)

If you have all this stuff you can create a site to serve as a front door, or several front doors for different topics. You can also create composite RSS streams, a social layer (mention other users in comments, or even in the main body of an article - the crawler could look for twitter handles or links to in-network sites in article text.) Oh, and you're well-placed to create a boutique ad network, assuming you sign up the right people.

The tracking data would be anonymized, of course, despite the impact on ad revenue. I want to make the tracking data fully public, as well, to emphasize how non-creepy it is.

Like Medium, it could turn into a drug if the traffic angle works out, but that would be a good problem to have. And you can drop out any time, the only thing you lose is the comment history (and the service could offer an export feature for that.)

Someone's gotta have tried this, right?


last modified: 13:45:37 08-Dec-2016
in categories:Design/Web, Tech/Open, Tech/RSS, Tech/Social, Tech/Business, Tech/Web

Comment

name*

email

homepage

No html.

what's the second letter of your name?

This is Lukas Bergstrom's weblog. You can also find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tech
Shopping, Data, Web, RSS, AI, Net, OS, Open, Product Management, Javascript, Energy, Automobile, Security, Mobile, Visual, Wearables, Audio, WRX, Collaboration, Social, barcamp, Android, PIM, s60, a11y, Storage, MacOS, Hardware, Medical, Crowdsourcing, Development, Business, Web analytics

Other
Boston, Geography, Quizzes, Food & Drink, NYC, Agriculture, Berlin, Sports, Feminism, Politik, California, Travel, Law, Housing, History, Toys, Personal care, Bicycling, Clothes, L.A., Statistics, Video, Life hacks, San Francisco, Games, Podcasts, Transportation, Minnesota, Friday, CrowdFlower, Surfing, Activism

Music
Streams, Lyrics, Making, L.A., House, Labels, Business, Events, Reviews, History, Good tracks, Shopping, Mixes, Boston, Mp3s, Mailing lists, Hip-hop, Musicians, Booking, Videos

People
Buddhism, Subcultures, Languages, Heroes, Friends, Me, Exercise, Working with, Health, Stories, Weblogs, Enemies, Meditation, Vocations, Family, Gossip, MOTAS, Life hacks, ADD

Commerce
Investing, Non-profit, Insurance, Web, Personal services, Personal finance, International Development, Management consulting, Shopping, Real Estate, Microfinance, Taxes, Macroeconomics, IP Law, Marketing and CRM

Arts
Burning Man, Visual, Poetry, Rhetoric, Animation, Outlets, Comix, Movies, iPad bait, Sculpture, Events, Literature, Humor, Spoken Word, Desktop wallpaper bait

Design
Furniture, Data visualization, User experience, Type, IA, Architecture, Web, Presentations, Cool, Algorithmic, Tools, Process

Science
Networks, Psychology, Physics, Cognition, Environment, Statistics and Data, Zoology

Travel
Kingdom of Siam, Uganda, Vagabond '08, Kenya

Photos
Friends, Photos I Wish I'd Taken, Moblog

Philosophy
Mind

Mathematics

Internet classic

One Acre Fund

Subscribe to this site's rss feed