Let's take linkblogging to the max!

Yes, that title is sarcastic - don't be a snob.

Anyway, I really like the linkblog feature, and I hope you're using it (check out the top of the sidebar, along with the specialized feeds for chosing which SMC content you're interested in subscribing to). It's very useful for me to be able to share links with readers without feeling like I need to write a post around it. Original content is not always readily available in my brain.

I'd like to implement a feature that allows users to share links, too - essentially a "reader linkblog". So if you're not using a social bookmarking service, sign up with one and post a link to the RSS feed for your linkblog in the comments. For example, if you're gonna use del.icio.us, and you want to designate all links for the linkblog with the tag "linkblog", your feed URL would like this:

https://del.icio.us/rss/username/linkblog

Long term, I envision the implementation of a new type of blogging platform that goes further in this direction. I'd like my role as "the writer" and your role as "the reader" to be a lot more fluid and interchangable. That's a lot of what the ThreadSpinner project is about: encouraging collaboration by finding new and novel ways to organize content without unnecessary distinctions between users. Now that I'm doing a lot of Rails programming professionally, I'd like to revisit the project using some new techniques I've recently learned.

In the meantime, I want to play around with this community linkblog idea to start thinking about how to realize this goal. Feel free to post comments / questions / insults.

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Written on Wednesday, January 24, 2007