In loving, living memory, John Melançon 1928 – 2007
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People Who Give a Damn, purpose restated
Wed, 2008/10/08 - 2:30pm — Benjamin Melançon
People have always needed something better than mailing lists— or other communication tools as they exist now. We need something that can reach millions of people (or billions– everyone) and still be open to everyone on an equal basis. Reaching everyone means filtering to reduce quantity and increase quality. Staying open to everyone means that the filtering must not be controlled by any group, must in some true sense belong to everyone.
The Internet has this potential. (The issue of access remains crucial, but is separate from helping the Internet reach closer to its potential for people who do have access.)
People Who Give a Damn is incorporated as a nonprofit organization to connect, without interference and without wasting anyone's time, everyone who gives a damn.
As the first technique to achieve this, anyone signed up to receive messages in a network can submit a message to be sent. The message will be publicly available immediately, but it will be moderated by a random sample of other people in the network pulled to serve jury duty. If they decide it is important enough to send to everyone in the network, it is sent to everyone. If not, the message will have more limited distribution to the sender's personal contacts and possibly to groups within the overall network to which the sender belongs.
This is simple. Yet it will make possible horizontal communication, not top-down few-to-many broadcasts, that is also mass communication. We need horizontal mass communication because we need mass cooperation and collaboration. It is possible with current technology, and necessary for the well-being of ourselves, our friends and family, our fellow humans, our Earth. Anyone interested in updates on progress or how they can help, please contact me.
benjamin melançon
People Who Give a Damn
building a network for everyone: for people (who care about anything or everything) to connect with each other, communicate without interference or overload, and unite and coordinate to make the world better in myriad ways
I make a living doing web design and development with a great team
The Agaric Design Collective
I'm trying to make possible a worldwide nonviolent revolution for justice, liberty, and making more good things doable.
People Who Give a Damn
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Favorite Quotations
"One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest efforts."
--quote to Walter Daellenbach, May 31, 1915.
Comments
On sending to groups, this
On sending to groups, this same process works /within/ groups and on the web site– the featured communications are present on the main page or the main discussion page, the messages not explicitly judged (well, juried) important are a click or two farther away.