I‘ve been trying to think of more ways to give RopeofSilicon’s paid subscribers something special, something extra to continue the conversation and create more of a community feel. At the same time I don’t want to do it all at once.
I want to slowly ease my way into the transition because as new as it is for you, it’s entirely new for me as well. I want to make sure it is worth your while, which is why my entire focus right now is on 1.) delivering a great experience for paid subscribers and 2.) building a greater sense of community among those subscribers.
The second point is where this new addition to the site comes in, the “ROS Journal“…
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My idea for using a “journal” approach to a conversation starter came to me recently after I had just finished watching a couple movies on Hulu and wanted to share some brief thoughts, but nothing that would constitute a standard post. More of a jotting down of thoughts and ideas I felt some may find interesting and that you could expand on and we could discuss in the comments. In essence, what it used to mean to “blog”, something of a free-for-all, capturing a brief moment in time.
One way of looking at this is as an extension of Sunday’s “What I Watched” column, a daily thread just talking about pretty much anything movie and television related, or whatever else comes to mind each day. This might include sharing thoughts on whatever movie I may have just watched, quick thoughts on a episode of “Hannibal” or “Sherlock” as well as a chance to bounce some ideas off the RopeofSilicon Collective (good nickname?) and some of what I write on a daily basis before I’ve actually written it.
One such example would be the article I posted recently headlined “like this.
At the same time, the comments in these posts would be open to you to ask things in the comment section that might typically be looked at as off-topic on the majority of posts.
My goal with this is to write something five days a week. I expect most of the time it will be a paragraph or two, or sometimes much more, but what I really want to do is get some great interaction in the comments. I want readers to come together the same way they have in the “What I Watched” posts.
As for today’s “couple of paragraphs” I feel like Mondays will afford me the chance to tell you what’s on my docket for the week, such as this week includes a screening of Snowpiercer tomorrow as the first film in a double-bill, the second being 22 Jump Street. Then, on Thursday, I’ll be seeing The Rover, which means a tight turnaround time on a review as it hits limited theaters this weekend.
I’m also hoping to finish watching Criterion’s Blu-ray for L’Eclisse, which streets tomorrow and I’m currently trying to decide what will be my next “Best Movies” entry as I actually want to do at least two this month and get a little caught up. My goal is to do at least 12 a year, but more if possible.
Finally, one thing I am considering is an idea that offers some posts for paid subscribers only for the first 48 hours or so after publishing and then opening them to everyone else after that. Would you see that as an added benefit?
With that, we’ll see how this goes. It’s not particularly ground-breaking, but I think it could grow and lead to much better things on the site in general with your participation. That said, please, bring whatever you’d like to the comments on these posts as they are only open to paid subscribers as well. The community that is the RopeofSilicon Collective begins here. Have at it…
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