Package usage "in the wild"

[batpigandme]

Related to #25 (see https://github.com/ropensci/unconf18/issues/25#issuecomment-384220571), but I think it's a sufficiently distinct approach to merit its own thread.

Overall idea

As a user, I often find it's helpful to see use-cases for packages and/or functions "in the wild" (i.e. in the context of some workflow or task). Some packages have great vignettes that cover this, but (limited to just a few people) there's simply no way for maintainers/developers to think of all the possible ways a package might come in handy. It can also be extremely helpful to read explanations from people who didn't write the package, since they have a sort of "beginner's mind." (I've done a few "roundups" of tweets, often of blog posts using various packages, e.g. for purrr here for this reason).

I imagine (and have anecdotal twitter evidence 😏) that maintainers also like seeing how their packages are being used, but don't always get that feedback, even when it exists, since the avenues are somewhat limited.

A very roughshod diagram of relationships among packages/feedback that exists "formally"

Here's where it gets fuzzy implementation-wise, but I've been wondering if there would be a good way to highlight package usage in blog posts or case studies (e.g. with blogdown), in such a way that users and maintainers would be able to easily find relevant content.

Carl Goodwin's been doing something to this effect by including tables of packages and functions used in his blogposts (see example from Surprising stories hide in seemingly mundane data below), but this is (to my knowledge) done by hand, and isn't something one would be necessarily be able to find from any docs related to, say, rgeolocate.

Stumbling blocks

• Implementation (want to make it useful, without being platform-specific).
• Would want it to be opt-in for package maintainers(?)
• Possibly just a human communication issue that could be encouraged by, say, talking to other humans.
• Breaking changes — blog posts might be an ephemeral format for this very reason.