Monday, September 7, 2009

a preliminary plan for our final product

We'll build a freestanding website on a Ning platform so that it can include a strong element of social networking. When you visit the website, you will see:

1. A homepage with ...
    a. a portion of the whole Boston map
    b. an invitation to create a personal profile
    c. a powerful search function that allows you to find specific nodes by keyword but also offers smarter search functions. E.g., "Who is central to the network on [fill in an issue or place]?" Or "List all the people and organizations within 2 steps of [fill in name of issue or organization]"
    d. links to groups. Each group is composed of people who have profiles on the Ning site and are part of a team, like my class this semester
    e. a blog, on which selected student and community leaders have permission to post about the project as a whole
    f. a FAQ page and maybe an explanatory video
2. If you create a profile of your own ...
    a. You are asked to state your interests in volunteering and service (e.g., homelessness, global warming) and some facts about who you are, e.g., Tufts student
    b. Your name is placed on the Boston map and is searchable
    c. A portion of the interactive Boston map appears on your profile for others to see, with you at the center
    d. You can also enter text and links and upload videos to your profile page
    e. You can be contacted through the Ning interface, for instance, to be recruited for a volunteering activity
    f. You can add nodes to the main map
    g. When you take any of these actions, your Facebook, Twitter etc accounts can be notified. (For instance, my Facebook page would say, "Peter Levine has added Boston Food Pantry to the Boston Civic Network map.")
    h. You get points or reach ranks or levels depending on your activity
3. When a group forms ...
    It creates a page that shows a list of members, a portion of the Boston map that highlights their work, and space for some text and video explanations. If any member of the group changes the page, everyone is pinged. The group gets points for its level of activity.

As a first assignment, you can comment on this plan or post a new entry on the reading for next week.

links to look at on the first day of class

During class, we will examine: