TheStory on OurStory

I'm warming up to the idea of focused and purpose-specific collaborative sites. Especially the open source ones. One such space is OurStory. OurStory exists to allow a person or multitudes of people to shape timelines for organizations, people, families and whatever else people can think of... and they will; ad nauseum.

My beef with these very specific applications is that you have to learn a new interface for such a limited scope of objectives. For more bitching about the same, see here. OurStory is simple enough to more or less eliminate that concern, but the possibility could still ward off potential collaborators. The final or evolving product can be media rich, dynamic, and truly collaborative.

Where you could go to Ning and create a free social network that includes time lines, or one of the infinite free wiki hosts like Wikispaces, there's also a million other things you can do with them. It's easy to get lost. If these are already in use, then fine. But it may be overwhelming if the the outcome you need is as specific as a timeline.

I like the idea of getting a group that will be coming together on another project using something like this to create a shared understanding of the current state of affairs, and what events and behaviours led to this situation. The benefits could be many. Chewing up time for review when groups could be building the future ranges from boring to absolutely treacherous. OurStory or other solutions could eliminate the need, and give a group practice and frame of reference for interaction.