Hi Vocal, Could We Have a Suggestions Box?

Vocal has some great attributes. It is a great way for people without much experience—or maybe confidence—to express themselves creatively and, whether or not you get many reads, it is fun to add your thoughts to an ever growing community like this one. In that spirit I would love to advocate for a suggestions community, or a challenge, to promote ideas that users think could further improve Vocal’s service. This is not to say all suggestions should be taken up, but there are so many contributors out there I would be amazed if one or two people didn’t have good idea about small additions that could make Vocal a better place for everyone.

What could a suggestions box look like?

Vocal already has a number of communities that cover almost everything. There is something for poets and short story writers, health nuts and travellers, geeks, fashionistas, minorities, and educators. Could we add a Vocal Ideas community, a Suggestions community? Somewhere that people with an idea or comment about Vocal could get it out in public view, where other members of the Vocal community can see, comment, and encourage or expand on these ideas. Some might be good and the Vocal overlords might want to take them onboard. Worst case scenario, an idea won’t be good or will fly under the radar and get missed. There is of course the issue of ever more moderation. But I suspect the vast majority of suggestions will be genuine ideas that people think would improve Vocal for everyone, or for specific people.

Alternatively, Vocal could run a suggestions challenge. A one off, or once a year, or if ideas are short on and no one wants to run another haiku challenge. This would actively engage the community, bring out the ideas that people have floating around in the back of their minds, and everyone loves chasing those challenge rewards.

Just for now

As there is no suggestion challenge up and running yet, and the Vocal Suggestions community is pending (I can dream), I will put forward the idea that sent me down this track in the first place.

I would love it if we could add our own audio files, MP3 or WAV, to our stories. Before I go on, yes, I know we can link to a YouTube video, Vimeo, or Soundcloud and those are all viable alternatives. But if you don’t have a Soundcloud account and still want to upload audio would it not be simple, inclusive and engaging aspect to add to the Vocal platform? My reason for wanting to add audio is to have an audio version of stories and poems. A lot of my poetry I feel is best heard, I am sure others would feel the same. I am a subscriber to the idea that poetry is best read out loud, whether that be to oneself or to others. Out loud is when the music in the words comes alive, when you can hear the gentle stresses and inflections that add some much meaning to language.

There is another benefit to audio versions of stories too. For anyone with visual impairments, audio can provide access to otherwise inaccessible areas. Though these days there are many digital tools that provide that service, would it not be nicer to hear a story read by the person who created it rather than a digital rendering?

It could be that I am barking up the wrong tree here and that linking Soundcloud is simple and effective enough. It could also be though, that given the option, there are many people out in the Vocal community that would welcome a more direct route to audio inclusion and see it as an improvement to the Vocal platform.

Either way, I definitely think a public suggestions box would be a valuable addition. Drop a like or a comment below if you would like to see some form of suggestion area on Vocal and tell me what form you would like to see it in.

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I am not a frequent user of Vocal, but I do like to have a quick read sometimes and I enjoy the prompts from the challenges. Give me a like or a comment and I’ll pop on to your page too and have a read!