AZ: Nonfiction and a Kick in the Pants

Live Poll

Are you in?

I'm in.
29%
I'm not in.
14%
I'm vaguely interested but unmotivated.
57%

Total Votes: 14

I love Flickr.

Alright ya'll, here's the deal. Everyone is very excited about working with Assignment Zero but nobody is very sure where to start - well, let's get this sorted out.

Of the three projects assigned to newsvine, I'm personally most interested in nonfiction books; please note that the word "book" is used loosely, because at least in my mind it includes something like wikipedia. What i'm interested in exploring is the way a nonfiction work (documentary, criticism, history etc) can be tackled using crowdsourcing.

So, if you want to help, here's what you do:

Go visit this page. If you don't yet have an assignment zero account, create one. Then go visit. Read the summary on the left.
On the right hand side you see a list of assignments - most of them have three little avatars next to them, this means they are group assignments. Any number of people can contribute towards them. "Write the Profile" has only a single avatar, meaning it's a job for one person.
Read up on each of the assignments and find one that appeals to you. Return to this comment thread and leave a comment explaining which assignment interests you and outlining what you'd like to do towards finishing that assignment. Don't worry about duplicates.
That's all for now - I will be in touch with you and we can discuss what to do next.

That's pretty easy, right? Look ya'll, this is all pretty abstract for me so until we actually get a few of these done and have a growing body of work to show for it I'm not gonna be entirely convinced it's worth our time - but I do think it's worth exploring. So let's give it a fair shake. Every contribution you make to AZ is first and foremost a contribution to your own column - you can publish any of this if you want to. If you are interested but have some reservations that haven't yet been addressed, leave a comment.

Cool?

14 Votes
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Published to:

Mykola Bilokonsky's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Assignment Zero HQ, Newsvine Community, The Bilokonsky Dynasty, The Citizen Journalist, The Weirdos!
Regions: none

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Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

6.5

2.7

{"commentId":593603,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

I for one am interested in the role of editorial oversight - but I think before we get too deeply involved in that we need to form a larger list of examples. As a community, let's all try to come up with other examples of crowdsourced nonfiction. Think outside the box - what texts in history can be (loosely or otherwise) described as crowdsourced?

Maybe we need a good functional definition of crowdsourced when it comes to nonfiction. Come to think of it, I think we need a good definition of nonfiction. Any ideas to flesh this out?

{"commentId":593603,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"darkside"}

1 vote

#1 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:55 AM EDT

{"commentId":593654,"authorDomain":"farmer"}

Okay, Mykola Bilokonsky, I am going to go do what you say. Now you go do what I say. Go Here.
When you get back I may have accomplished the task upon which you have sent me.

{"commentId":593654,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"farmer"}

#2 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:21 AM EDT

{"commentId":593666,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

that link don't work, Jerry!

{"commentId":593666,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"darkside"}

#2.1 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:30 AM EDT

{"commentId":593891,"authorDomain":"farmer"}

Just now worked for me. Maybe I have had a glitch at Newsvine. Been disappointed at how poorly my showing has been lately. By looks of front page I am catching up today.

{"commentId":593891,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"farmer"}

#2.2 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:09 PM EDT

{"commentId":593671,"authorDomain":"farmer"}

Back, I did my task, did you complete yours? Why wasn't this published to Assignment Zero HQ?

I now know everything AZ has to teach me about Crowdsourcing a non fiction book. So what book are we going to write? How about one on Self Education? Or Crowdeducating? Or educating the crowd? Ready to go Myk, need directions.

BTW, one of the listed tasks was editing. I would be proud to do that. Or anything else you would like me to do.

{"commentId":593671,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"farmer"}

1 vote

#3 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:32 AM EDT

{"commentId":593863,"authorDomain":"indecent"}

indecent

Ha, Jerry, you sound like I feel! I'm ready for this, I wanna go, now I just need someone to point the right direction and tie my shoelaces.

{"commentId":593863,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"indecent"}

1 vote

#3.1 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:59 AM EDT

{"commentId":593862,"authorDomain":"indecent"}

indecent

I'm all about the editorial oversight assignment, though I do wish someone else had filed some reporting so we'd have an idea about where to start. I also liked Wikinomics, but I noted its now a different thing from AZ?
I do need that kick in the pants. I'd rather do this than the job I'm getting paid for.

{"commentId":593862,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"indecent"}

#4 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:58 AM EDT

{"commentId":593874,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

Wikinomics is its own book, I believe. You feel like checking out of the lbirary/buying it and writing a quick book report for us?

{"commentId":593874,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"darkside"}

#4.1 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:03 PM EDT

{"commentId":593897,"authorDomain":"farmer"}

I have several requests in to AZ for more explicit information. It takes those New Yorkers till after the lunch martini to get motivated.

{"commentId":593897,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"farmer"}

#4.2 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:11 PM EDT

{"commentId":593973,"authorDomain":"deatienza"}

Eric Atienza

It takes those New Yorkers till after the lunch martini to get motivated.

As a recent transplant to New York I take offense to that. Some of us can get motivated after our breakfast martini.

{"commentId":593973,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"deatienza"}

2 votes

#4.3 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:47 PM EDT

{"commentId":594012,"authorDomain":"farmer"}

I hear you, Eric, only a Drambuie drinker can stand some people's dry wit.

{"commentId":594012,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"farmer"}

#4.4 - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:58 PM EDT

{"commentId":598499,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

Myk,

Like I just told Celestina in her call to action for the crowdsourced novels, I'm intrigued by the subject and the project, I'm just lacking in time. I have to stop jumping into things I don't have time for!

I'd be happy to do some simple editing on pieces people have written--I'm good at that and it's mindless work for me.

I'll be sitting on a beach drinking all next week, so if there's something you'd like me to read and report on, I suppose I can do that. Only caveat is that my internet connection will depend on the guy in the condo above mine not noticing that I'm sitting in the hallway outside his door, sucking on his wireless tit.

I guess I'm trying to say that, like indecent above, I need my shoes tied for me on this one.

{"commentId":598499,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

2 votes

#5 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:34 AM EDT

{"commentId":599777,"authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}

Forest Browne

Vicki...can I help edit the sitting on the beach part....I have exceptional skills in that department...and when working on said project will find the time so forget the time restraints.

Thanks

Forest

{"commentId":599777,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}

2 votes

#6 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:10 PM EDT

{"commentId":599839,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

heh, Forest! I don't want any editing of my beach-drinking time done. I want it to drag out as long as possible. ;)

{"commentId":599839,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

1 vote

#6.1 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:48 PM EDT

{"commentId":599846,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

I have to say, I'm finding it somewhat preposterous that there is relatively little interest on the part of Newsviners to be a part of this project. If it were at a different time, I'd be all over it, but I fully expected to see hundreds of comments on this article in my conversation tracker!

{"commentId":599846,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

1 vote

#7 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:54 PM EDT

{"commentId":599902,"authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}

Forest Browne

If you'll remember when it was first proposed to the group, the threads were hot and furious. It seemed as though AZ wasn't quite as on it has hped, but were full of acronymns that sounded like I was back in a large corporation, but no teeth....Everyone just needs some meat.

Forest

{"commentId":599902,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}

1 vote

#8 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:20 PM EDT

{"commentId":599945,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

Absolutely, Forest. When the news first hit, everybody was all over it.

I kinda feel like I'm already involved in a social experiment here on Newsvine, and I think there were many users, myself included, who had a lot of ideas swimming around as far as how to push people into some citizen journalism, but here on the vine.

I totally understand the examination of the crowdsourcing concept. I just think it's a little redundant to crowdsource on crowdsourcing, when we could be crowdsourcing on something that means something, or could have an effect on people.

I'm so anti-meta.

{"commentId":599945,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

1 vote

#8.1 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":600021,"authorDomain":"darkside"}

I've always been pretty pro-meta but I understand the frustration. Personally, I'm not 100% about the subject myself - I can understand why they did it, but I'd much rather be covering something a bit let masturbatory.

That said, though, this is the deal and this is how it was announced from the beginning. Everyone wanted to be some kind of editor but nobody seems to want to write. That could be a snafu.

I'm current reading the Gamer Theory book to get a sense for how he used the crowdsourcing, it's a fundamentally different project from something truly collaboratively written. I'm trying to think of what kind of questions to ask him. If anyone wants to look into Wikinomics or the other one I think that would be pretty cool, then we could compare notes and figure out what questions we should be asking. If anyone is actually interested, drop me a line - I'd like to touch base and get a rough plan done by this weekend so that we can spend a few days collecting data and then I can combine it all into a draft on, say, wednesday or thursday.

The way I see it, we have a bunch of topics but it really boils down to: there are three books. Understand each of them, then extrapolate from there to understand a) the role of editorial oversight and b) the principles involved in contributing.

In other words, figure out how each of those books works from the point of view of the contributor and from the point of view of the editor. Discuss. We can do this but I really am gonna need some help.

So. Who is down, seriously? And which book are you gonna look at for us? :)

{"commentId":600021,"threadId":"86096","contentId":"621461","authorDomain":"darkside"}

2 votes

#8.2 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:00 PM EDT

{"commentId":600076,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}