There’s a gap that exists between blogs and forums which I’d love to fill. Nick Wilson posted an article on Performancing.com about making your website sticky (read: building community). His list is great and I believe in it to the fullest (even if it’s not completely implemented here yet).
The gap
The problem is that blogs are typically one way. They are me talking to you (unless you use Drupal like Performancing does). On the other hand we have forums, where you get an icon and a signature to identify who you are. That’s not an identity. It’s not easy to use. It’s laborious and makes me feel like a number.
The gap is the difference between them. Performancing’s use of drupal is the best rendition I’ve seen so far but still lacks some things by nature. Comments are comments, not conversations. Articles need to be the spawn of conversation, which is the attempt of good bloggers. But, the systems don’t yet accompany or promote a conversation which forums do relatively well.
The solution
I’m not completely sure, but, I believe Performancing is doing some things very right and plan on copying them to a certain degree soon. What do you think?
