In the Defining Collaboration in the Social Change Sector discussion, I asked the tireless Dan Bassill of Chicago's Tutor/Mentor Connection to share some tips on how he manages to keep track of the many conversations he's engaged in online.

He graciously responded:

I struggle with this myself. One way is that I post links to some of the forums I post comments in on the T/MC web site. Another is that I do a "google search" from time to time, to find places where I've commented, but not visited in a while.

I have a few core sites that I visit once or twice a week, just to see what is going on, and where I might contribute. Ned is one of those places. I visit more often than I comment because most of the discussion here does not focus on tutoring/mentoring, or poverty in Chicago. However, collaboration and capacity building is relevant, which is why I keep coming back to this thread.

In all of my networking, I'm pointing people to web sites I host, sort of like how advertisers point people to their stores. When someone visits my site and leaves a comment, or emails me, I respond and this helps build our relationships and progress toward goals. In this way, I don't need to worry about following all of those who have not responded to my messages. I only need to focus on responding to those who do.

Most of my comments relate to the mission of T/MC so while I'm in lots of places, it's not hard to keep track of my line of thinking, because it's always related to progress toward goal, or some form of network building.

I'm trying to find ways to map this strategy, using the concept maps on my site, wikis and social network analysis tools. Finding manpower to do some of this work is what slows me down. I can't do it all myself.

As the web continues to expand and offer more and more resources for working with others, it feels to me that managing our time spent in various spaces is key. In the search for allies and meaningful collaborative potential, I am finding that there are an increasing number of discussion spaces, blogs, and networks out there to participate in. Participating in just one space feels very limiting, but as soon as I start participating in many, it quickly becomes difficult to remember where I've been and engage in continued deeper and meaningful dialogue.

What about you?

• How do you keep track of your conversations online?
• What factors guide your choices in where to participate/contribute online?
• Once you've contributed to a discussion once, how much of an effort do you make to follow up for continued dialogue?
• Are there tools or strategies you can share that might help others who are struggling with this issue?

I would argue that some new tools for doing this better are necessary, but meanwhile I'm hoping we can all learn from each other how to manage better with tools we've already got.

Thanks in advance for sharing your tips!