Roots Project Update

[Pachacutec]

Hey gang.  It's been a while.  I hope everyone is doing well, and all you love, as well.

While you haven't heard much about Roots in a while, we have been doing more study of this very fragmented and emerging world of online social networking, looking at different options and models, and we'd like your feedback on one such model out there:  Facebook.

Facebook has opened up its code to allow for customized community modules and programs, so it offers, potentially, a tested basic infrastructure with possibilities for us to add on and build things we'd like to have in place to fulfill the Roots Project mission.  There's also the ability for all of you to reconstitute or create groups in any ways you like, by location, interest, etc.  You can control how much you want to reveal about yourself while at the same time connecting with like minded people who share your values.

Jane and I have begun asking Firedoglake readers to set up an account over there and let us know what they think, and we'd like your input as well.  This will be an ongoing conversation, and we'll be having chats about this stuff probably as a regular feature at Firedoglake on Saturdays, asking people from different parts of the social networking world to come and tell us what they know, perhaps as special guests.

Here are the recent posts at FDL to get you up to speed:

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/06/09/saturday-block-party/

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/06/09/saturday-block-party-part-ii/

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/06/09/late-late-nite-fdl-facebook-home-decor/

You can set up your account at Facebook on your own, but also, please join our Firedoglake group there for updates and discussion.  While you're at it, you can make me your friend!

Don't hesitate to email me if you have questions, but also, please be sensitive to people's inboxes:  if your question does not need to go to everyone, please be sure to send it just to me, and not to your whole google group.  Don't just hit "reply" to this email; think first.  Thanks in advance!

Once again, I hope you are well.  You have been a pioneer in this new world of helping us put social networking and blogs together to build a thriving progressive grass roots movement.  I really hope you'll accept our invitation to continue with us as part of this effort, this conversation.  We don't have all this stuff figured out, and we certainly need the collective wisdom of this crowd to steer us in the right directions.

Once again, my warmest regards and best wishes.

Much love,

Pach



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