Top areas of interest for Community Health task force recommendations

I wouldn't say those are the top four. There are really six items on the shortlist, including new organizational roles and structures, and interface design. The ratings were just a proxy, based on what we knew at the time. And the numbers were still too close to say anything conclusive.

At this point, I would drop the research and measures thing as not providing much impact. Its impact is very long term, and probably will only confirm what we've gathered on our own: that editors are leaving, that conflict is increasing, and that many volunteers find their work difficult (and eventually unrewarding). I think there is value here, but not in our top four.

I'm also nervous about social networking features. For a lot of reasons, but I'd sum it up as abuse. There is already evidence that conflict and hostility are hurting community health, and I'd venture to say it's the biggest threat. When we make it easier for users to interact, we don't get to decide whether those interactions will be positive or negative. We'll get more of both. I'm not comfortable putting this in the top four unless we have a plan to control the negatives.

I'm going to get to work on all of them. I'll check in again at the end of the day.

PS: things are coming right down to the wire, so I'm going to be moving pretty quickly. Let me apologize in advance if I step on any toes. Please push back on me politely, if I become too bold.