A lot of people are worried about Everything2's future right now, with
many of them going so far as to reach for their chequebook to help ensure community
control of our enterprise. It's inspiring to watch our userbase band
together like this and I'm confidant that whatever the result, we're
sure to land on our feet. Still, for the majority of us rallying around
Everything2 in its time of need, financial gestures of support simply
aren't a live option. We've got bills to pay, kids to feed and glamorous addictions to fuel. Nevertheless, it's important that those of us on a budget know we are by no means powerless to contribute to the welfare of this site. E2 may settle its debts in dollars, but it runs on bodies and blood. If you love this place, promote it.
Google's Knol Project recently announced that it is closing its doors. Like Wikipedia and ourselves, Knol is a community-edited Knowledge Base Thingum. Each knol is maintained by an owner, or sometimes multiple owners, who determine its copyright by choosing between various Creative Commons licenses and a more traditional All Rights Reserved deal. In terms of what you'll find on Knol, imagine Everything2's
factual content model with an increased emphasis on verification
and real life credentials.
So what does that have to do with us? I'll tell you:
Knol has a lot of quality users who will soon be looking for a new home for their content. If our ownership crisis is getting you down and you'd like to do something positive for this place, please consider heading over there and letting them know they'd be very welcome bringing their articles to E2.
We certainly wouldn't be every Knoller's cup of tea; for one, we can't promise them AdSense revenue. We do, however, have a lot to offer their users in terms of exposure, especially for those who already have plans to move their work elsewhere. Replicating external content here while referring users to its source on your personal website is an easy means of drumming up some extra pageviews. So that's the practicality angle.
Now here's the human angle: we've got a smart-as-tacks userbase, a long and storied history and we're one of the most vibrant communities on the Internet. There's more to say on our behalf, obviously, but talking about how special we are here is preaching to the choir. Instead, let's work to bring that message to the many writers at Knol who'd fit our vision like a glove. Read their work, find their information and shoot some personalized e-mails their way. Heck, our mandates are so similar that had chance not tossed these people Googlewards, they could very well have been drawn here instead — so let's work some remedial magic and start processing refugees!