The Integrative Stream

Moderation Patterns

I think patterns, whether in software development, architecture, or any other repeatable activity, are a very important thing. So much so that I wrote a book about them. So it’s interesting to watch the efforts at creating pattern languages for the social networking sphere. I’m particularly amazed that nobody has come up with a better web based group discussion system than the one I wrote back in 1995. Which was no different or better than the ones a lot of other people wrote at the same time.

Although I missed it, it appears that Clay Shirky gave an interesting talk on social networking patterns at the O’Reilly Emerging Technologies conference. Worth a read, and worth following the links.

Along the same lines, I’ve noticed a massive uptick in the comment spam on this blog over the last few days. Over 20 of them yesterday alone. I’ve closed off comments on some of the more popular posts, and will probably upgrade the blog software this weekend in an effort to cut them back further. Since I pre-moderate everything not posted by an approved user the spam doesn’t actually show up here.