You've been quiet and I am wondering if you might re-emerge for Hack for
Change.
As you know E-Democracy has 20,000 users on our existing Python-based
GroupServer platform.
We are about to launch our redesign with a bit more color and a responsive
design that is mobile friendly.
We will also next be identifying a few features we will seek to have
implemented - some we will use our pledge drive dollars to fund and others
will need volunteer coding to happen. We are a volunteer-driven effort at
our core with funding in spurts that essentially increase our participant
base.
So, I've been thinking about what volunteer motivating ideas might get
coded into our exist platform where we can test them with our almost
impossible to create audience.
So the one idea I keep coming back to is "proximity connecting" where our
users could enter in their street address and then be given the option to
privately message the nearest X members to them as a complement to our very
public forums.
With this feature in place we could test it with say 1,000 of our users in
S. Minneapolis.
As you may have noted Next Door really doesn't offer truly private nearest
neighbor communication that well in most areas (it actually shows your
stuff to a wide area), while at the same time it is undermining truly
public and inclusive community communication that we offer. So, if we add
dynamic private nearest neighbor communication it might just be what helps
ensure our public inclusive mission.
The challenge of course is that you need to know Python and as Bill Bushey
points out to me, be willing to go up the steep learning curve with
GroupServer. But heck, you might be that person! See
http://e-democracy.org/groupserver
Let me know of you would like to discuss further.
Cheers,
Steve