Today I came across a very interesting web-based online community project called Barbelith.
Barbelith is an experimental online community centred around unique message-board software. The aim of Barbelith is to create an online space where the standard of conversation, discussion and debate is higher than anywhere else online and in which everyone has a say in the running and management of the board.
Learn more about Barbelith at their FAQ which is implemented using MediaWiki.
An interesting aspect of Barbelith is management by Distributed Moderation.
I'm interested in this model of aspects of it for the eXtension initiative.