Loomio
Wed 5 Oct 2016 8:46AM

Discussion Points Forming

ST Sam Toland Public Seen by 444

It is clear that everyone involved in this group is stimulated by the idea of a micro-blogging Platform Co-op, and were inspired by @ntnsndr #buytwitter call to action.

But obviously there are many ways to do this - and I am happy to note that some different point's of view are developing already. I think this is an eminently good thing.

I've decided to map them here for reference until we are using a more appropriate tool.

(1) Buy Twitter - organise, incorporate, fundraising, politicise, buy twitter. The original vision.

(2) Build capacity to buy a deathstar - build the legal, financial, and social structures so that when the next opportunity comes along there is a funded and democratically controlled org. in place to acquire. (@sureshfernando @chrisbeelby are discussing among others)

(3) Start a micro-blogging Platform Co-op - let's just start from scratch, organise, incorporate, raise capital and build the future platform co-op. (What @stevenpalmer @priscillagrim and @zbanshee are discussing).

Anything I have missed out let me know.

I think it would be most productive at this stage to engage with all options with an open mind - we have some time to tease out all the issues. :)

TAM

Timothy A McDonald Wed 5 Oct 2016 10:29AM

Sam,
This is very helpful. One of the biggest challenges in getting my head wrapped around a social and community building strategy is what the goals are. Many people are wanting to learn more, but until we get focused on our goals, it's difficult to define our purpose and lay the foundation.

BF

Bonnie Foley-Wong Thu 6 Oct 2016 2:48AM

And culture. People join communities for shared goals, shared values, and culture. What tribe is this?

NS

Nathan Schneider Wed 5 Oct 2016 3:10PM

Thanks for the clarification. I think, in order to keep up our momentum, we've got to zero in on a clear project for this group. While I believe in (3), I think we should keep that separate; if people want to get involved in that, they should work with existing models like Diaspora, GNUSocial, and Twister. So I think we should focus on (1) as a route toward (2).

I'd add a further dimension, however. Do we think our strengths and capacities incline toward:

1) Organizational: Setting up a formal organization and attempting to build from there. Perhaps a cooperative investment vehicle designed to engineer user takeovers and/or shareholder activism?

2) Swarm: Flex our muscles as a viral swarm, trying to spread the idea of user ownership through provocative campaigns and one-off crowdfunding.

3) Both.

ST

Sam Toland Wed 5 Oct 2016 3:52PM

Favour both myself :)

AI

Alanna Irving Wed 5 Oct 2016 10:18PM

Can you please turn that comment into a proposal Nathan? Would be great to have it laid out quite clearly, and test for agreement int he group. Often times just throwing up proposals really helps participants come out of the woodwork and starts surfacing the issues (even if consensus isn't reached).

CW

Chad Whitacre Thu 6 Oct 2016 1:35AM

Looks like the proposal landed on https://www.loomio.org/d/uHLiFzr8/comment/1146410.

KL

Kirsten Lambertsen Fri 7 Oct 2016 2:20AM

What's been most interesting, new and educational for me with this group, so far, is learning how a cooperative could go about Buying Twitter (or buying any 'deathstar').

While building a new platform (building anything!) is super interesting to me, I was intrigued with this group specifically because I want to participate in and contribute to the actions that would be required to Buy Twitter. [Even though contributing to building a new platform is also something that I would enjoy doing.]

To me, the concept of Buying Twitter and transforming it into a cooperative is one of those "Wait. We can do that?" things that I want to experience regardless of a 'successful' outcome or not.

I'm interested in participating in something radical :-)

NS

Nathan Schneider Fri 7 Oct 2016 4:06AM

So glad to have you on board! This is a great reminder that this idea is opening people's imaginations to new possibilities. But I think part of the power of this idea is its real plausibility. So we should be careful stewards of that possibility, and make sure that if we act on it, we do so judiciously and competently, without sacrificing our radicalism.

AS

Alvaro Solache Wed 12 Oct 2016 8:16AM

More than radical I suggest use the word disruptive

PG

Priscilla Grim Wed 12 Oct 2016 1:33PM

Can we not? The word "disruptive" is the worst thing to happen to Silicon Valley. We need a word that expresses the political motivation behind this attempt. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/01/20/disruption_is_an_overused_clich.html

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