First off, I love that. This is IMHO, what it is all about. Of course there is no absolute right and wrong way to do most things, but sometimes I am going to be decidedly more wrong than right. However, I'd rather be wrong and have a reason, than to be right and not have one. That way, when I am wrong, I'll better know it, and most importantly, I'll have an idea about what I need to do to address it. Also, I am not just a scientist and a coder. I am an artist. I create things because I want something to exist that would not have existed otherwise. Hubski is a lot of things, but among those, it is a reflection of something in my mind. It is not an immutable thing, but in order to get to one place, it has to evolve from another. It is not just a sequence of choices. This evolution occurs as a consequence of many things, and interacting with everyone here is a chief mover. I am honored that some very interesting people have decided to invest time in this site. That is meaningful to me. It says that I am doing something of meaning. Meaning is fragile, but it is also a force. Realistically, if this site grows, it is not only going to live in my mind. In fact, it doesn't just live in my mind now. However, if others are going to join the Hubski team, they are going to have to live it. They are going to have to be on board with the evolution, and down with a ride for the sake of ride. I'd rather take this off a cliff in a noteworthy effort than peter-out in drivel of expected turns. One thing I am very leery of, is deciding or being convinced that Hubski is something different than I thought it was. It can evolve into something different, but I have to know why it did, and know the path it took. Damn, one of these days I am going to have to write the 'tag post'. Thank you for sharing this kleinbl00. p.s. Just a touch of wine.
Quote-worthy. "Damn, one of these days I am going to have to write the 'tag post'." I suggest you do it a) when it's still early enough to make some big, deep changes b) when the hub churn is still more than a few days Other than that, no wine before its time.
mk is very mindful and resistant to, as Jeff Atwood put it, 'building a truck', and speaking to your point about vision "And so long as he has one, I'm willing to pay out some rope.", I can say that mk has a vision and though behind tags that provide him with the reason they are there. I'm of the opinion that they will either remain or leave one day by virtue of how well they serve a purpose whose utility is dictated by thoughtful vision. It certainly won't be because too many people are making too much noise about it :)
Now - how those flippers work once the water gets deeper is a matter of speculation all around. I see one kind of pool based on my experience, mk might well see another based on his vision. We'll have different ideas as to what flippers are for as a consequence. And that's just fine, so long as there are some firm ideas and some firm justifications behind any decision one way or the other. I don't mind re-learning how to swim, so long as I know it can be done. I simply don't care for "design by default." Reddit, in the early days, had sorting for everyone. Comment, link, whatever. Then they broke 100k users and sorting went away... not because they didn't think users could have it, but because it crushed their servers. I think that was right about the time they took the code "open source" - as in, "please use our code so that you can figure out how to un-fuck it, since we simply don't know what to do next." Nobody did, of course, and "sorting" didn't come back until Reddit Gold - and even then, it's a static database. If I sort my comments by "top" it misses the last nine months (in other words, since keysersosa bailed). So there's a feature that they thought would be a good idea, but it broke stuff, so they tore it out. Then they brought it back to a select few, but in a limited utility. So it's not so much a "feature" as it is a "mockup of a feature" and none of the guys there even know what to do with it, but they still offer it to you because someone else thought it was a good idea and they're too busy trying to keep Cassandra from crashing that they just leave it in place like some totem to a lost civilization. Tags, as they exist on Hubski right now, are kind of like that - sort of lip service to a trend that other places use without the underpinnings to make them work the way they should. Hubski is young, though, and I'm willing to bide my time and see what happens with them.
As for the tags, for me they are both functional and flavorful. It's a way to either categorize or editorialize. I follow #writebetterdammit but I might not follow #writing because too much would be under that umbrella. I like that you, and mk use the #writebetterdammit and I know it's likely to be a good post if it's under that tag because it's from one of you guys. As Hubski grows, chances are #writebetterdammit won't grow as popular as #writing. I like that. I understand that your comment is less about tags than it is about having a vision and not compromising this vision. It's important to have an open mind within that vision but to never compromise the vision for short gains or popularity. also: As most of you are aware, I was a big deal on Reddit. -awesome intro. reminded me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnkYndycWno
http://www.zazzle.com/im_kind_of_a_big_deal_on_the_internet_...
Part of that was because there were three girls in the room and I had brought all of them. Part of it, though, was simply being, well, kleinbl00. Had coffee with a guy last weekend who had come down from San Francisco to meet... me. The internet is a weird place.
If effective meta relies on the tag mechanism, then no, I would not say we have effective meta :)