Usability Yes. Social Features, Uh-Oh.

Randomran:

I want to address one point in your post, where you said "The foundation decided before they began this process that they want social networking features". That's not correct.

It's true that as research began, that emerged as a very strong recommendation from a number of experts and users, but when the process started it wasn't really something that was even on my mind. As I read more research and looked more closely, I've come to believe that it's a smart thing for us to do (even with the caveats that you and others have raised). "The Foundation" is a nebulous concept, and I can't really speak for it, but I can say this... there were no preconceived notions starting this process. Everything went on the table. Sue was very clear as we started that there were no "sacred cows" beyond the very core beliefs of the movement. Social features certainly aren't one of those. :-)

I'm going to fade back into the background now and continue reading (I enjoy very much reading the LiquidThreads posts that this task force and so many others are generating - it makes me very very happy) but I don't want there to be any misunderstanding of our motives coming into this.

Thanks!