On group communication channels
What i want to discuss here a bit is channels and platforms for group communication (that is communication between more than two people) in the context of an open social project like OpenStreetMap. For many years every now and then people turn up on OSM communication channels and express dissatisfaction with either the particular channel or with communication in the OSM community in general – often connected with the suggestion that everyone should move to [fill in your favorite hype of the day platform]. I want to explain here my personal criteria what aspects qualify a communication channel or platform for productive, constructive and inclusive group communication in context of a global multicultural social project like OpenStreetMap.
A few preliminary remarks: First i want to clarify that this analysis concerns group communication in the sense of symmetric communication between more than two participants on equal levels. For one-to-one communication or asymmetric communication (one-to-many with no symmetric back-channel) different criteria apply. Second, a diverse global community like OpenStreetMap depends on there being diverse communication channels used for communication. Concentrating everything on a few channels and platforms would be an issue on its own. OpenStreetMap can only work in a sustainable way if communication and social interaction within the community does not depend on there being a central communication channel everyone engages on. The very idea of OpenStreetMap is that the main database is the element that holds the project together socially and trying to substitute that with some other means would fundamentally weaken the project.
