When I joined the Guardian a few years ago I was really eager to bring some ideas I had about applying the philosophies that made the early Internet possible to the publishing process and to journalism itself. #

Transparency, networks, open data, platforms, collective behaviors, generative media, etc are all meaty concepts. I’m fascinated by how those words translate for industries that were formed before the Internet came along. #

There are no answers, but there are certainly best practices and lots of ways to iterate and build and grow when you’ve found something that seems to work. #

I was initially focused on opening up the Guardian’s content and data. That’s how the API got off the ground. #

Then we took a Hack Day experiment on mobile reporting and we evolved it into a platform service called n0tice. n0tice powers GuardianWitness, among other things (more to be announced soon), and we offer that service to other publishers around the world. #

And then this week another small crew (Sarah, Dan, Tom, Dean) launched a new business called Contributoria. It’s a collaborative writing platform where members drive all aspects of the publishing process together, including commissioning stories and the editing process itself. #

Based on the initial reaction and the first participants to join Contributoria, I’m becoming really hopeful that we’ve created a new market, a new way of doing things that will help a lot of people who care about the future of journalism and want to be a part of it and to see it succeed. #

While we’ve yet to do much future-proofing of Contributoria against the many threats to the Internet as we know it today, I remain an optimist about the wider network. And perhaps if we get enough momentum behind it, Contributoria can become a tool for or at least a participant in securing the principles that made the early Internet such a wonderful thing. #

At worst, the guys have made a pretty neat platform. Wish us luck! #