Next Gen UGs and Social Networks

Hi all,

I wanted to pick-up on some recent discussions related to google groups, etc.  Below I have some general thoughts and questions - interested in any feedback, thoughts, etc.

As previously mentioned, NYPHP.org will start work on 3.0 of its site and looking forward to sharing the platform with other groups.  These questions/feedback/etc will be used to develop an optimized and most useful platform.  And full disclosure, yes, at some point we might also sell the platform.


Reasons for moving from existing forums/mailman/etc
  -- either forums or mailing lists were inactive
  -- forums and mailing lists were not unified in any useful way
  -- reduce/remove mailing list management and setup tasks

Advantages and observations
  -- increased search and find-ability for posted content
  -- better archives
  -- Google seems favored over Yahoo which has more ads and annoying aspects
  -- visibility to ego/keyword searches
  -- increased traffic and visibility
  -- aggregation services that are easier to deal with

Questions/thoughts
  -- where does meetup.com fit in?  observed advantages/disadvantages?
  -- where, if anywhere, does twitter fit in anywhere?
  -- what software is used on the UG's site itself?
  -- how does website software (CMS, wiki, etc) fit into these external services?
  -- what's the future user group site look like?
  -- is IRC (chat) dead?

Web 2.0 has been around awhile, and really amounted to nothing more than newly styled graphics, and oh right - browser sub-requests and some usable browser functionality.  Perhaps it should have really been called Browser 2.0.

Anyway, does the above begin to define Web 3.0?  The utilization of external web services (APIs, but largely RSS based) as fundamental components of any given web site - the semantic web?


---
Hans Zaunere / Managing Member / New York PHP
      www.nyphp.org  /  www.nyphp.com