I started a LinkedIn group. It has a grandiose title: Future of Architecture and the Built Environment. You can join the group by clicking here. Why did I start a LinkedIn group when there are already a million billion groups to join. Well:

1. The Main Reason is that there really isn’t a group focused on the things I want to discuss and share. I want a place to share articles and get into discussions about some fantastical stuff relating to the future of architecture. There are a lot of exciting technologies and process shifts which will profoundly alter what we do in the construction industry. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, the Internet of Things, drones, mobile devices, organics, touch screens… the list is long and exciting. I don’t want to get bogged down in talks of current BIM mechanics or codes. Unless we are discussing how those limitations and laws can lead to some awesome potentials. In short I want a place to dream and hear the dreams of others. This group is a reminder for me to focus on some of the big issues I’ve been moving towards over the past few years.
2. Have you heard about being SWAM’d on LinkedIn? Sitewide Auto Moderation (SWAM) is a pretty horrible censorship policy. Here’s a good blog post on it. Basically if you get banned from one group (for reasons you’ll never know), everything you post in any other group always goes to moderation. Comments, posts, everything. It’s a disaster. And it’s not surprising that active people are the ones hit by this most often. Well I was SWAM’d this week. I have a feeling that some of my more wilder posts while appreciated by many also rubbed some others the wrong way (if I had to guess). To fix the situation I had to become the manager of a group and do some digging. I now know the solution, but getting the managers of every group I belong to to implement the steps is a pain. I’ll add the solution in the comments in case anyone else needs to know. All this has encouraged me to try a different tact and I’m going to build a community on LinkedIn around the issues I’m interested in. Hopefully it’ll mean at least I won’t have to moderate myself. And I’ll do my best to help those in my situation who are part of this group.
3. Those points said, if people have a better idea of where to have these conversations I’m open to trying a different spot. It seems like all social media these days is in flux. Facebook pages don’t reach all your Likes, unless you pay money. Google+ is well, Google+; I’ve just never warmed to using it. But the biggest thing is that most of the people I want to connect with are on LinkedIN and aside from SWAM, I really like LinkedIN. It’s a great place to share ideas. So for now I’ll trudge on.

Come on and join the conversation. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else has to add, comment, and share on the greatest LinkedIN group ever:

Future of Architecture and the Built Environment

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