The Media Corps, introduced in March 2024, aimed to enable independent WordPress marketers and media members to produce excellent quality content with less time and effort. Initially, the project demonstrated positive engagement, with @rmartinezduque hosting multiple briefings and providing resources and regular updates through SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. The mid-project update and feedback, however, showed that there have been significant ongoing challenges:
- Scalability: The model, relying heavily on scheduled briefings and targeted outreach, proved difficult to sustain long-term.
- Timeliness: Information distribution frequently lagged behind real-time updates available from social media platforms and other more immediate channels, limiting the effectiveness of structured briefings.
- Engagement: Active participation diminished over time, peaking at roughly a dozen active members, with declining attendance at briefings and varied levels of involvement from media partners who initially expressed interest.
A recent Slack discussion regarding the future of the team further emphasized these challenges. In summary, the following suggestions were discussed:
- Utilize the #media-corps channel to collectively organize interviews and conversations with key WordPress figures, tackling topics and media queries from different angles.
- Initiate media collaboration amongst members: sharing stats and insights, coordinating with developers and community leaders, and executing content promotion.
- Establish a content roadmap with structured communications rather than ad-hoc briefings, or shift to frequent, lightweight briefings that are quicker to digest and more timely.
All of these suggestions faltered in the face of the scalability, timeliness, and engagement challenges, and the team Slack has been largely silent for months. Based on this, the feedback, and collected data, I believe we are, and will be, unable to achieve our stated goal, and the best path forward is to end this specific initiative.
Existing resources, such as the Making WordPress Slack, direct contacts, and official social media (WordPress is now present across 11 platforms), will continue to serve the needs of media partners. For independent marketers and media members looking to expedite their research, a growing set of AI tools is available.
Thank you to everyone who participated, provided feedback, and supported this effort. Your contributions have been invaluable, and I look forward to continued collaboration within the broader WordPress community.
If you have additional thoughts or feedback, would like to contribute to whatever comes next, or maybe have a recommended AI workflow, please share below!