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Hello,

Blogs are a familiar feature on the internet - where users post content in an accumulating manner, with comments, and search options, etc. They facilitate expression and exploration, and via attached comments, also debate and synthesis.


Reading and
Navigating Blogs

Our blogs are quite powerful. Each writer can post, as is typically the case. Sustainers who have the option can also post, however. All Blogs appear in the blog system, and sometimes also in content boxes the top page of ZNet - and always via the left menu of the top page - and can be found via searches, etc.

Commenting on blogs follows the blogs, attached at the bottom, and blog comments, like all others, are also visible in many places that show comments including in the forum system. In addition, the entire blog system gathers content for everyone - but one can look at the accumulating content in many ways.

  • For example one can look at one writer's efforts - so one is seeing what is effectively a blog system for that one writer, or Sustainer.
  • One can also look at the content by topic, seeing blogs that are tagged as being about a certain topic - or place, as well. Thus, when doing that, it is a blog system about a topic, or a place, with many contributors.
  • One can look at only writer blogs, or only sustainer blogs, as well.
  • One can look at blogs for particular Groups, too.

All this is easily done using the left menu. Searches allow even more variables and refinements.


Creating Blog Posts

If you are a Sustainer with permission, and are logged in, you will see a link in the left menu for you to post a blog - and you can use that to post one, and then tag it various ways (such as with a topic or place, or a group tag), and once you do, it is in the system with you as the author.

You can also use the console button to the left to post a blog - anytime and from anywhere in the site, as long as you are logged in.

Meanwhile, enjoy the blogs - and, by the way, if you are a Free Member or a Sustainer with a ZSpace page, of course you can put one or more content boxes on it, pulling blog links of any sort you may want to filter for, for example, by you or by your friends or by others - and by topic, about places, for groups, etc.

Blogs

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Chris Voss's Blog

Web Address: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/chrisvoss
Bio: Chris and his wife are working on starting a small farm in northeast Texas.  (More)

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Reasoned Debate

By Chris Voss at Apr 08, 2008


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I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce the readers of ZCom to a performance project I have been working on called Reasoned Debate.

The idea is for two or more people to have a rigorous and well researched debate about the most important issues of our time on the subway in New York City.  We have debated on the train on two seperate occassions with each trip out resulting in three or four debates.  Our debates to date have focused on the Iraq troop surge.  We hope to also have debates about other issues including climate change, Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's positions, etc., and impeachment among others.

We have videoed some of the debates although we will not be videoing them all. 

The goals of Reasoned Debate are to:

1. Introduce information and ideas that are not represented in the mainstream media to a captive audience.

2. Try to illicit the participation of the subway riders in the debates.

3. Show that a reasoned discussion about the most important issues of our time should and can take place in a public forum.

We have had some success already in meeting our goals for the project and as we continue and grow we hope to have continued success.  We have had some participation from subway riders in our debates including one man who angrily denounced me - I was arguing that the surge is not working - and grabbed my sign that I use to initiate the debate from my hands, crumpled the paper and threw it back at me.  Others have had a more "reasoned" response on both sides of the issue.

I am very interested in getting feedback from people about the project so please let me know what you think.  If you live in NYC and might be interested in participating in a debate please shoot me an email.

I am very excited about the potential for this project and I hope to continue having Reasoned Debates.

For more information about Reasoned Debate, to see other debates, or to see our source material for our debates go to the official Reasoned Debate blog:

reasoned-debate.blogspot.com

1

By Albert, Michael at Apr 09, 2008 05:40 AM

This seems like a very clever and worthy project, to me... congratulations. I hope you will keep reporting on its successes...and problems too.

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