Re: Is bp dying a slow death?
@jeffsayre , you and many others here have been spot on about the BuddyPress leadership as-is. I particularly liked the notion of ‘proactive communication’ (and the lack thereof) so much that I felt compelled to repeat it.
@paulhastings0 about electing leaders, I just don’t think this is a good idea. There’s just too much to factor in when core development needs and relationships come into play. I’d argue that thanks to the combined user friendliness of WP&BP, this community consists in large of low-tech pseudo-developers such as myself, who are able to build websites and great communities with BuddyPress, but wouldn’t find our way home if we ventured far into any given .php file.
Sure, if it came to a vote I’d think about who in this community I find admirable, productive, dedicated and so on, and I’d put my vote in. But what is my vote worth in such a big matter anyways, when what it really comes down to, besides the obvious qualities of a community hero, is the prospective developer/manager’s ability to communicate and work on the same wavelength as is established in the core team already.
I don’t fear for BuddyPress; I see a very bright future for it and anyone who takes the leap to invest (freely interpreted). This has been an important discussion none the less, and as if the lesson learned was not clear as day already, I intend to spell it out:
BuddyPress development needs an extra layer of transparency. Front-line fighters of the community should be trusted to tap into the ‘inner loop’. As people who’s ‘been around the block’ (see, only mature people would refer to themselves in such a manner) they can be expected to handle sensitive information with care, knowing what to share and when to share it. Whenever the foremost figures of a community are absent, members immediately start looking for whoever is next in line, a search ideally concluded with “oh, silly me, naturally it’s that nice person who’s presence I took notice of from the start”.
