Moderator Election Campaign Week

[Guest]

I cant make my mind up =/ i'll vote for the person who posts the funniest picture.

[Reza]

Magma: What if members want you to advocate a reasonable rule or value, but majority of team disagrees, how are you going to deal with the situation? What position are you going to take in terms of that proposal and how are you going to deal with both the members and team members? 

 

Thanks for the question.  This is a great time to discuss my proposals for ShiaChat politics, in the context of a ShiaChat constitution I want to make. 

 

If any idea has signficant traction, a member must make a special referendum thread.  If that original post gets a certain number of likes (needs to be relatively high), then it will come to vote in the bicameral ShiaChat Majlis (Parliament).  The lower house (moderators) will vote on the matter, and needs a simple majority.  Then it will go to the upper house (admins) for a confirmatory vote, also with a simple majority needed to confirm or veto the lower house's proposition.  All votes from both houses for each individual voter will be made publically viewable, as is customary.  It will be a great way to generate excitement, transparency, discussion, membership, interaction, and participation.  All the specific details can be decided when the constitution is drafted. 

 

Of course, for sensitive matters, the house can vote to keep things decided closed door.  If I'm in situation talking with team members where everyone disagrees, I will likely compromise as much as I can, or likely just concede. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by magma

[Guest]

Guys, I am off to work. Will answer any queries as soon as I come back :)

Till then...

[Reza]

 

 

[King]

I agree with David, enough by the book typical shia mods, there should be a couple that represent non-muslim minorities in some capacity.

It represents the will of heat and energy, which is what we need.

Also guys, we don't win anymore. We're losing to Facebook, to Google, to Netflix, to schoolwork, to China, to live streaming cricket. I will make sure we win again.

Lets make ShiaChat great again!

Unfortunately the only way to win again would mean some form of reduction to superficial teenage drama of the past. People just are not interested in well thought out discussions or reading anymore.

Sc can be a platform for these things but isn't strong enough to be an incentive.

[Reza]

I agree with David, enough by the book typical shia mods, there should be a couple that represent non-muslim minorities in some capacity.

Unfortunately the only way to win again would mean some form of reduction to superficial teenage drama of the past. People just are not interested in well thought out discussions or reading anymore.

 

Do you think Muslim members can be properly adjudicated per Islamic values by a non-Muslim moderator?  My position is that I'm against it, but if you can provide convincing argumentation for it, perhaps it can be proposed and voted on per my consitutional plan above. 

 

Well thought out discussions are only a part of this site, and will be mostly done by a small, devoted group of members.  Although I want that to slowly build up, the first priority is to facilitate simple mingling, sharing, socializing, and support.  More people sticking around, and using this site more often.  Then you build off that to deeper things. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by magma

[ireallywannaknow]

Iraqis stick together!  Big up my dear buddy Ali :D Long live the Iraqis of Europe!

 

Iraaaqistan.... zindabaaad

 

I thought you were from India, hmm.... I must be getting you confused with someone else... :-/

[David66]

Hello,

 

 

Do you think Muslim members can be properly adjudicated per Islamic values by a non-Muslim moderator?  My position is that I'm against it, but if you can provide convincing argumentation for it, perhaps it can be proposed and voted on per my consitutional plan above. 

 

Well thought out discussions are only a part of this site, and will be mostly done by a small, devoted group of members.  Although I want that to slowly build up, the first priority is to facilitate simple mingling, sharing, socializing, and support.  More people sticking around, and using this site more often.  Then you build off that to deeper things. 

 

No I do not.  I think a non-Muslim moderator would only be appropriate in certain forums.  And, I think a non-Muslim moderator could easily adjudicate Shia Chat rules within certain forums.

 

And, I assure you, I am not advocating for myself.  I would be the first to admit I am no moderator, right Repenter?  Ever had those thoughts? 

 

But, Leftcoastmom is an excellent candidate.

 

All the Best,

David

[apofomysback]

Considering that none of the members bothered answering my question, I am going to uncast my vote, thank you very much!

[Sumayyeh]

 

Lay on the art, poetry and game design competitions! But don't forgot the purpose of all this.... Let's get people to understand the path of the Ahlulbayt so we can say to the Imam of our time if, God willing, we are alive at his zuhoor, that we did our bit.

Br. Silasun gave an interesting purpose of this forum in relation to the Imam of our Time.

Do other potential mods agree/disagree?

 

^@Sis Apofomysback...maybe you could re-post your question....it could have gotten lost among all the campaigning craziness:)

[Reza]

oh and all of you nominees, do you think you could persuade/pressurize/harass whoever is responsible for fixing the emoticons into actually putting an effort and doing so? 

 

Yes, I can.

[baradar_jackson]

Mr. Magma, would you describe your opponent, Khadim az-Zahra's position on the issue of non-Shia moderatorship, "soft?"

[Guest]

oh and all of you nominees, do you think you could persuade/pressurize/harass whoever is responsible for fixing the emoticons into actually putting an effort and doing so?

sorry apo, There has been a bombardment of posts since last night,I intend to answer every question, however there might be delays... And I apologise for that. (This is for you too Tonks... ) I have taken out the time to reply to your question from my mobile phone, at work which means leaving my office to find a place where I will get good phone singals =internet connectivity. So I hope I am forgiven? :P

Coming to your question, I do not believe in harrassing or undue presssurising. It seldom accomplishes anything productive. I am not going to make big promises saying everything will be fixed. But what I can promise is that I will try my best to fix this problem by working with the concerned person and also offering practical assistance if possible. i assure you I want to see this fixed as much as you do, maybe more ;)

[baradar_jackson]

starlight: wrong on emoticons, wrong for shiachat

[apofomysback]

My vote's still up for Magma - just because he agreed to harass and pressurize for the emoticons. what's a good post without proper emoticons? :D

[Reza]

Thanks apo! In fact, I will make it the first order of business if elected!

[apofomysback]

So many members and only 30 votes? Come on people!!!

[Sumerian]

So many members and only 30 votes? Come on people!!!

Some people are here just for the comments.

[Tonks]

I'm not sure if I can change my vote, so I am waiting until the last moment to cast my vote :D

[Sumayyeh]

^Actually you can...if you vote, you have the option of deleting your vote, and then re-casting. 

Maybe a moderator can verify this. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by Sumayyeh

[Sumerian]

Some people are here just for the comments.

Like me.

[Hameedeh]

^Actually you can...if you vote, you have the option of deleting your vote, and then re-casting. 

Maybe a moderator can verify this.

Yes, if you vote and then change your mind, you can delete your vote and then vote for another member. However, don't wait too long to vote, because, as the title of the topic says, you have a limited time to vote.

[Haji 2003]

I think one of the Admins should set a precise date/time for the closure of the election process.

 

The time could be on the basis of co-ordinated universal time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time

 

And the current time according to that is shown here:

http://time.is/GMT

 

So 9am CUT on Thursday 12th November would be 

 

1am Los Angeles

2am Denver

3am Chicago

4am New York

9am London

10am Frankfurt

1pm Dubai

2pm Karachi

8pm Sydney

[Chaotic Muslem]

jum'ah mubarakah everyone!

 

Magma and cake are already within team, they will only get promotion.

 

Magma, if you are to be promoted to Blue, who will you nominate to fill your Green post?

 

Cake, as chat mod, what is your assessment of the chatroom activity, content, and general value in the forum?

 

 

Khadim, Silasun and Starlight are nominated by members i hope, congrats for making it up to here all of you

 

Silasun, you are Iraqi. What's the reason Arabic forum is dead?

 

Star, I know you are physiologist but you are an MD and also a mother, i liked your topic : parenting tips.  How we can improve SC social and psychological online help? What's your thought on the medical advises provided on this forum as well?

 

Khadim, i know nothing about you, you dont come to chat, i know not your ethnicity, your residence or profession so i can't really think of a question , have you started any topic yourself? Can you list your own topics, i can't remember any.

Your posts are intriguing though and  i like that you dont mind answering students questions and offering them the help. 

[baradar_jackson]

[Guest]

How would you make the chatroom active again?

 Tonks.... I have a couple of things in mind which might be possible to implement. 

First, We can choose discussion topics, one per week and have a chatroom discussion at a specified time, on weekends, saturday nights etc, whatever would suit most members. The topics can vary from serious topics like current affairs, some recent news story to light topics like hobbies, human psychology, some recent movie. 

 

Secondly, I have been very actively involved in chatroom, more than any other other candidates I think and there have been instances like when coincidentally it was all sisters in there and a lively discussion starts about girlie stuff, and suddenly a brother enters and a everyone goes quiet and i think the brother feels awkward too.

 

Since the moderating team has already made it clear that its not possible to have two separate chatrooms I was wondering if it would be possible to specify some chat timings according to genders and the girls can discuss their stuff and the brothers can shout their frustrations :D

Just a couple of hours ,2/3 times a week maybe.

 I strongly believe it will result in more members participating in the chat and also more active discussions since the members would be able to talk more freely...  It would also encourage participation by some sisters who do not feel its right to have an online chat with men and hence do not come to the chatroom. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by starlight

[Sumerian]

Three chatrooms.

Normal chat.

Girl chat.

Boy chat.

Beast idea.

[apofomysback]

oh please not the great chatroom division debate again...we've had enough of it already

[Guest]

jum'ah mubarakah everyone!

Star, I know you are physiologist but you are an MD and also a mother, i liked your topic : parenting tips.  How we can improve SC social and psychological online help? What's your thought on the medical advises provided on this forum as well?

 

 

Jummah Mubarik to you too CM :) 

Thank you for liking my thread. I seriously think there is a dearth of parenting advice on SC. One of the reasons might be comparatively less number of parents frequenting this forum as compared to unmarried people but I still feel it's a very important area to be covered both from an islamic and social point of view. Whether I become a mod of not I would certainly make efforts to get more people contributing in these discussions. 

 

There is hardly any medical advice being provided on the forum,at the moement, but while doing so I think we should focus on health education.

 

People are sometimes reluctant to discuss psychological and family issues here because once you have been here for some time and people get to know you and you make friends here, you lose the curtain of absolute anonymity. if we can have a sub forum where people can post without their user names appearing along with the posts , it might encourage people to open up about their issues without the fear of being judged.

[Khadim uz Zahra]

Khadim: Considering that you guys are "members choice" and some of them may be counting on you more than other mods, don't you think your duties and values may be compromised by certain degree of bias in favour of members?

 

 

I do believe that there could - and should - be a certain degree of bias towards the members. I mean, the whole point of this election is to choose a mod that people want, unlike our current system. If I'm a mod just like the current mods, what did this election achieve apart from an extravagant show? If I'm the 'people's mod', I'm supposed to be their voice. That doesn't mean I'll tolerate rule-breaking or let them go on rampages, but it does mean that my first responsibility should be to the normal members, and not the moderating team.

[mina]

I just recognized that giving 'likes' is limited,this is a major concern imho...I like to like posts unlimited.Who of you future mods is able to fix that?

[apofomysback]

I just recognized that giving 'likes' is limited,this is a major concern imho...I like to like posts unlimited.Who of you future mods is able to fix that?

same here - i hate the restriction

[Khadim uz Zahra]

Considering that none of the members bothered answering my question, I am going to uncast my vote, thank you very much!

 

Ya Apo, forgive our transgression. As for what I can do, honestly, nothing. I'm not on the dev team so even if I'm elected, that's out of my power. I know everyone's frustrated - I know I am because everytime I want to start my post with a salam, I get this: (salam) - but, well, they are working for free. I would imagine fixing it is a simple affair for someone who knows their stuff but I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. At best, if I was a mod, I suppose I could tell the members why the affair was taking so long, based on what I see in the moderator's secret forum.

I just recognized that giving 'likes' is limited,this is a major concern imho...I like to like posts unlimited.Who of you future mods is able to fix that?

 

^Above. The kinds of things you're asking for are not part of the powers of mods. In fact, eveneven some of the admins can't do that stuff. This is something for people who are devs - like magma - or the admins who know programming. We can lobby on your behalf with the dev team - and if unlimited likes is what the people want, I can certainly do that.

Mr. Magma, would you describe your opponent, Khadim az-Zahra's position on the issue of non-Shia moderatorship, "soft?"

 

Next, you'll ask him if my brother protected us on 9/11.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Khadim uz Zahra

[Guest]

 

 

Question: If you become a mod, what will be your utmost priority as a mod?

 

My top priorty as a mod would be  to make SC a more positive experience for everyone, a place where people feel comfortable sharing their problems, life experiences and issues, a place where people have easy and accurate access to knowledge about our religion and last but not the least a place which would give and home and family like feel to shias living in places where they have little or no interaction with other Shias. :)

[Khadim uz Zahra]

Khadim, i know nothing about you, you dont come to chat, i know not your ethnicity, your residence or profession so i can't really think of a question , have you started any topic yourself? Can you list your own topics, i can't remember any.

Your posts are intriguing though and  i like that you dont mind answering students questions and offering them the help. 

 

Yes, I'm a little less jovial than most of the other people here, I suppose. As such, I don't really post much in the off-topic forums (except the 'Describe the Poster Above You' thread). I find the chat, when actually busy, to be very distracting. There are too many people and they talk too fast. I used to frequent it a lot when I was new (this was also a time when the chat was also very active) but, I've outgrown it now. I'm Pakistani by birth but African by law. I'm a student. I also do freelance working writing tech news. I did start some topics but I don't create too many of them. Most of them are philosophical/have to do with beliefs, stuff that I'm confused about. I mostly like to comment on others' topics, though. You can find some of my topics here:

 

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&search_app=forums&mid=84169&sid=c1c1e2e1baf0d8d161b9da7369df5c4b&search_app_filters[forums][searchInKey]=&userMode=title

 

It should show all of them but, for some reason, any of my posts before 2015 are not shown. Another bug, I suppose (or, maybe just a restriction to ease the load on the servers).

Edited November 6, 2015 by Khadim uz Zahra