…supporting online dialogue for global development
Development professionals with limited time and unpredictable Internet connectivity face a significant challenge in discovering which online interactive spaces can fulfil their social and informational needs. Many individual spaces are either not well signposted or indexed by search engines. Web users have to browse a number of umbrella platforms in turn, such as Eldis Communities, …
This blog was originally written by Doug Lerner, of Elliptics.com Introduction IDS has developed a functioning API connection to LinkedIn. It aims to provide a tool for augmenting the quantity of and improving the recency of user profile data on the Eldis Communities platform. This is a technical document describing profile data available from LinkedIn, …
‘Information overload’ – we have all heard about it and complained about it so many times, it’s a wonder the digital world hasn’t ground to a complete halt. There’s no doubt that we are now bombarded by more information than ever, and that in the world of email this peril is seemingly present more so …
In the original theory of ‘Participation Inequality’ Jakob Nielsen claimed that ‘in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.’ While there are a number of issues with the ratios he uses, the implications are profound. …
As part of an e-dialogues week delivered in 2014 by the Making All Voices Count programme team research and Knowledge Services department colleagues worked to convene an entirely web-based audience of invited stakeholders to two online events. These booked-ended 5 days of asynchronous online discussion that took place on the Eldis Communities platform – our approach …
The real-time demands during an intensive online discussion are multifaceted – the project team needs to be well organised and prepared to respond to the unpredictable aspects inherent to the dependency on user-generated content. Introducing the ‘participation report’ Although we stress that discussion events can never be fairly compared as ‘like-for-like’, its not surprising that …
The Excel-based approach to sharing participation data may be quick, easy and effective but it has its own limitations. For example, it has to be compiled by a person, and by its nature is rather susceptible to human error. It takes around 20 minutes to produce and share, and needs a little first-time explaining to …
This blog was originally written by Doug Lerner, of Elliptics.com Introduction We implemented an API which allows Eldis Communities members to link their LinkedIn profiles with their Eldis Communities profiles. That user experience and implementation is described in detail in the document “LinkedIn plug-in” In May 2015 we suddenly discovered that LinkedIn began blocking our …
This was originally posted on the IDS Impact and Learning team blog. We all know that a demanding funding environment where delivering more for less can often conflict with personal and institutional commitments to the environment and to diversity agendas. Digital technologies have provided development institutions with many opportunities for being more effective and efficient …
Online discussion events carry significant reputational and operational risk for the project team involved. The knock-on effects of weak / limited participation can be significant, not least in curtailing the likelihood that the same group will have another go (even with a different group of participants) in future. While any damage to confidence and willingness …