Journalists publish to inform while advertisers publish to persuade. Wiki's protracted conversation is ideal for one but not the other.
We borrow the phrase, active readers, from the practice of active listening where one party will echo to the other what they heard before responding to it in conversation. I will speculate that wiki enables a more honest and valuable conversation between journalists and their readers.
We are inspired by Quinn Norton's collective confession of Journalist's Hypocrisy in the two-way world of online publishing. In short: journalists write; publishers track; advertisers exploit; readers sway.
But then who is Quinn's ideal reader? One that would think deeply about what she says, one that interprets the world differently because of what she says, and one that honestly shares this insight in words that work for them? She suggests reading a book or talking face to face with others. So, yes, the active reader is her ideal.
# Pods
Wiki was founded to find a new language of work constructed from the experiences of skilled practitioners. But it was more than a "community of practice" because it left a written record to influence outside of that community.
Federated wiki uses internet technology twenty years more recent to enable lasting intervention in our thoughts of work and life. But how are its communities, neighborhoods we call them, to be formed? To what ends should we will convene new communities of purpose?
We can assemble small neighborhoods artificially by managing a Roster of participants. This has specific application in institutional education where it becomes the class roster. The goal of the class would be to master the material in the syllabus.
We can assemble small neighborhoods outside the institution which we are calling 'pods'. A pod has a charter, lasts for a period, and leaves a record. But a pod transcends the classroom by existing outside the educational institution.
A pod will be successful when it organizes reasoned thought about important issues. Pod members have an obligation to research and reflect within the constraints of its charter. Those charters should align with journalistic initiatives, stories that need to be told and should sway readers. The pods product is then Quinn's ideal. Readers that absorb and extend their world consciously, critically and publicly in their own and others best interest.
A pod then provides active participation with material more formally published. Any published work, a magazine article, a research report, a historical artifact, a TED talk or a Wikipedia page can be improved by organized active reading.
# Method
This section needs more thought before it can be completed. What is the minimal but still necessary guidance for participants?
Explain the pod lifecycle.
Explain the responsibilities and activities of a pod leader.
Explain the bounds of good behavior for participants.