Newsvine was great during its heyday. I never partook in the citizen journalism side of the equation, but took great pride in curating interesting submissions and the discussions that ensued. For at least one period at the end of 2008, when I was a senior in college, I was at the top of the leaderboard and harbored ambitions of moving to the west coast and working for Newsvine in technology. Alas.
The discussion is what made Newsvine for me. It was friendly, well-informed, and Made Everyone Smarter. These days, I don't even think about wading into the morass that is the comments section on news articles. I miss that, though it's certainly tied to the size of the community—which itself is tied to the ability to moderate effectively. Much credit to Tyler and the team for keeping us on the rails.
The discussion is what made Newsvine for me. It was friendly, well-informed, and Made Everyone Smarter. These days, I don't even think about wading into the morass that is the comments section on news articles. I miss that, though it's certainly tied to the size of the community—which itself is tied to the ability to moderate effectively. Much credit to Tyler and the team for keeping us on the rails.