Common Worlds

This article by Danah Boyd, which I'm just starting to read, seems very appropriate for this web site.

Participants in social network sites want to be public where public means interacting with all people who might have similar tastes or be entertaining or provide useful information. They do not wish to exist in a public where they are harassed or where they have to deal with people who have power over them. This is not unlike everyday public spaces where people invite the opportunity to meet with like minds that recognize their fashion signals or otherwise find them intriguing.

The part about not dealing "with people who have power over them" is why social sites need to be careful not to exert copyright or onerous content limitation on the work that their users contribute. This is fundamental to the test site here at thiswouldbecool/different games and plays a central role in my ongoing thinking about the Common Worlds initiative. No, I haven't talked about that last part with anyone.