(2016-11-20) Caulfield Wikity One Year Later

Mike Caulfield: Wikity, One Year Later. The shortest explanation of Wikity I can provide is this: Wikity is social bookmarks, wikified. (Social Bookmarking)

If you want to see me construct an argument about something, you can read my blog. But if you want some insight into how I conceptualize the space, you can visit my Wikity site

I’ll be phasing out signups on the wikity.cc site, which I was running as a central space for new users to try out Wikity. In its place I hope to put an aggregation site that makes it easier for different people’s Wikity installs to see what other people are writing about.

I should also mention to some early users that the scope of what Wikity does has actually been reduced in many ways. There’s a way in which this is sad, but in other ways the biggest advance over the past year in Wikity has been realizing that the core of Wikity could be expressed as “social bookmarks, wikified.” (Focus)

What does “wikified social bookmarks” mean? Well, like most social bookmarking tools, we allow for people to host private sites, but encourage people to share their bookmarks and short notes with the world.

I thought early on that there would be larger appetite for Wikity... People have largely built a set of habits today that revolve around Twitter and Facebook and Slack.com.

Now lets talk about some of the struggles we’ve been through here, and where we’re going in the future

I had a bunch of people try Wikity, and even paid many people to test it. The conclusion was usually that it was easy to use, valuable, cool — and completely non-addictive (compelling). One hour into Wikity people were in love with the tool. But the next day they felt no compulsion to go back.

I began to understand that the goals of Wikity — and of any social software meant to promote deeper thought — began with increasing awareness of the ways in which our current closed, commercial environments (Walled Garden) are distorting our reality.

Tools and curriculum that will help people to understand and advocate for the changes we need in these areas.

I think it’s that social issue — getting people to realize how these commercial systems have impacted political discourse and how open tools might solve the problem — that most demands addressing right now.

it’s an interesting end to this project — starting with a tool, and getting sucked into a movement. Wikity is complete and useful, but the main story (for me) has turned out to lead beyond that, and I’m hurtling towards the next chapter.