The Tools behind “The Hypercard Show”

One of the biggest challenges I had to overcome as I figured how to crowdsource my publishing process was knowing which platforms or tools I should use, and finding a way to tie them together.

I often followed Wikipedia as a model, because it is the best and most successful example of real time, crowd sourced content. I had noted that within the interface for their articles, there are links which allow a user to edit or discuss. That has become the two primary functions for my articles and posts.

Content

Google Drive has has always been a critical piece of each experiment I’ve run. It allows you to share, collaborate, comment, and even chat about a document. One drawback is that it lacks the ability for a user to start a document from scratch, as with a wiki, and the document viewing modes are isolated. I’ve tried to overcome this by linking to the different views. For example, you can publish a document, then share the comment — allowed version and link one to the other. If someone chooses, they can switch and post a comment. Still, this is very awkward.

Medium has been a great boom for my process, because it offers two things that Google Drive does: You can publish your content, and readers can highlight portions and post comments. Unlike Google Drive, Medium also allows your audience to “respond” to your post with an entire article of their own. Perfect!

I’m still struggling with the timing, however. I want to crowd source my articles when they are less than read for prime time, yet I also want to publish them (either on Medium or elsewhere) when they are polished.

I’ve often approached the content in different phases. Ultimately, I want it to be finalized and published in a way that’s mostly permanent. That might mean it’s on Medium being commented on, or it’s in an ebook. But, the phase that comes before that would be a little messier. Perhaps the content is a little bit in flux. I think that social networks like Facebook and Twitter are perfect for this phase, because you’re getting the word out and, since it’s earlier on in the process, your audience will want to poke around and make suggestions.

I compare this first phase to the process a talk show goes through while it’s being taped in front of a studio audience. Conan O’Brien comes out on stage with his jokes written, and skit material prepared, but really it’s anybody’s guess as to what will happen. But, it’s this spontaneity and interaction with the studio audience which makes the show more entertaining.

When something is posted initially, any comments your readers post can become a part of the story. Or, a follow up story. Your “at home” audience’s experience with your content is enhanced by the feedback you’ve received from your collaborators.

This is an area I’m still working out, but I’ve always known that channels for feedback were important. Google documents can be made commentable, so Google Drive always seemed like the best option until Medium came along. Still, it comes down to a choice between the two. And, accessibility is important. Medium requires someone to log in with their account before they post a comment, but Google documents can be commented on anonymously.

My channels for feedback continue to be Medium (where the articles will be native), the Google Doc version, and Tumblr. I’ve added Tumblr because it offers a great method for visitors to contribute their own posts.

The last channel I try to always offer is email. I created a Freshdesk site which I use to collect emailed feedback from readers of The Hypercard Show. Just send an email message to thequeue.inbox@gmail.com and I’ll see it.

The Queue Network

I’ve also always known that a crowdsourced project needs a “home” on the Internet. Much like the crowdsourcing process, I’ve approached this in layers.

My project follows the broadcasting model, so it’s not an accident that I’ve referred to it as a “show.” But, much like the real shows on TV or on the radio, my project needs a broader network which supports it. For that, I’ve created “The Queue.” The Queue is the equivalent of NBC or the SyFy Channel. You can find pages for it on Facebook and Google+. Within the Google+ page, you will find the community I started for The Hypercard Show.

I’ve also started a Slack site at http://inthequeue.slack.com. I’m hopefully to invite editors and writers to this community where we can collaborate internally on future pieces. The Queue on Slack is a little like the Writer’s Room of Saturday Night Live combined with the home offices of NBC. Thanks to Slack’s ability to integrate with other tools, I am notified when I receive a new email in Freshdesk, can share Google docs, track my timeline in Twitter, plus more.

As everything fits together, my hope is that there can be several projects such as The Hypercard Show started under the Queue umbrella, much like what happens on the TV networks.

Fitting it all together

I’m still working out the flow for everything, but it becomes a lot easier each time that I publish something new. Much like most experiments, this all really depends on how many people respond. If I’m not getting any responses, I might devote more time to distribution and sharing, and leave more time towards the later phases. If I find that the crowdsourcing takes care of itself, then I’ll only worry about the publishing side of things.

Ultimately, I’m not even show that I want to produce a talk show on the Internet. But, once perfected this model could be applied towards a wide range of different projects. For example, i could see an author using the talk show model to produce, market, and later publish a finished book.