That's possible, yes. I don't love vBulletin specifically, but that's mostly because of specific weaknesses I find in it. (The EK just set up a site based on it, and I'm chafing at the little details. Unfortunately, after CommYou I am rather sensitive to those kinds of things. I really need to look into whether it's open source, so that I could make some improvements.) The concept makes some sense, though, and is roughly along the lines I'm thinking.
My most immediate concern, really, is the follow-on conversations. While there are well-established ways to cross-post the headers, I haven't yet seen a really *effective* technique for keeping the ensuing discussion together, and peoples' instincts are to respond using the same technology they receive in.
The key is to avoid wishful thinking. It's really easy to tell people, "You should all respond here!" -- but very nearly impossible to actually get them to do so unless you make it very convenient to actually do so. I suspect some experimentation is needed to figure out what's necessary to make that work. (If it's possible at all; I don't assume that it is, although I am hopeful.)
Really, what I *want* is for Facebook et al to adopt the Salmon Protocol, which addresses exactly these problems. (It provides a way for responses to propagate around.) Unfortunately, there's probably a snowball's chance of that: the social networks try very hard to keep their walled gardens walled, and hence actively promote fragmentation. But that's a whole 'nother rant...
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My most immediate concern, really, is the follow-on conversations. While there are well-established ways to cross-post the headers, I haven't yet seen a really *effective* technique for keeping the ensuing discussion together, and peoples' instincts are to respond using the same technology they receive in.
The key is to avoid wishful thinking. It's really easy to tell people, "You should all respond here!" -- but very nearly impossible to actually get them to do so unless you make it very convenient to actually do so. I suspect some experimentation is needed to figure out what's necessary to make that work. (If it's possible at all; I don't assume that it is, although I am hopeful.)
Really, what I *want* is for Facebook et al to adopt the Salmon Protocol, which addresses exactly these problems. (It provides a way for responses to propagate around.) Unfortunately, there's probably a snowball's chance of that: the social networks try very hard to keep their walled gardens walled, and hence actively promote fragmentation. But that's a whole 'nother rant...