Proposal: A Members category to connect the network further

This place
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We have discussed about the tension between on-topic and off-topic, collaboration and self-promotion, discussions and music… Here is a proposal to ease these tensions without losing our collective focus.

Members is…

(optional literary description)

Members is like that club with the descending stairs to a soundproof basement. It hosts music and conversations. Even if nothing quote-quote important is discussed there, it brings new, warmer, stronger connections to the network.

Thanks to the thick door and the acoustic curtains, outside of the Members club, in the cafe upstairs, bohemian conversations about revolution and dystopia keep flowing undisturbed, caressed by the daylight entering through the big open windows, or by the fresh summer night breeze and the subdued notes of a distant piano.

The objective is to create a social space for TMSN members by TSMN members. It can’t be as interesting and cool as to attract listeners and users who are not into music making and related activities.

Thanks to category-level permissions and tracking preferences, we can create an opt-in space for the members who want to join it, not disturbing the conversation spaces on General, Projects, and so on.

The Members category could start with two subcategories (that probably need cooler names):

  • Our music
  • Meeting points

In Our music, every artist (solo or band) can have their own topic where they post their music published with fairness and autonomy. Others can reply. Just like on a stage in bar, as long as the comments are about your music and you don’t turn it into a rambling about whatever, you’re good.

In Meeting points, groups of people gather around a common denominator that they all share, and they can discuss as casually and socially as they wish as long as they stay on topic. From very core topics i.e. “Faircamp users” to more distant (“Video DJing”). Expect meeting points around languages, regions, music genres…

Architectural restrictions

The idea is to integrate some restrictions in the design of the space to promote its self-moderation by the members.

  • The Members category itself (not its subcategories) is readable by anyone but only mods and admins can post. We would post there only an explanation of the subcategories.
  • The subcategories (Our Music, Meeting Points) would be muted by default. This means…
    • The world outside can’t see the topic lists. The topics are public and you can share a link to a topic in your social media etc, but outsiders can’t browse i.e. most recent Meeting point discussions.
    • Logged-in users don’t see them by default either. They can unmute subcategories, tags, and/or specific topics. What they unmute will appear in their timeline and notifications just like in the public categories.
  • Our Music would be restricted to your own music published on fair and autonomous platforms (Bandcamp, Faircamp, Funkwhale, Mirlo, your own static website…) We could blacklist certain domains to send a clear message. One topic per artist / band.
  • In Meeting points, all logged in users could participate in the created topics. But to create a new topic (a new meeting point), you would need to have trust level 3 or 4, or be a moderator / admin. This ensures that new topics are only created by experienced users who are trusted by the community. This saves us a lot of discussion about what topics make sense or not: we trust these people will make the right calls. It also ensures that every new topic will have at least one experienced member following the conversation.

I hope this proposal acknowledges the various wishes and concerns and offers a way through! Questions and ideas and any feedback welcome.

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I like this solution. I think it goes a long way towards allowing separation and giving everyone a choice on where they want to engage without bothering others or lessening their experience. :clap:t5:

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@Monarkie thank you for your support, and everyone else, thank you for your positive reactions (or your silence). :slight_smile:

I think I have done everything, but please check:

This is how Members looks right now when you unmute the subcategories:

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Ok, let me know if you find any problems or you have any suggestions.

I’m going to create a Bandwagon meeting point and advertise it on my Mastodon account, because why not and as a test with a real topic. :slight_smile:

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What about having a new subcategory under Members for Playlists?

They could be individual playlists or collaborative. One topic per playlist, with the playlist located at the top post (wiki-enabled) and the comments for discussion. Only music hosted in fair ad autonomous platforms, as a way to highlight social music and music makers.

This idea came up while thinking about a new TSMN topic on playlists, how basic and important they are for music & artists selection and discovery, and yet how difficult it is to make them and to find them in our context. This hidden subcategory here would not be the solution to this problem, but at least we could offer a place to start creating and collecting these playlists here.

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Ok, and I think this is the last suggestion I have for Members. :sweat_smile: What about a subcategory for Music Shows featuring music exclusively or predominantly published on social / fair / autonomous platforms?

Audio Interface shows are the perfect example, and we could plug them via RSS feeds, getting a new topic automatically created whenever they publish a new show. There could also be topics for the different channels at The Indie Beat Radio / @TheIndieBeat. The space would be also open to one-off collective music shows like the recent RELEASE PARTY: Not Bonk What I Call Wave: Remixes Vol 2.

The point is to offer an opt-in space to discover these shows that at the same time help discovering music makers and their works. In turn, maybe creating this space/collection will also help featured music makers discover TSMN.

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(1) thank you for all this thought! (2) I think TIBR might be more logical in Playlists. But I’m open to argument. The stations are all, at their core, playlists. If/when we do something on our OwnCast channel, that would be a show, I think?

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As you see fit, of course. :slight_smile: Yes, stations are playlists but they are very big, so I’m not sure how they would translate as topics in a space for Playlists. When I suggested them for “Music Shows” I was thinking about creating one topic for each station and then listeners of these stations could recommend songs they have heard there, discuss the selection / station, and so on.

But well, so far there hasn’t been much interest expressed on opening these spaces for Playlists and Music Shows… :person_shrugging:

Read the Funky License could be another music show syndicated by FC Stoffel (who I met in Cologne thanks to @prinlu). In the last edition they feature @ph4nt and yours trully, among other artists creating Creative Commons music (and not yet here). :slight_smile:

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Oh that’s a good point. I think you could be right about this :slight_smile:

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