Archive for the ‘Community building’ Category
Questions - to myself and to the community
On July 15, 2009 in Community building, DailyJ Mission, Future of the J-web, Helping Japan Bloggers, Suggestions Please
Reformulating.
Rethinking.
Lurking.
It seems to me that a sustained and useful Japan-related web community requires soul searching.
I know that for myself, for me to be a useful and long-term contributor, I have to do soul searching. I have to know what really drives and motivates me; what will really sustain my enthusiasm for this activity.
For me it is about Japan and it is about the web. But it is also bigger/more than just Japan and more than just the web.
It is about people, passion, mission.
So I have been rethinking and reformulating in the shadows. It’s not quite time yet; the ideas aren’t solid yet.
But the questions are firm and universal.
Why Japan?
Why are we interested in Japan? What exactly is the nature of our interest in Japan? (ex: living there, want to live there, etc.) How can we satisfy that interest?
Why the web?
Why do we blog? Why do we build websites? Why do we write, podcast, videocast?
and perhaps even…
Why a community?
Why the need to organise? Why the need/desire to connect with others? How does the community benefit the whole?
Power to the people - the Japanese Toolbar belongs to you
On March 25, 2009 in Community building, Japanese Toolbar
I’ve just finished a wiki page for the Japanese Toolbar on JapanSoc.org.
The purpose of this page is to put the creative direction of the toolbar into the hands of the users. It is now more than ever your toolbar!
The goal of this project is also to encourage a “open-source” style of collaboration on Japan-related web projects. (Thanks Nick)
As always I’d looove to hear your feedback!
Have a great day,
DailyJ
One small step for JapanSoc…
On October 08, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Community building, Future of the J-web, On the J-web
One small step for JapanSoc, one giant leap for the J-web!
From its start DailyJ has been a huge fan and support of the site because of its ability to bring the Japan-related web into a tight-knit community. I have said before (guest blogging on RisingSunOfNihon) that I think JapanSoc will be very significant in the future of the Japan-related web, and I think this latest feature was a step in that direction.
And perhaps, although it was just a small step (as far as difficulty) for JapanSoc, it will have a giant effect on the Japan-related web.
It seems that the way we interact, and perhaps help others, on the J-web is changing; becoming more sophisticated. And it seems that the idea of community is spreading.
I hope so! Ganbarou Jsoc!
The DailyJ Interview Recipe: 1 part Japan-enthusiasm, 2 parts love
On October 07, 2008 in Community building, DailyJ Mission, Suggestions Please
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Recently I had a quick exchange with Tony from TheSoulOfJapan:
- Tony Said,Would like to have my site added to your blogroll
thank you- The Chemist Said,Hi Tony,
Thanks for the comment. You have a good looking J-blog. I like sites that have a niche (in your case, onsen and sake).I actually don’t have a blogroll…
I have an interviewee roll. So as you can imagine the only way on there is through an interview. Luck for you, I would be more than happy to interview you
What do you say?- Tony Said,Sounds good. I am ready for your interview anytime.
I love receiving requests for interviews! (Btw, thanks Tony for stopping by and commenting and sharing your site with me). I love going out and contacting J-sites for interviews too. But I hate not having the time to do more interviews and to do them better.
I give every interview my all, but with limited time it is hard to interact with the interviewee (sending emails back in forth) in a timely manner and give them the attention they deserve.
I want to interview everyone, the problem is time. (If anyone has a possible solution, or even a silly one for laughs 
, I’m all ears)
The idea for this post (a post explaining what goes into a DailyJ interview) came to me a little over a week ago. I must have been think about DailyJ and my other projects that day because I woke up in the middle of the night with a dozen ideas in my head. So I grabbed my trusty notebook and wrote down this post.Â
My reasons for writing it are twofold: 1) to try to justify my often horrible reply speed with the excuse that I put in a lot of work :) and 2) to show how I feel about everyone I interview and doing interviews in general (i.e. my slowness is not out of disinterest or disrespect).
 Â
The Secret Sauce: the DailyJ interview process
- Make The Shopping List
- Go out and find interesting Japan-related sites; Sites are recommended by readers
- Research the sites; see what they are doing and why it is cool, unique, etc.
- Formulate specific questions related to their site (to send along with general questions)
- Contact with questions, excitement, and interest!
- Wait/hope for a reply
- Yay! They replied!
- (maybe)Â Ask some additional questions/questions about their answers, if they have time for it.
- Digest the answers; Try to get a feel for who they are and (if applicable) what their message is.
- Return to the site and find any extra content that compliments the answers; Go deep; Love the site; what makes it unique from all others? Why cool/interesting?
- Group the answers to create the best possible flow.
- Try to make the mission or uniqueness of the site clear through attention grabbing titles and short but informative introductions.
- Never edit out what interviewees say (except maybe to “bleep” over a few “sentence enhancers” :), hey DailyJ is PG 13 at most)
- Always ask (sometimes force <– in jest) readers to take specific actions related to the interviewee site. For example: “go read this; check this out; subscribe to this or I’ll break your arm; etc.”
- Review/ proofread/ make it pretty : add more pics, edit things here and there.
- Post! (maybe in parts, to the chagrin of some
) - Promote (maybe the most important part). Promoting the interviewee, not necessarily the interview
- Find ways to help them get the word out. Nowdays this is easier because of JapanSoc, our nifty community watercooler.
- Also if I see a connection between two interviewees (or just an interviewee and a site I know of) I might mention it to them. Connections are key (<–see posts that start with “Connections”).
- Maintaining the relationship (I have much room for improvement
):Â Keeping up with past interviewees blog posts; commenting;Â seeing if there are any new developments. This is the hardest part because of the time invovled, but it is one of the most important.
Shop
Examine Ingredients
Chop, Mix, Bake
 
voilà . bon appétit!
残り物
So that’s the DailyJ interview process!
It is actually a lot of work. I suppose I must be crazy to put in the effort. But I love doing it. It is one of those things that I would glad do forever for free (since none of you cheapskates will pay me  j/k).
I really enjoy learning about other people’s sites and projects. And communicating with other Japan-bloggers keeps me from being a lonely J-blogger. Plus I desperately want people to be interested in Nipponster and my pet projects so I want to show that kind of interest first.
Well, I hope that I’ve interested you in a DailyJ interview (if you haven’t had one already). Or maybe I’ve just made you hungry. I know I am (stupid pictures!). On that note, I’m off to find some sushi.
Have a great day!
DailyJ
Supporting JapanSoc
On September 29, 2008 in Announcements, Blog Improvements, Community building, DailyJ Mission, Future of the J-web, Helping Japan Bloggers
Just a quick but important post today.
I (finally) put up a JapanSoc widget on DailyJ to help spread the idea of JapanSoc and a J-blogger community.
on the bottom of it you can click “get widget” and get one for your site. Go for it!
and check out the Jsoc toolbox
Let’s support our community-driven Japan-related news source.
Relationships: the glue of the j-web. And a widget
On September 25, 2008 in Announcements, Blog Improvements, Community building, fun
Some months ago I posted about an RSS feed of posts by past DailyJ interviewees.
And I posted script for widget so that others could put it on their blogs, etc., if they wanted to.
Chris from Waikiki2Yanai mentioned that the widget’s colour didn’t match his site, so I’ve made a new one (finally!) that is clear.
I wanted to make it into a widgetbox widget but widgetbox is not as easy as they claim.
Anyway, here it is:
And here is the code for it:
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.google.com/reader/ui/publisher-en.js”></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.google.com/reader/public/javascript/user/01310610213837056251/label/Daily J?n=5&callback=GRC_p(%7Bc%3A%22-%22%2Ct%3A%22%22%2Cs%3A%22true%22%2Cb%3A%22false%22%7D)%3Bnew%20GRC”></script>
Also I added it to the left-hand sidebar.
Words of wisdom for any J-blogger
On September 11, 2008 in Blog Improvements, Community building, DailyJ Mission, Helping Japan Bloggers
A few days ago I was feeling tired, and I posted about it.
Nick, my J-web champion, from Longcountdown replied and gave me some much needed encouragement and advice. It is advice that every Japan-blogger should probably take to heart.
Nick said: …you can “meet the needs” of Japan bloggers (or anybody for that matter) by making them feel important, and being sincere about it in the process. Here are a few things that bloggers like:
- receiving positive comments on their blog posts
- being linked to or mentioned in a positive context on another blog.
- having a post dugg, stumbled, soc’ed or otherwise shared without needing to ask for it.
- getting new subscribers
- getting added to someone’s blogroll
- being followed on TwitterEtc. All these things make bloggers feel good about themselves. Now, this is just a suggestion, but it’s really very similar to what the Daily J has always been about - community building:
Everyday, make an effort to do one of the things listed above, and on the Daily J, write a quick paragraph about why you did it. So, if you stumbled someone’s article, tell your Daily J readers about it. The person who got the Daily J “Stumble, Backlink, and Recommendation” package will be buzzing all day… because you made them feel important.
Do that with five different J-bloggers per week and you’ll have indirectly affected each of those bloggers in a positive way. As you do this week after week, your actions will have given the whole community a boost, and if you’re lucky, your generosity will rub off on others who may feel energized to be more active in the community themselves.
And you can do all this in just five minutes a day!
I have said similar things in the past but I am guilt as charged of not practising what I preach.
It is time to change that. Thanks Nick.
Let the Mad Science Experiments Begin, Muhahahaha!
On August 22, 2008 in Community building, Future of the J-web, JapanLabs, On the J-web
Announcing….
“The Mad Science Laboratory of the Japan-related Web!”
I promise you nothing. But I am VERY excited.
JapanLabs is a place where people interested in the “J-web 2.0″ can brainstorm new Japan-related projects and experiment.
It is built on an excellent Social Networking Platform that makes collaboration simple.
Benefits To You:
- Get feedback about your website from people who know J-websites
- Find people to help with that new project
- Interact with like-minded people and stimulate your creative juices!
How those benefits are delivered:
- Groups - start a group for your project or interest. Then you and other interested people can discuss it in the group forum.
- MyPages - see what your lab-mates are up to, their latest comments/contributions.
- Events - share and stay aware of important dates on the J-web (like the JapanBlogMatsuri deadline)
- MainPage - keep up with the latest activity of the JapanLab community.
- Forums - forums focused just on J-web development and brainstorming! A first as far as I know.
Well I’ve hyped it up too much already,
J-web 2.0 - Elevator Up?
On August 21, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Community building, Future of the J-web, On the J-web
When I look at the flurry (is that a word?) of activity on the Japan-related web I can’t help but wonder…
From the time I first started scouring the web for Japan-related gems (back in 2006 for Nipponster) up to now, it seems like there has been a transition.
It seems like there has been a change in the way we build Japan-related websites and the kinds of sites we build.
Also, to me at least, it seems like there is a greater sense that there is in fact a “Japan-related web,” a community, and we are a part of it.
If those observations are in anyway accurate, I propose that we have now reached 2.0. The next level; a new playing field.
I can’t put it any better than BillyWest of JapanBlogger.net -
“it’s like an elevator that has left the ground floor, but too many people are still doing ground-floor stuff. There’s a whole world of opportunity to do original Japan-related sites and it’s nice to see some are taking it to the next level.”
Are you going up?
Update (Aug. 22) :
Here is an interesting chart from Google Trends related to the J-web -
Search trends for “Japan Blog” (an upward trend)
Also, there are 156 million website online. I wonder how we could come up with a figure (even a decent guess) of the number of Japan-related ones. Any ideas?
Focus and the backrub
On August 09, 2008 in Community building, DailyJ Mission, Helping Japan Bloggers
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Interesting bit of trivia for you…
What was the original name of Google before it was Google?
I’ll give you a hint, it was one of the words in this post’s title.
If you said “focus” guess what, you’re wrong. Yay!
Google started as Backrub.
What does that have to do with Japan/DailyJ/anything you ask?
They called it Backrub because it was the first search engine to measure links between websites. Links (relationships)Â = I rub your back.
Anyway,
Let’s talk about FOCUS.
Around the j-web different sites have different focuses. Different sites have different styles and functions. There is probably niche room for allÂ
And I also have a place. I need to focus more on creating the best search engine of Japan-related results. Nipponster.
Your J-site might have a different focus entirely.
But we can rub each others back by helping each other improve. I hope to use DailyJ (going forward) as a conduit for that; a conduit for helping others with their sites. And for receiving help with Nipponster.
So let’s share feedback going forward. Are you with me?Â
