How to use Iowa Arts and Crafts

[polymath22]

Iowa Arts and Crafts has several components that work in concert. To fully participate, you will need to have accounts on multiple platforms. Usually all that is needed is an e-mail address to start a new account.

1.0) Be in the habit of always looking at the URL (web address, starts with "http://...") of whatever page you are on, anywhere on the Internet, by glancing at the address box in your browser. You are currently in the IowaArtsandCrafts subdomain of ning.com
1.1) Click "1 Start" to view the front page. Everything displayed is set to "newest activity", so it is clear which members have been active, what groups have been active, a list of activities, and a few RSS feeds from other sources, most notably one from friendfeed.com
1.2) Invariably, you will encounter unfamiliar words. A good rule of thumb is to look up unfamiliar words the third time you see them. Chances are, if the word is new to you, it is new to your friends. Add the word "wiki" to your search for good results. Post your findings to help friends learn new words.

2.0) A major component to the "system" is "crowdsourcing", or relying on the members to "grade" content. A good rule of thumb is to select the best 10% of whatever you find to share with others. This will earn you a reputation for recommending quality without flooding your friends with too much content.

3.0) The Iowa Arts and Crafts room at friendfeed.com allows for the automatic aggregation of links to new content from any site that provides a feed. This gives us a constant stream of fresh links to browse through. We endeavor to populate our fields with links to Iowa bloggers and Iowa news sources, but we will link to any good content.
3.1) To participate on friendfeed.com, get an account and join the Iowa Arts and Crafts room. Then, browse through the links and click on any that are interesting. If you like the link, click "like". This will tell other people what sort of things you are interested in, and provide a recommendation for others. Participation by making good comments is encouraged.
3.2) For easy posting, drag and drop this bookmarklet to your toolbar. From any web page, click "share on friendfeed", select "Iowa Arts and Crafts" (or some other room). Posts blend in and display with automatic content on friendfeed, then feed onto ning, and numerous groups on other ning subdomains.
3.3) Friendfeed allows you to import-aggregate your activities from across the Internet. Be sure to import your mixx, reddit, ning, blog, etc. activity so friends can see what you are doing, when you are doing it, regardless of where you are. Friendfeed provides a RSS feed of all your activities. Click the RSS button, copy the "feed://..." and paste it in the RSS reader on the bottom left column of your ning profile and automatically have fresh links to things that matter to you.

4.0) There is an Iowa Arts and Crafts "Community" (subdomain) on mixx.com which feeds into friendfeed, and then onto this subdomain and other groups.
4.1) To participate on mixx.com, get an account and join the Iowa Arts and Crafts community. Then browse through the links and click on any that are interesting. If you like a link, click on the "Up" arrow. If you don't like the link, click on the "Down" arrow. This will tell others what sort of things you like, and provide a recommendation for others. Participation by making good comments is encouraged.
4.2) For easy posting, drag and drop this bookmarklet to your toolbar. From any web page, click "add to mixx", select "Iowa Arts and Crafts" (and/or other communities and groups). Posts blend in and display with automatic content on friendfeed, then feed onto ning, and numerous groups on other ning subdomains.
4.3) If you find good content on mixx.com, click "add to groups" and select "Iowa Arts and Crafts" and/or relevant groups.

5.0) There is an Iowa Arts and Crafts "sub-reddit" on reddit.com which feeds into friendfeed, and then onto this subdomain and other groups.
5.1) To participate on reddit.com, get an account and join the Iowa Arts and Crafts sub-reddit. Then browse through the links and click on any that are interesting. If you like a link, click on the "Up" arrow. If you don't like the link, click on the "Down" arrow. This will tell others what sort of things you like, and provide a recommendation for others. Participation by making good comments is encouraged.
5.2) For easy posting, drag and drop this bookmarklet to your toolbar. From any web page, click "reddit this", select "Iowa Arts and Crafts". Posts blend in and display with automatic content on friendfeed, then feed onto ning, and numerous groups on other ning subdomains.

6.0) Links in mixx, reddit, and friendfeed are only on iowaartsandcrafts.ning.com until they are pushed down by newer links. Links scroll off the bottom of the page and onto page two, etc. where they might never be seen again.
6.1) If you find good content on one platform, don't be afraid to post it on another platform.

7.0) To post directly to iowaartsandcrafts.ning.com, bookmark this add content to a group page then select the group to post to.
7.1) A new post will bring that group to the top of the front page. If that group is clicked on, a Google search will result and return fresh links related to that topic. Results are up to a week old, which gives Google time to allow the Internet community to grade content, while keeping search results relatively new.
7.2) Chances are, noone has seen these search results except you. Browse through and click any interesting links. If the content is good, post a link to it somewhere, preferably @ 7.0)
7.3) Just because you found a link in one group does not mean you have to repost the link in the same group. Post the link in the most relevant group. This helps with "churn". See 7.1)