| Username |
Post |
| arnico |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 01:05 AM
It appears that kurakani serves multiple purposes.
1) It increases the sense of community among current and former Nepalis in Boston, many of whom already know eachother personally... hence the friendly personal nature of some of the postings addressed to one or a few individuals... as well as the focus of many postings on issues of common concern among Boston Nepalis, including visa issues, Subhash Gurung, certain news items, memories from Nepal (music, school, upbringing), fears and ambitions for future activities in Nepal, and feedback on social events in Boston organized by GBNC, as well as in general, having fun together.
2) It extends this community to other Nepalis with internet access who have never lived in Boston, but who share many of the same interests and concerns. It highly values their contributions, insights, and experiences in contributing to ongoing discussions, as well as in bringing up new and relevant ones. In the process it is creating a network of interconnected Nepalis around the world who have a forum for discussing issues of mutual interest and concern with a far higher level of freedom than would be possible either in Nepal or in person anywhere else... a freedom that is upheld both by informal hierarchy-free nature of the English language, as well as by the ability to post using a pseudonym.
Both of these purposes are very important... but they need to be defended against misuse and abuse by people who use kurakani for additional purposes that degrade the overall quality of the community. These include :
3) using the board for personal attacks and smear campaigns, both by directly writing lies about people and by posing as others.
4) using the board to deliberately spread wrong information.
5) using the board to release pfrustrations... about personal issues, society, or the world at large... using generalizations and vocabulary that offend, insult, or hurt other visitors to the site.
It appears that most of 3-5 happens by people who are NOT registered users.
If we cannot control people using the site for purposes 3-5 then everyone else's willingness and ability to use the site for purposes 1 and 2 decreases. Not only that, the unpredictable dirt that sometimes appears on kurakani is proving to be very embarassing for those of us who encourage friends and relatives and elders to join in and read kurakani on a regular basis. Yet, moderating the contents or requiring every poster to register is often met with strong resistance.
THEREFORE, WHAT I PROPOSE IS THE FOLLOWING:
That we create two kurakani pages, with two different links from the frame on the left:
One kurakani we keep open and accessible as it is today. Let anyone anywhere in the world post any dirt or unsubstantiated rumors they want to (as long as the language filter lets them post), and give them an opportunity to release frustrations that would otherwise remained pent up. But we continue to filter language and track IP addresses. Perhaps we call this the open kurakani.
In the second kurakani, we allow only postings by registered users (including people who would like to post using a pseudonym as long as it is not the name of another real person). And here we give other registered users the option to vote to have the thread moved to open kurakani if enough people think that it does not meet community standards. Shall we continue to calls this kurakani?
Then the frame at the left would read:
homepage
about gbnc
past events
photo section
nepal links
kurakani
open kurakani
classifieds
literature
humor
chat
games
etc.
Basically... keep everything the same, except rename the current kurakani as open kurakani, and add a new section to be named kurakani where only registered users can post.
Then people who care most about purposes 1 and 2 go to kurakani. people interested in posting for purposes 3-5 or for just reading that can go to open kurakani.
Okay, this is a suggestion. Please comment, discuss. San, would you have time to make those changes?
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| ashu |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 02:55 AM
Arnico wrote:
>In the process it is
>creating a network of interconnected Nepalis
>around the world who have a forum for
>discussing issues of mutual interest and
>concern with a far higher level of freedom
>than would be possible either in Nepal or in
>person anywhere else... a freedom that is
>upheld both by informal hierarchy-free
>nature of the English language, as well as
>by the ability to post using a pseudonym.
Very well said.
Agreed.
>Not only that,
>the unpredictable dirt that sometimes
>appears on kurakani is proving to be very
>embarassing for those of us who encourage
>friends and relatives and elders to join in
>and read kurakani on a regular basis.
Agreed.
I've had similar experiences too.
> Yet,
> moderating the contents or requiring every
>poster to register is often met with strong
>resistance.
Yes.
>THEREFORE, WHAT I PROPOSE IS THE FOLLOWING:
>Basically... keep everything the same,
>except rename the current kurakani as open
>kurakani, and add a new section to be named
>kurakani where only registered users can
>post.
I like this idea.
This strikes me as a creative and thoughtful balance between respecting
people's freedom of speech to post whatever they want to post and
continuing this site's ability to attract and retain Nepalis and other peers
who have much to teach us in terms of various Nepal-related issues and
so on.
Submitting a VALID email address to San to be among the registered users on
this site should not be that high a price for any of you who want the best for
this site, EVEN if you use a pseudonym to do your postings.
If basic economics is any guide, this is called: Product differentiation.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| _BP |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 03:36 AM
Not a bad idea. Perhaps we can require people to register, and you send them their passwords to their e-mail address. Then they can still be anonymous when posting, but if they start abusing the site, then their access can be blocked and they will not be allowed to re-register through that e-mail address. I don't think responsible posters will have problem with Arnico's suggestion.
I personally like this site a lot, but the directly defamatory accusations are wearing me down. It is one thing to bring up the issues, but the language and sensationalism is getting perverted, with titles like the "anti-toori tan campaign" etc. I mean come on, this is hilarious, but maybe for 2 seconds. We need to have a grown-up section of Kurakani.
|
| _BP |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 03:40 AM
I guess Ashu just scooped me with his response. I hadn't read his reply to Arnico before I posted my own.
Again, in agreement with Arnico, I had recommended this site to a few respectable friends of mine, and encouraged them to read the thoughtful articles in there and respond etc, only to have them tell me that they thought it was one of the most ridiculous and juvenile forums...and yes, "typically Nepali." I was saddened, but with the contents recently, I should have known.
|
| Site Admin |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 05:53 AM
Dear Friends,
In order to keep the sanity of the GBNC forum, I will now be actively maintaining a ban IP list that will essentially block all their postings.
All the recent postings regarding sexual abuse originated from Austrailia and although I denounce any forms of sexual abuse, the way these guys went on to abuse this forum using foul language and derogatory comments towards thier purported imaginary enemies warrants their block from this site.
I have lot of sympathy from victims of sexual abuse, since it can tarnish them all through out their lives; I hope they will be able to get justice for what they had to go through. Having said this, I don't have sympathy for anyone who use profanity and derogatory comments in this site.
Arnico's suggestion is a good one and we'll try to get that functional soon.
Best Regards,
San
|
| arnico |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 07:36 AM
Thanks San, that was super fast.
I have several picky little questions though:
1) Can you change the heading at the top of open kurakani to read that and not kurakani?
2) Do postings made on kurakani also get automatically posted to open kurakani? (I won't know until after this message posts). I think it would be better if they were not. Anyone who wants to post to both can easily do so manually.
3) If I reply to kurakani I suddenly see all the messages that were in open kurakani... is that a bug?
Thanks again.
Arnico.
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| sparsha |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 02:25 PM
What Arnico has suggested and also followed is pretty cool. I have a suggestion, though. Can we call kurakani by "Chhal-fal" [or any other relevant word(s)] and let the open kurakani be open kurakani? I think having two kurakanis together is somewhat confusing.
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| diwas k |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 02:44 PM
rename open kura kani "HALLA_KHOR" or "PIPAL_BOT" or "KHULA_MANCH"
dk
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| villageVoice |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 05:37 PM
what about manthan, chautari, or just gaf-gaaf...
San, I don't have to re-register, right? Once was bad enough...
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| villageVoice |
Posted
on 10-Dec-01 05:43 PM
Ashu,
I thought you were on a month leave.
Not that you are unwelcome!! On the contrary, I asked you a question a few days ago. And took your silence for a self-imposed exile. How are people getting news in Nepal, if at all, on Maobadi, Nepal Army and sero phero?
Hope everything's fine with you and Martin Chautari.
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| sally |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 09:53 AM
Hi all.
My suggestions for names:
Have two boards. One would be called AAA (Anyone Arguing Amicably). The other would be called BBB (Beavis and Butthead Board).
Or, how about Kurakani and Kura Katne?
Interesting how ontogeny recapitulates philogeny. (Or is that, "philogeny reflects philogeny"? Or "ontology regurgitates philosophy"?) That is to say, it's interesting how the evolution of the small thing reflects the evolution of the large thing. Now that there's a State of Emergency in Nepal, I see there's also a State of Emergency imposed on Kurukani.
So may I propose the following rules?
MATTERS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED/POSTED:
a) Anything that disturbs the security, peace, and order of the Kingdom of GBNC;
b) Anything that is likely to create misunderstanding and communal hatred among the posters of different castes, communities, English boarding schools, opinions of Miss Nepal America, and preferences in poetry;
c) Anything that is likely to harm national dignity, e.g., anything totally obnoxious or lamebrained written by a person associated with Nepal.
MATTERS TO BE PUBLISHED/POSTED:
a) News regarding bravery and achievements of registered posters;
b) News that exposes the computer ID numbers of non-registered posters;
c) Official news that comes from Harvard.
(PS: Cliff notes for the Humor Impaired: The above is tongue in cheek.)
Good luck!!! I guess this discussion board is like democracy. Sometimes great, sometimes absurd and dominated by .................. (fill in the blank with your favorite term of opprobrium), but often, at least, interesting to watch :-)
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| sunakhari |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 10:06 AM
GOSH SALLY!!!!
I burned my throat with hot coffee as I couldn't help gulping!
If anyone has heard a supressed laughter let out by a silent howl as the above happens - think of me!
I think its a wonderful suggestion - the two AAA and BBB
but maybe we should have an AABB???
I can see some members of AAA who would also qualify for the BBB at times -
then should we have a regulator for AAA who would disqualify the AAA turned BBB? heheh and I thought child rearing was tough!!
This posting is not intended for the humor-impaired retards!
|
| cyberpal |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 11:41 AM
Sally, i'm so glad that even with your eloqunce you didn't jump ship to the think tank crowd. power to the commoner who doesn't have the eloquence and verbosity like the ......
oops. I hope my IP address won't be divulged and blocked.
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| sally |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 12:45 PM
Well, I think it posts on both, doesn't it?
Unless you're boycotting Board A for Board B, or vice versa.
But the thing is, if I post on Board A and it automatically copies to Board B, am I a Thinking Commoner or a Common Thinker?
Also, I'm a registered poster, and this is a response to a non-registered thread, so does it post to both? If so, which thread unravels (sense-wise)?
And if an A poster from Boston posts to Board B at the same time a B poster from DC posts to Board A, which post reaches KTM first? Oh, I'm so confused. I guess all I really want to know is this: Does everyone who registers get a prize? Like, a book by Noam Chomsky or something?
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| sally |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 12:51 PM
Hah! This answers my question ... not about the prize, but whether the thread unravels (sense-wise) if an AAA poster responds to a BBB poster on the BBB board ... I mean, if a registered poster responds to an unregistered poster on Open Kurakani ... I mean ... ummmm ....
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| sally |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 12:54 PM
Quick note:
The above replies will make no sense unless you're reading BOTH threads.
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| bogus |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 02:45 PM
If this message goes through - then I have posted as a non registered user.
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 11-Dec-01 05:36 PM
oooo i get it. the ones with their name in red are registered folks and the black ones are nonregistered!
tube light!
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| ashu |
Posted
on 12-Dec-01 12:42 AM
Sally,
Great to have you back on gbnc.org
Great too to see you as a registered user
Great to see that your sense of humor is as funny as ever
Hope you will stay with us here for a much longer time, poking fun at absurdities and sharing your thoughts.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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