Nah, samsung, we don't view it as important to Australia, at least not right now it isn't. But it is important to us, or at least me. I use it most days, and I would like the rough edges knocked off.

And in the long term who knows, one day it might be important to Australia and read by millions. I hope so - it would be nice to see OLO become a big success. If it did it would fulfil what I think is Graham's vision for it and become a real part of Australia's democracy.

If and when that does happen they won't be listening to the likes of us. The time to put our 2c worth in is now. Mind you, we may already be too late, as they don't seem to be paying any attention anyway.

And by the by, I am amazed at how often OLO does come up at the top of google searches when I do searches on topical Australian keywords. Its a bit irritating actually. You go looking for background information on something mentioned here - and get referred right back to where you started. That means google thinks some of the articles published here are the best source of information on a particular subject. Its not a bad effort.

"Opinions" drive freedom. Everybody should be allowed to express an opinion, whether or not that opinion is right or wrong, crazy or sane, approved of or not approved of; and everybody should have to right to express an opinion on any opinion.

Unfortunately, some people can't express opinions without name calling. That's life.

Samsung, I have been for some time thinking about starting a general thread on the significance or relevance of OLO. You've prompted me to do it!

I’m constantly trying to weigh up the significance of OLO, both in my life and in the shaping of our collective future in Australia. It is certainly a large pert of my life, but I don’t know if it is time well spent or whether I’ll come to regret spending so many hours a week on it over a period of several years.

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OLO does appear quite prominently in google searches, which is surely a good sign. It has a good range of highly qualified article-writers, which is surely another good indication. There are plenty of knowledgeable posters too, among a wide range of contributors.

But still, what is it really worth? [Please don't respond here. I've asked the same question on the new thread]

Hypothetically speaking Ludwig, Mr Curson might have a good reason not to respond.
I know if I published an article I would refrain from responding to the comments, as we're only allowed one alias and commenting would identify who I am. But that's just one reason. I do respect that some authors might wish to take an arms length approach and allow others to debate the merits of their piece without getting involved, to better see the honest discussion of their piece without interference.

TurnRightThenLeft: "we're only allowed one alias"

My guess is they don't care how many aliases you have. The issue isn't aliases. Its sock puppets and astroturfing, and possibly breaking the posts per day limit. Ensure you various aliases don't meet each other on the same thread, don't exceed the 5 posts per day limit and you will be fine.

You would have to be careful though. It only took 14 days to figure out who Polycarp was.

As for posting to your own articles - its a personal choice, and mine would differ depending on the article. If its a deliberately inflammatory article like the sort Tankard Reist writes I would probably avoid it. But on a technical article, like Peter Curson's, I would respond. I have never been able to write about a complex topic so that everyone that understands what I am on about. I would feel obliged to answer questions - particularly like the one Ludwig asked.

But in Curson's case I suspect its either not hear what he has to say, or just accept he doesn't answer questions. I know what my choice is.

Good point TRTL. I’ve often thought about writing articles and the problem that it would create when I wanted to respond as the author while still upholding anonymity as a poster on the broader forum.

There’s only one way to do it and that’s to have two aliases [or an alias and your real name]. As you are only legally allowed to have one, I wouldn’t want to have a second one surreptitiously. So there would have to be a special facility for article authors to have a second one if they requested it.

I can’t see why Graham wouldn’t allow this.

But I doubt that it is something that has prevented many authors from responding on threads generated by their articles.

As for authors wishing to remain at arms length, I think that they still need to respond to let posters know that comments addressed to the author have been read, or to just thank posters for their input.

If an author is asked specific questions, I reckon they definitely need to respond, if only to say that they wish not to engage in discussion… which would be an unfortunate response, but better than nothing.