Frog
10-04-2006, 07:30 PM
Dear everyone
Not sure I have anything new to say but would just like to add the opinions of a regular lurker to the soup.
I discovered Braintalk over a year ago - coincidently it was during the last 'big crash'. I spent two weeks reading throught the old posts and waiting for the real thing to come back. I was researching PN and gluten sensitivity and Brain Talk was by far the best resource on the net. Being a sceptical soul I researched BT and John Lester and read around the whole subject of forums and patient self help etc. I became hooked, I searched and searched but found nothing else like it
I see the BT as one of those breakthrough moments that occurs. It takes self help/knowledge and the use of the internet onto a different level from where it was before. These moment are nearly always dependant on an individual seeing things slightly differently and consequently changing things.
From this beginning, BT has grown and developed and become owned by its users, not forgetting the ownership by its users without interference by doctors or moderators etc was actually at the core of the boards when they started.
Its creator - John Lester has also grown and diversified. From the idea of BT JL has further developed the use of the internet and utilised it differently than others. If you look at Second Life and Brigadoon, it is more than clever!
It appears to me that BT is now too big for one person to manage. I don't know what the charity laws are in the US but it seems to me that BT needs a proper structure to work within and to adher to (regarding funding, mantanaince and moderators etc). It is a cuckoo that can't keep feeding off a parent who frankly is now too small to keep the supply of worms coming.
As for John Lester. Now I am not one to dish out praise easily, and I certainly don't like to gush, but if he was based in England then I would be putting him forward for a Knighthood. Or maybe even a Sainthood - they're international!
In the big scheme of things, it may be that BT has had its time. It may now become just another forum. But I for one would like it to continue to be at the forefront of the application of technology for the treatment/research of medical conditions. But I feel that the Braintalk community can no longer expect one person to utilise this alone, nor can this one person be vilified for not doing it as people expect him to.
Personally I feel that the best thing would be if the Mass. Hospital takes over the BT forums and it is run as a registered charity, with JL in charge if he wants to be.
The initial strength of the BT community was that it was created and cared for by an individual. This strength may now be its weakness. It is too much responsibility for one individual. The question now is whether the individual has the strength to give independance to his baby.
Frog
Not sure I have anything new to say but would just like to add the opinions of a regular lurker to the soup.
I discovered Braintalk over a year ago - coincidently it was during the last 'big crash'. I spent two weeks reading throught the old posts and waiting for the real thing to come back. I was researching PN and gluten sensitivity and Brain Talk was by far the best resource on the net. Being a sceptical soul I researched BT and John Lester and read around the whole subject of forums and patient self help etc. I became hooked, I searched and searched but found nothing else like it
I see the BT as one of those breakthrough moments that occurs. It takes self help/knowledge and the use of the internet onto a different level from where it was before. These moment are nearly always dependant on an individual seeing things slightly differently and consequently changing things.
From this beginning, BT has grown and developed and become owned by its users, not forgetting the ownership by its users without interference by doctors or moderators etc was actually at the core of the boards when they started.
Its creator - John Lester has also grown and diversified. From the idea of BT JL has further developed the use of the internet and utilised it differently than others. If you look at Second Life and Brigadoon, it is more than clever!
It appears to me that BT is now too big for one person to manage. I don't know what the charity laws are in the US but it seems to me that BT needs a proper structure to work within and to adher to (regarding funding, mantanaince and moderators etc). It is a cuckoo that can't keep feeding off a parent who frankly is now too small to keep the supply of worms coming.
As for John Lester. Now I am not one to dish out praise easily, and I certainly don't like to gush, but if he was based in England then I would be putting him forward for a Knighthood. Or maybe even a Sainthood - they're international!
In the big scheme of things, it may be that BT has had its time. It may now become just another forum. But I for one would like it to continue to be at the forefront of the application of technology for the treatment/research of medical conditions. But I feel that the Braintalk community can no longer expect one person to utilise this alone, nor can this one person be vilified for not doing it as people expect him to.
Personally I feel that the best thing would be if the Mass. Hospital takes over the BT forums and it is run as a registered charity, with JL in charge if he wants to be.
The initial strength of the BT community was that it was created and cared for by an individual. This strength may now be its weakness. It is too much responsibility for one individual. The question now is whether the individual has the strength to give independance to his baby.
Frog