wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: quo vadis WWP?
Bostjan Burger 2013-Feb-17 07:42:00
I made a »starter« FB profile for WWP ( http://www.facebook.com/TheWorldWidePanorama ), actually meant as unpublished but ok. already discovered
;) The idea is not finalized yet but in general its purpose is a promotion of
worldwidepanorama.org to the general public, but you are welcome to »like
it«. Yahoo WWP list is still alive so everyone will get the necessary basic
info also here. As Don mentioned before, there is already a FB profile http://www.facebook.com/groups/panoramicphotographers which is very active and we suggest continuing the discussion about WWP (beside
this WWP list) also there.
Bo?tjan
________________________________
From: bryant_arnett <#removed#>
To: #removed#
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:10 AM
Subject: Re: quo vadis WWP?
Hi, Sam.
I'm a big fan of Facebook, and I think your points here are well made. However, as a long time member of the WWP, I wish to disagree with one important point you made:
"...it seems to me that for a social project like WWP and its members to ignore facebook and other social websites in the year 2013 is just ridiculous and counterproductive..."
The way I see it, the WWP is NOT a "social project."
I have always considered the WWP to be a project whose original purpose was to document the Earth at specific times during the year. It was, in its infancy, more of a scientific endeavor than a social gathering. I'll admit that even in the beginning the role of the WWP was, as the WWP front page says: "... to create enthusiasm for VR photography, and provide an outlet for our collective creativity." There is no question that the WWP is not easily categorized into any typical example of either database or gathering place, but rather it walks a fine line between those two extremes.
I like to think that the WWP can maintain its role as a creative and fascinating record of the World's development, without ignoring the recent advancements in social networking.
Personally, I LOVE the fact that the WWP is devoid of obtrusive advertising. I never feel "pushed" when I visit the WWP. The opposite is true of a site like 360cities. I can't even visit that site because of all the big pop-up banners and navigation tools and icons and stuff that pop up all over the image. It is absolutely distracting and annoying. But it has it's place and fulfills a particular purpose.
So I think the issue with Facebook is really about how we, as participants and promoters of the WWP, can best communicate with each other and the world. I don't think the WWP itself should EVER be treated as a social network. I don't think there should be any comments added to the pages directly. I hope and pray there will never be any pop-up banners or ads placed on the WWP images or pages. I do NOT think that because it is fashionable for everything on the web to be just like Facebook, that we need to turn the WWP into another social network.
For the WWP to become Facebook friendly, I would like to see something like a "Share" button on each pano page. This would allow people to easily share the URL of an image on their own wall or with a FB friend. I think that's all we need at the actual WWP site to begin linking with the FB world.
Now, with that said, I do think there might be some benefit for us to shift our communication about the WWP, both internally and externally, to a better platform. This Yahoo group has served its purpose well, but could easily be improved by something like a dedicated facebook page.
Doing a quick search of facebook, I just discovered: Apparently, yesterday somebody created an actual facebook page about the WWP:
https://www.facebook.com/TheWorldWidePanorama
This seems like a good place to begin promoting the WWP with FB, but without sacrificing the existing integrity of the WWP homepage. Maybe this FB page can be a good place to discuss and promote the WWP. I'm going to go like the page right now!
'''''''''''''''''' Bryant
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