Is your web site an Island or a Hub?

Nice perspective. I can't come up with any examples where pure island-ness would work best, but, as with many things, a hybrid solution is often much better.

The trouble with hubs is that they suffer from a deep bias toward topics that have been discussed most *recently* rather than what might be most *important* or most thoughtful. I suppose this is a form of the "echo chamber" critique that many have leveled at social media. I think, ultimately, some people will tire of all the "keeping up" and crave an island getaway from time to time. Okay, I've stretched the metaphor a bit too far. How about an example?

Take a look at the "Ask E.T." forum at http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ . This is not your typical chat forum. New threads are tightly controlled and most incoming questions must be posted to existing threads. Contributions are heavily moderated and pruned by forum staff. Sounds horribly rigid and totally non-web-2.0, right? As a reader who frequently returns, I must say that I was initially turned off by it, but now find this to be an extremely valuable resource. I have had my own comments pruned away as not standing the test of time and the result is that I work harder at it when I have something of value to contribute. Yes, this turns off some people, but I'm willing to trade that for the benefits of a better forum.

The topic of the forums is, stated broadly, good design applied to statistical thinking. The pruning and editing work separates the wheat from the chaff, leaving behind a forum highly enriched with valuable (nutritious?) contributions. If I need some truly good ideas for how to approach a problem in this area, the "Ask E.T." forum is my first stop.

The timeless nature of the subject matter is part of why this part-island format works. Tufte is a teacher and this format, which somewhat resembles an ivory tower, suits him well.

Nice perspective. I can't come up with any examples where pure island-ness would work best, but, as with many things, a hybrid solution is often much better.

The trouble with hubs is that they suffer from a deep bias toward topics that have been discussed most *recently* rather than what might be most *important* or most thoughtful. I suppose this is a form of the "echo chamber" critique that many have leveled at social media. I think, ultimately, some people will tire of all the "keeping up" and crave an island getaway from time to time. Okay, I've stretched the metaphor a bit too far. How about an example?

Take a look at the "Ask E.T." forum at http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ . This is not your typical chat forum. New threads are tightly controlled and most incoming questions must be posted to existing threads. Contributions are heavily moderated and pruned by forum staff. Sounds horribly rigid and totally non-web-2.0, right? As a reader who frequently returns, I must say that I was initially turned off by it, but now find this to be an extremely valuable resource. I have had my own comments pruned away as not standing the test of time and the result is that I work harder at it when I have something of value to contribute. Yes, this turns off some people, but I'm willing to trade that for the benefits of a better forum.

The topic of the forums is, stated broadly, good design applied to statistical thinking. The pruning and editing work separates the wheat from the chaff, leaving behind a forum highly enriched with valuable (nutritious?) contributions. If I need some truly good ideas for how to approach a problem in this area, the "Ask E.T." forum is my first stop.

The timeless nature of the subject matter is part of why this part-island format works. Tufte is a teacher and this format, which somewhat resembles an ivory tower, suits him well.