Jahanshah Javid

I wish a button for Swahili conversion

For all practical reasons, FB is a comatose forum. There are times that nothing goes on out there except repeated posts by the least desired of friends. On the other hand IC is live. Every minute a few people post something. It is diverse and sharp and a totally different animal than FB.

I think we are looking at IC too much as a private clube that it should never intend to be. Look at other publications, WSJ, The New Yorker and others on line, strangers post comments and tere are always those that post malicious comments, that can be flagged and reviewed. A lot of times WSJ deletes post based on its own political agendas and it looks quite unfair, but that is lfie. 

We can not and should not hold IC accountable for a few people with cultural deficiencies. They will always be there. The best is to flag them if you don't like them and let them know somewhat how you feel about their comment and move on. 

Attempting to make IC a virtual private club of some sort will then leads and gets to those silly cultural hang ups, such as commenting positively on every single poem, article, etc. just to be friendly, rather than demanding better writing, more accurate reporting and sharper analysis.  We should encourage IC to remain an open forum but with admin in full control. If one is kicked out and comes back with another ID, let it be, so what. We have seen worse. I remember a few years ago, someone with several ID was complementing and carrying a conversation with herself in a blog all day long. Don't underestimate the maladies of one's brain, it can do strange things.

The best thing about IC is that you can remain anonymous, and that is despite the fact that I am using my real name both here and on FaceBook  :)   Thanks

oh, if I ask for one feature to be added is a button  that only the person that wrote the blog can see under every comment and it should say : "Click for SWAHILI" and once the owner of the blong clicks that button, the entire undesired comment of the poster will change to Swahili language! This would calm lots of nerves and a good research project for those whom would like to learn a foreign language...

JJ

Would you please let me know who threatened Soosan Khanoom? I know she won't tell me but will you?

Also if you want to allow people to censor their own blogs  count me out. I mean out of IC.

Esfand

I know you oppose my right to free speech. That is why I don't want you to be in charge of censoring my posts.

By the way: When did I ever claim to speak for "All Iranians". Please provide an example. In fact I have said many times I speak for myself and just me.

Thanks,

VPK

Anahid jaan I think ALL these ideas are note worthy!

Everything is sacred

Esfand, are you running a fever?

I have a cold myself. As such, I have to watch what I write. This last comment of yours makes me think that you may be running a fever. Drink some tea, Make it cold, Ice cold.If possible, have someone pour some ice water on you as you drink the tea.

How about a webcam area for i.com Dancers?!

Since we're talking about in ADDITION and we already have youtube videos of people dancing good and god awful dance routines, how about a webcam area for users?

Users can go in and watch other users shake their struts live and in person!  For premium members ... maybe ... well first thing first!

Everything is sacred

Now I feel right about the Changes

Thanks JJ for your hard work. I trust your vision here.

Tell me how many friends

you have on IC and I'll tell you who you are. ;o)

On a more serious note, glad to hear blogs will stay. Learnt a lot reading them, from history to geopolitics.

Facebookphobia :)

To those worried about iranian.com becoming another Facebook or Twitter, i reiterate:

-- I'm hoping iranian.com will have functions SIMILAR to Facebook and twitter where you can share thoughts and images and... quickly -- with those you wish to share with, not everybody.

-- iranian.com cannot and should not be another Facebook. But it can offer the same quick and easy way of posting a variety of stuff to share with those you care about.

-- None of what iranian.com offers today will be taken away. It will be IMPROVED.

So once again... you will have MORE options to post whatever you wish, in the moment.

You don't like posting 10, 50, 100 things every day? You don't have to.

You don't like reading what others post every minute? You don't need to.

Read and post as you wish. All we want to do is give everybody at every level more options and user-friendlyness.

And at this stage, nothing is certain about what will become of iranian.com. We're just talking...

I don't think I will survive these changes ...

So I might as well Bid Everyone Goodbye ...

SATIRE: Turk and Iranian argue in Austria ;0)

How about "forcing" the users to do something?!

Maybe every morning, naashtaa, (before any tea/coffee) as soon as a user comes to any part of i.com (front page or otherwise :-) a voting page appears and s/he is "forced" to vote between 5 blogs or articles and choose one as his/her top choice?!

Then once s/he has a sip of his/her tea/coffee and ready to take a bite on some Feta cheese with bread and make a comment, s/he is again "forced" to this time vote between 5 other items?!

These 2 forced votings would be applied only once a day per user and for the rest of the day s/he is free to shelang takhte all s/he wants! 

Everything is sacred

You're in control

Thanks Monda.

Your thoughts and quick posts will be public to those you choose, not everyone. You control what is on your page and who can see it.

few hits on Time, Moderation and Control

The Time factor. How many of us have the time to post our news or thoughts, to be shared with so many completely unknown users? And monitor each feedback??

To me, Immediacy matters most with the News, regional or global. Where I can stay current at a glance. Would I feel that urgency to stay current with personal shares?

If we get too caught up in our Real lives, who will moderate our links? I did read your comment about the delete option by the poster, BUT does the poster have time to monitor his/her postings? If not, she would Not post. Back to square one - the reason why there are so many silent readers. (Aside from the Trust issue - that users don't post with the fear of being monitored/tracked by elements which they don't trust.)

On FB, we have control over who we'd like to share our thoughts with. How can we exercise that control on IC?

i.com is not FB because one has 500M+ users and the other 11K+

i.com is like an established mom and pop business who may or may not make it bigger but it is good enough to send kids to college (maybe keep them after college :-) and have enough for retirement!

As we learned in the movie FB exploded to 300K in about a month and they started in 2004.  So if i.com hasn't even reached 100K in I don't know however long they've been online pretty much no amount of change is going to make it that big.

I remember in an interview with Bahram jaan in response to a question about what changes are coming JJJ said nothing really!  This is it!   

Everything is sacred

Facebook is Definitively Not a model for IC ...

Who are We Kidding here ? Is this how you guys value an Intellectual discourse ?

I am not speaking about Profanity or controlling what kind of comments may be prejudicial to someone's reputation ( particularly if that person writes with full accountability of his name and identifiable avatar for what it's worth). 

But then what are we intending to do ? Debate Only amongst ourselves or with our likeminds ?

I Rarely have FLAGGED Anyone on IC except when that person was abusive. I even tolerated Sargord's CONSTANT comments on every single blog I would post even if it truly pissed me at times because I had put so much creativity and hard work into creating something which I deemed as being attractive for the viewers or people who shared my interests like in Cinema or History and I hated to see the effect of what I had posted be ruined by a silly or irrelevant comment.

Other than than, I have absolutely no problem engaging with people with Diametrically opposite views on any given subject ranging from Politics, to sex to history or art you name it.

What I find however Hypocrtical is when I cannot Respond back when I am challenged due to some hypocritical Political correctness.

I find debates challenging and if people cannot handle someone else's views that is their problem.

IC is Not FB which is about networking.

Who are we Networking on IC ? Sure we get to know eachother and appreciate or not eachother's personalities or views but it is first and foremost an OPEN FORUM !

If people feel they are too shy or don't wish to express themselves with their real identity for various reasons including because they wish to keep their privacy or protect themselves when in Iran that is perfectly understandable.

But if we had to do the same over the years how different is that from living under the IRI ?

Exchange is Healthy, it can be harsh at times and it can even hurt. You think it was easy for me to pave my way in an environment where the slightest reference to anything related to our Royal history or heritage would immediately lead to being brandished a "Shahollahi"  or a "Warmonger Neo Con" ? Or have people blog on me in those terms and have it featured on the Front page regardless of what prejudice that could have had on me or my family members ?  

At best I tried my best to humor it.

But I will NEVER APOLOGIZE for having an Opinion !

Nor do I think anyone else should for that matter as long as a minimum of Civility is maintained.

Personally I regret the departure of someone like Abarmard ( who if not for his name at least photo ) or even someone like Niloufar Parsi ( with or without her real name and avatar). I definitively am at the opposite end of their political views but I believe that they should be allowed to challenged not with hatred but with arguments even humor whether or not they understand or share that sense of humor.

Otherwise ANYONE on IC has his or her personality. But at times certain moderators tend to confuse humor, Irony or even sarcasm in the context of a conversation, debate or argument with profanity.

All the more than in some context's dry humor is the only way out of a conversation that can linger on.

At times I feel some moderators don't even take into account the entire exchange and focus on one minor word or sentence which they deem as offensive or obusive. Often it even depends on the political context of the day.

For instance I saw a recent comment I made which was deleted to my surprise. It was on a Mullah being "Coronated" where I quoted directly from the Shahnameh : "Tofoo Ey Charkheh Gardan Tofoo" and replace the word "Arab" with Mullah.

And linked it to an old blog:

SATIRE: THE NEW IRANIAN EMPIRE ;0)

I fail to see what was offensive given that I am making fun of a mentality.

Now because of what is taking place in the Arab world we have to adjust to somekind of political correctness in regard to what some of us Iranians perceive as a highjacking of our history by a Turbaned Dynasty which Put's Islam before Iran's History and culture ?

PRINCE OF PERSIA: Shapour Ali Reza's photos displayed at Persepolis, Iran

How different is that behavior then with someone like Simorge666 when he accuses me of posting something on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis on grounds that she made a film in which she calls the Shah a Bastard ?

KINO ACHTUNG ! : An Inside Look With Marjane Satrapi Into Babelsberg Studios

Otherwise might as well call me a racist:

Monty Python:Never Be Rude To an Arab

John Cleese hates Belgians

Thank you.

Thanks Jahanshah jaan and others who manage Iranian.com.  I have been with you since Day 1, using my real name and picture.  I supported you financially when I was in the USA, but now I am spreading my limited funds to other NGOs such as an animal shelter in Hashtgerd, near Tehran.  

My objection to Iranian.com has been posters who use pseudo names and think it is their freedom of expression to take cheap shots at others especially those who are using their real names.  Many good writers are not posting on Iranian.com anymore.   I agree multiple ID user(s) should NOT be permitted.   Administrators’ views have changed over time.  In the beginning it was more balanced whereas now it is more on attacking Iran because of its government.   

I have said this before, I would like to say it again that we cannot become a better country unless we become better people.

Here is my quote: "The people get the government they deserve.  The way to change a government is for the people to change."  

Here is my latest article: //www.opednews.com/articles/Human-Life-Should-Be-the-P-by-Mohammad-Ala-110221-71.html

Silent majority?

Esther, the silent majority are those who have migrated from iranian.com because it is so outdated and hard to use. At this stage, iranian.com is the domain of 45+ year olds with thoughts and habits of their own age. Those in their 20s and 30s are much more mobile and see no incentive to be here. They and many others (me and lots of those who currently use FB frequently), want to know what's going on NOW, this minute. And they want to post for their private audience little things that matter to them immediately.

As I mentioned in my notes and comments here, these FB-like functions should be ADDED to iranian.com. Those who want to say something substantial, can still blog. AND their blogs will get more attention on the front page, instead of being buried on Blog Central.

So, in short, we can have the best of ALL worlds. Whether you like FB or not, you will have more choices to read and post as you wish, not less.

Hooray! Comment control on i.com! Free @last thank god almighty!

JJJ I don't understand what you mean by "make blogs more prominent on the front page and easier to manage by users"?

If you give me the option to manage the "front page" by deleting some of the blogs I don't care for it doesn't mean others will do it too.  Most blogs have a shelf life of 2 or 3 days.  So regardless of how "I" arrange the front page others will still not care for the old blogs.

I.com like any other public forum is like the OJ Simpson public trial with live cameras that the Lawyers wanted to play to the audience and made comments or gestures that they'd not do if there were no cameras.

So if we make i.com a "small circle of friends" then you're taking out the public aspect.  What am I missing? 

Everything is sacred

Soosan Khanoom

In the new iranian.com, you will be able to delete comments on your own blog. If anyone harasses you, you will be able to get rid of them. YOU will police your own page. There will also be flagging functions so that if you are attacked about a comment you left on another person's page you would be able to alert moderators.

I absolutely agree that personal attacks are a major problem and should be handled better.

A word from the silent majority

I just want to say that I agree with Nazy, Monda, Faramarz, and Princess.  If I don't post, it's not because I find the current site un-user-friendly.  It's more because I disagree with JJ that:

"... the idea is to give top priority to prominent presentation of what the
user has to say about his/her life and views. We are living in a time
when the number one desire of most people is the quick and easy posting
of their own stuff."

If I want to contemplate my own life and views, I can do it in my head - I don't need to visit IC.  If I post, it's to exchange ideas (or sometimes just to amuse myself).  Mostly I visit IC to see what other people are thinking and writing about (as I have mentioned elsewhere, I'm not Iranian so maybe not typical here, but I know I'm not the only one!).

I really don't like FB or Twitter because of what others have referred to as their "superficiality" or "broad and shallow"-ness.  I also relate to what Monda refers to as the "intensity" of the users - there is so much "immediacy" in some of the comment exchanges, I really wonder how much more "immediate" they could get with Twitter-like capabilities!

I would like to reiterate that I think that one of the strengths of IC is the quality (and variety) of the content.  There are really a lot of intelligent, thoughtful, well-written pieces (and comment exchanges).  I rarely visit without finding some food for thought.  I would hate to see those pieces replaced by mindless status updates and tweets.

I actually think blogs are quite a perfect format, because they lend themselves equally well to analytical, literary, or stream-of-consciousness pieces.  Similarly, comments can be either substantive, or "what I am thinking every 5 minutes".  Those who want to, seem to be able to post comments with Twitter-like speed!

In summary, please don't think that if the silent majority is silent, it's because they wish IC was more like FB or Twitter.  It's not - at least not in my case!

You and people you like

Thanks Faramarz. Some of us like to just leave only short notes. Only a photo. Only a link. And some of us would like to say more by blogging or doing a photo essay. You should be able to do any or all of that.

Your page would only show short notes and general stuff from users you WISH to follow, not everybody. Therefore there would be no risk of cluttering your page with "tweets" from those you don't care for.

10 years ago, everybody thought blogging was a waste of time too. That everybody was writing about anything and everything without an editor checking on the quality of their writing.

What has happened now with FB and Twitter is that EVERY thought, every image are given significance as well as blogs. If we don't give these functions to people, iranian.com will remain a dinosaurs in cyberspace.

More choices

Thanks Princess. I absolutely agree that users should have the choice of who they want to follow or block on iranian.com. The content on their personal pages should be viewable only by those he/she decides to follow.

The Facebook-like features I've talked about would be ADDITIONS to iranian.com. I don't want to take away writing/blogging functions but actually make blogs more prominent on the front page and easier to manage by users.

Dear Jahanshah,

good question JJ,

why just a fraction bothers to post? ...... I started posting here but then I am regretting doing it ....... I have been accused and threaten and labelled. I am sure eventually i will go away and won't bother to post anymore.  It is just too sad to see that those who are more frequent here on this great site are those with louder yelling voices.   This is a good tactic these days to label anyone who is an opponent as a pro -regime  ......  they remind me of Shah who would call all his opponents Communists or mullahs in Iran who  call all their opponents Zionist agents ......  this is a good way to go to shut people's voice who simply thinking to exchange ideas in a democratic setting ...... 

I also would like to emphasize of finding ways which I am sure there exists  to allow only one iD per person and somehow prevent a person using either one or several computers to show up here with several Ids ....

thank you  

facebook and twitter will

facebook and twitter will not be my choice to improve the site. If you value quality over quanity you should try to emulate to be morelike dailykos.com

VPK you are one of the people I mention in my 1st comment below!

Everything is sacred

VPK Aziz

I didn’t mean to compare Arianna and her cute Greek accent and her gay, millionaire ex with our dear JJ. I was just comparing the make-up of the contents and the general approach to commenting.

You are correct however. JJ is a lot more liberal with his policies than Huff Po is.

Anything on the American Idol comparison?

Esfand

 As you know I've always been an advocate of allowing users to control comments in their "own" blog. 

I very much disagree with you. Allowing users to censor their own blogs will make it a "single" voice joke. I trust JJ much more than any random blogger to moderate. At least I know JJ has integrity. If IC were to allow blog owners to moderate their own blogs I won't even bother to post to blogs by the pro IR gang. Why bother? All they want to do is to quote IR propaganda and tell us how bad Jews are. They get enough of a voice already. Letting them censor all other voices is very sickening to me.

I say: no way to blog owners "empowered" to censor anything they don't like. Why even bother having a blog if all you want is "sahih ast ahsant"? Did we learn nothing of Shah and IR about importance of opposing points of view. I guess not.

Some basic changes would help improve the quality of this site.

1)Multiple user ID's should be banned (very easy to detect by admin, even if multiple  LAN Routers/Proxis/Servers are used. I and I am sure lots of other users would be happy to provide technical assitance on this free of charge, if needed). This would give a more balanced representation of the membership's views. call it Democracy if you wish.

2) comments completely irrelevant to the blog topic should be removed. Why we have to hear the same old monologue about "Zionist cruelties to poor hizbullah" in a blog about events in some town in Iran? 

3) I like to see this site more actively support the Just cause and uprising of the Iranian people against their regime. I am surprised to see so much propaganda and lies on this site, coming very obviously from the islamist government at times like this.

My two cents.

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

BTW I'm against FB-like "Friends Only". Tracking friends maybe.

Everything is sacred

Iranian.com vs. Huffington Post

Faramarz Jan,

I find IC to be vastly superior to Huffington Post. On IC we actually get to say what we want. On HoPo your posts are pre-screened by a bunch of self indulgent biased a***h*** , I read one "Ho Po" moderator proudly proclaim how he "flags" opinions he does not like.

IC to its credit allows differing points of view. Ho Po is a sham. Its "news" headlines are totally biased. If you post what they like you are fine. If you post what they don't like you get censored. On IC if you follow the rules you are free to post content. I think we can say JJ is a far more honorable person than Ariana Huffington. Not to mention JJ created IC based on his own work. Not by marrying some rich guy; divorcing him and taking half his money. 

I hope IC never degenerates to the level of Huffington Post.