Those who’ve been following this blog over the past few weeks have probably figured out by now that we’re working on something in the area of e-consultation, something that supports input gathering from large groups of participants.
One idea we’re pursuing is to allow the creation of a digest layer during and on top of a general forum discussion and use input types as categories to help structure the content.
One expected benefit is that the large number of low-value items from the general discussions (e.g. off-topic remarks, duplicates etc.) wouldn’t make it into the digest layer, thus greatly enhancing its signal-to-noise ratio.
With regard to off-topic remarks, though, it might still be worth collecting and documenting some of them. See Alexandra Samuel’s 10 ways to keep online dialogue on topic:
4. Open a parking lot. Face-to-face facilitators sometimes create a “parking lot” — a space to write down comments or ideas that are off-topic, but still need to be acknowledged or documented. A virtual parking lot (perhaps a separate web page or discussion thread) can play an analogous role in housing comments that don’t quite fit the main disscussion.
One possible evaluation criterion could be:
- Off-topic: “This topic is relevant and should be addressed going forward.”
Another potential way for participants to calibrate the framing of the issue at hand or even adjust the scoping of the entire project where needed. Definitely fits with our current model of thinking.
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