You may have noticed some changes to The Matrix 101 over the last few days, and we'd like to tell you a bit more about them. The biggest change is the embracing of social networking sites, most obviously Facebook. This is a bit of a change in policy for TM101, because, well, I've been very resistent to incorporating social networking plugins for a looooong time. I won't bore any of our readers with the reasons why; let's just say it's not you, it's me.

We'll be rolling out these changes over the next week or so, but you will notice this policy change in 3 ways on the site: 1. a "Share" toolbar with one-click access to many social sites, allowing you to much more easily share pages on TM101 with others; 2. A facebook "Like" button for, well, liking us I guess; and 3. A Facebook comment box on selected pages. This third item is really the one that needs a bit of introduction and discussion.

TM101 has long been the "public library" of Matrix sites. While other discussion forum-based sites tend to be the "coffee shop" where folks go to banter and debate, TM101 has been more a place to go and look something up. This was a conscious decision when we started the site, because there were already a number of good Matrix discussion forum sites out there with active users. Fracturing the userbase further didn't seem to serve much purpose. We've been happy with this decision, and based on the feedback we still get, so have you...for the most part.

What we didn't expect was the amount of really good user-submitted content we've received. We responded to this by creating reader contribution sections on the site, which sort of work, but they still don't allow a lot of discussion on the submissions. Given that we still get a lot of email with questions and submissions, even now in a very slow period for Matrix news, we've been considering some ways to make the site more interactive. For a long time we've considered adding a blog and posting material both new and old, thereby allowing an active discussion on each theory or topic. The drawback is the lack of new stuff bubbling up in the Matrix world - this gave us pause. Having an inactive blog is almost worse than not having one at all.

In an effort to bring a little discussion to the site, we've decided to bow to pressure and add Facebook comment boxes to selected pages (even though the machines are behind Facebook, I'm sure of it). This will allow us to gauge the interest in posting on, commenting, and discussing the site's content. If it proves wildly popular, we'll probably follow through on the blog idea and welcome others to contribute as well.

Why don't we start the discussion right now, and tell me what you think below. Thanks for reading, and free your mind,
Glyph