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Thanks for a great discussion. Next week we'll talk about the stories we're focusing on here at iReport.com and answer any editorial questions you might have.
This week we started by celebrating some of the cool things that happened in the community this week.
Our autism awareness assignment got a huge response – more than 12 pages of stories from people whose children, or loved ones deal with the condition. Superstar iReporter Ryn shared a sweet video of her grandson Isaac, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2007. She mentioned that Isaac has been obsessed with "Star Wars" for a while, so fellow iReporter KCRep decided to send Isaac a photo of the redwood forest where much of "Return of the Jedi" was filmed.
We also got some great news from iReporter infoaddict. She told us that she got a job because of iReport.com and even interviewed her new boss. We're guessing that it was her plucky, can-do attitude that landed her the job, rather than anything we did.
We're thrilled to be a part of such a great community, and it's really heartwarming to see our members reach out to each other.
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- A game of throngs: The best of iReport this week
- iReport Roundtable: It’s not too late to debate
- CNN iReport nominated for Webby Award
- iReport Pundit of the Week: Adriana Maxwell
- iReport photos featured on CNN Games
- Cultural celebrations, skyward glances: The best of iReport this week
- iReport roundtable: Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. ET
- iReport Pundit of the Week: W.J. O'Reilly
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- Moving plates, changing skies: The best of iReport this week
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Hi everyone,
I want to start off with some housekeeping.
I'll be out of the office next week and won't be able attend next week's session.
Our editorial team, led by Katie Hawkins, will be here to talk about what makes a good iReport and answer your reporting questions.
Hey everyone
Hi David and the CNN-iReport Team! :-)
Beat ya Spon, LOL
Hi KarmaHD
Are all the fixes fixed? It seems I still have to refresh for comments to show and a lot of times I don't see comments at all but there are some there
Today should be interesting, I really don't have much other than the before mentioned star system, I will sit on the side and watch though. Hey Spontaneous
Good afternoon kiddies
@Spontaneous -- We're mostly fixed. They rolled out a few things this morning that hopefully cleared up a bunch of stuff.
Hi Margot707 :-)
Greetings, all!
Alun
Hello All!
Well, a boycott??? hello margo and thanks for the compliment
hello everyone at cnn ireports...just wanted to say thanks for this site...as an american living in canada i was so glad to find a site like this to keep informed of what was going on back home and touch base with fellow americans.
although the discussions can get a bit out of hand, i enjoy reading the differences of opinion...just wish there were less mean people in the world...eh?
Hi everyone!
Hi everyone! Jumping in now... welcome back! Looking forward to reading your questions and hearing what you think.
Ok, cool. Thanks davidw. Happy Belated April Fools
G'day gang!
Spontaneous - I've been experienceing the same ting. I still have to refresh some times, and other comments don't even show up.
Hi Ireport team.
I have a quick question.
When is the rating system going to change?
Hello Kadit and nsaidi, the system seems to be working much better today.
Oh, I thought I was the only one, thanks for sharing Margot707
@sintheesize -- I agree that the debate is wonderful. Meanness really isn't. We have a lot of really supportive and great people in this community so I would encourage everyone to reach out to each other.
I still have problems seeing comments too.
same here margot...and many times when i refresh it comes back minus all comments...is that ireports or is that my AOHell? lol
hi everyone!
Still lots of bugs here.
Spon It's been erratic
@KarmaHD Good to hear. It definitely seems like a lot of the small bugs have been fixed. Kudos to our hard-working technical team!
@Margot707 out of curiosity -- did you see the comment issues specifically today or on other days?
@OCGirl -- I don't know when the rating system will change. We are discussing it. It will take some time to build the new system. We don't want to rush into it and create a new system that's even more hated.
Quick suggestion from me:
Is it possible to consider increasing the choice of background music which is "rights cleared" for our iReports, please?
I could make more iReports, but the choice of music limits me - and I would hate to use the same music over and again.
Appreciated!
Alun
Oh and uploading. It will say sent but I can't see if for up to 5-8 min.
links sometimes don't post. You just get a scroll bar. I still mostly can't post at all in IE and Mozilla crashes. It's frustrating. Comments lately don't show up at all, even after refreshing.
@rosehips what are you seeing?
Hi rosehips, margot. katie, nsaidi and lette
It's not even in "My Stuff".
@AlunHill -- That may be an option. I also would encourage you to try making posts without music.
Hi everyone! :)
@AlunHill That's a good suggestion. We'll try to add more music soon. We're busy with a lot of projects, but will add that to the to-do list. If you're a Mac user, you can always get creative with GarageBand music in the meantime!
@Spontaneous -- It takes a few minutes for the iReports to process and make it onto the site.
nicole. When I'm in IE, the submit tab is greyed out. Once or twice it has worked. But mostly it doesn't.
Yo yo hows every body
I wish I could add music to my profile. Any chance of that ever happening?
@rosehips has this changed at all today or was it this way on previous days?
Hello David and team and everyone
Come to think of it I do have one question, it appears until a couple of days ago that the rating system and comment count were the cause of a great deal of the righteous indignation experienced on here. Comments appear to be on the more civil note, but the flame post lives on. Has thought been given to segmenting out a tag that all political posts could be seen. In other words if the post is political only the political tag would apply. Second, on the comment count has any thought been given to not counting the posters comments in the count, they still could comment but not be counted.
nsaidi Back when the upgrade 1st happened, and again yesterday and today.
and nicole, when I try to add a link to the text, or comments, it often just posts a scroll bar.
Hi gilldreams
@Davidw - if that's acceptable, I will do - thank you!
Alun
I am having very long delays so if I make a comment late on a topic..it's the system here..
nicole. no it was the same today as most days.
@OCGirl Profile music seems unlikely. We'd to keep the site clean and somewhat uniform.
@Margot707 @rosehips There are still a few bugs to work out here and there and we can check on these. Thanks for your feedback.
Is there a reason why typing in your own tags takes so long? It's like one letter at a time comes out. :-(
I had three reports stay in the queue for hours after the site said the problem was fixed. I sent an e-mail, no response. Finally, they failed hours later!
@KarmaHD -- I would say simply that the flame posts have to stop. We're really not going to be able to grow as a site and keep being a destination for amazing content if people are afraid they will be attacked if they post anything. I would encourage everyone to be civil with each other and if you see people getting abusive, encourage them to settle down.
Thanks Katie
Hi all. Jumping in here.
@Spontaneous, you're right about new uploads not appearing under My Stuff for a few minutes. Please rest easy that if you got the thank you page ("your iReport has been sent"), your post will appear under My Stuff in a few minutes.
nsaidi nice profile pic. LOL
Karma That sounds good, like the change in not being able to rate your own post, your own comments don't count either.
Ok, cool. Thanks Kyle :-)
@Lette -- I'm sorry to hear that. Kyle may have more to add, but generally, if the post doesn't make it to the site in a half-hour or so, it's probably going to fail. In those cases, go ahead and upload it again. If it makes it through twice, we can pull one of them down.
just curious here...is there a limit on how many posts an ireporter is allowed per day?
Hi.
I made it but I may have to leave at any time.
@Katie
GarageBand - yes, got that - never though of using it -thank you!
Worth adding, for other Mac using iReporters, that iMovie 09 is wonderful for making iReports.
Thanks!
Alun
Maybe it would be good to have a few rooms for this roundtable. I find it's kind of overwhelming with so many questions. Sorry to be a pain.
Hi Geonite :-)
@sintheeesize
Nope, no limit on the number of iReports you can post in a day.davidw anything on uping the age to 18?
Seems to me Obama is not the most organized talker some thought. He falters,"Umms" and seems to not really know what to say. Maybe he needs his "teleprompter"?? Effective leader needs effective speaking skills? Even the people who are asking questions seem to be more "in tune" than Obama. Opinon? DUH!
Thanks zdan
I have a problem uploading reports through "share your story." I have to do it by clicking "upload now" for it to work. Otherwise, the submit button is greyed out!
It has been difficult David in that people are still judging personalities rather than content, I have gone out of my way to comment on what I think is a good topic, (my opinion only) but I do not think some are ready to embrace that policy. It begins to be an issue in futility to work on something, mostly non political in my case and get hit with one star. Some think this is only directed at a group but the attacks are common to both sides and it becomes an issue of immaturity.
@sintheeesize -- I would add to Christina's comment that if you have multiple photos on one topic it's better to send them as one iReport that tells the whole story than to send 3 that each tell a part of the story.
tyvm zdan...was also wondering about something i had seen earlier...any thoughts to having an ireport chatroom?
Kyle--Are you still here? Any answer on the tags (my questions above). Thanks :-)
I'm concerned about Martin's ban. We have no control over people coming onto our post and being nasty. I admit that Martin went overboard with his comments but it was his post and he was provoked. This person was putting down Martins disabled wife.
We all lose it sometimes.
Walking away from your own post should not be necessary.
Anymore thought or decisions on when people click the report violation on comments that the person doing this or persons doing this will show their ID?? Because it seems like a lot of people are gettting zapped and nobody knows who is doing this??
I feel the hate on Ireport is really out of control to the point it is ruining the experience for those who don't cause problems.
@Berr1914 -- This really isn't the forum for comments about President Obama's speaking abilities. I would encourage you to join one of the conversations on the iReport.com site.
I agree OCgirl maybe we should by the way if you wanted to start your own round table how would you?
any chance there can be private rooms for discussions that some may feel are objectionable? Just throwing that out there...
@Geonite -- I was disappointed about Martin as well, but there was an entire group that was just pounding at each other and the only fair solution for the rest of the community was to remove the problem.
I am leaving - to the great relief of many - because the off topic chat (goes on for pages) is too annoying and happens all the time. I did not think this was a chat room. I come to cnn.com for news and information that I can discuss with friends and family.
Also the fact the martin keeps reappearing to insult me is uncalled for. Now he is logging in as FinnMan.
As a social board this is OK, but I have difficulty finding any real newsworthy and meaningful reports. The site is dominated in every way by a group of liberal pro-Obama iReporters -- other reports get buried.
There are some great professional quality reporters here and they are frustated by low hit and comment counts. They will be leaving. Then it will be just a chat roon.
Hi Spontaneous :-)
I also think the rating system has gotten so out of control. The minute I log on I am always voted down and I notice no one around me was ever voted down. It's really frustrating.
How would all of us comment together and with the CNN team with different roundtables??
Lette I experienced that yesterday too. I got an email from support that said "Did you check the box 'I agree to TOS'"? I had already gone through the process with no problem.
@OCGirl thanks, I blush
Not sure Spontaneous. I just keep losing where I am at. lol I am open to better suggestions.
@everyone I just ran a test on the "submit" button and observed what you describe. Thanks for your feedback, we can look into that.
@bonbonnie -- and everyone else. Please refrain from calling out specific iReporters if you have an issue with them. If you are having a problem with someone, please let me know and we can handle it privately.
How is it being managed when a person is banned, they come back and they till you it's them??
I am noticing an increase in deliberate baiting on posts. A person posts for the purpose of baiting. You don't really know this until it is too late sometimes. When a person posts a topic and you try to understand and ask them questions on the topic then get blasted for it..is not right! then more of the same minded people come onto the post and go into attack mode to bait the commentor into getting into an arguement then they get flagged then are gone! This is really nasty and must stop!
Margot I've had that problem since the system updates went through. I haven't been able to submit a report any other way since that day!
Chat rooms and/or message boards aren't currently on our to-do list, but it's an interesting idea. Discussion is important to iReport.com, but we'd love it to center on great content that people upload on their iReports.
thanks nicole re: submit button
With that said davidw, is it ok to post issues with someone in a post? Is that a violation?
I agree rachel8, thanks
@everyone
We've been trying to blog more frequently to point out top-notch content. We want to know: Are you reading the blog? What types of blog posts would you like to see? Any feedback on the blog content would be helpful.How long is this roundtable until?
@OCGirl Should last about an hour (until 3:30 pm ET)
@OCGirl until 3:30
I periodically come into the blog to see what's new
David can you explain about the Newsiest reports? I see sometimes there will be a report and it has very few comments and very vew views yet it is right there in newsiest.. why and how is that happening? Is this a clitch in the system?
Also the labelling of people is really diruptive and the constant judging of other ireporters is really quite degrading not only to me but many others as well. I find that a person will be singled out and constantly attacked for no given reason. I am stating these differnt topics as my computer it very slow and the delay is like 50 seconds..thanks
zdan, I must admit I don't check out the blogs as much as I used to. If I, or someone I know, is featured, it catches my attention. I think it is too bad that many don't even know the blogs are there. I have pointed them out to many ireporters who don't know they are posted.
@gilldreams -- I agree, it does have to stop. I would encourage everyone to be mindful of each others' feelings. That is the best way to handle it.
We all need to work together to break the cycle of attacks and counter attacks.
just my opinion...but an ireport chatroom might alleviate some of the off topic chatting that goes on...if i go to a post and really want to gather up the informative comments i sometimes have to wade thru pages of chatter...a chatroom could be handy for that while keeping the reports to only comments about those reports...did i just make sense?
I agree with gilldreams
@rosehips How can we better spread the word? We'd love for more people to see the blog.
The rating system is totally useless and it is only used by the pro-obama ireporters... they seem to think the stars and hit counts are the most important thing here - I totally disagree -
some really good reports get 5-60 hits and hardly ever show up in most commented because the chat totally dominates this site.
If I wanted to chat I would visit with my friends and family. I feel this site is part of cnn so the site should promote items of value to cnn readers rather than promote a small group of people who hang out here 24/7 and get their comment counts up by all possible means
davidw Could the "Recently Viewed" list be made longer?
@zdan
I turn to the blog first, to see some great links - then to the assignment desk.
Now that the blog is more regularly updated, it's very useful to see what's happening - inevitably we all miss many great iReports.
Alun
@spon @rosehips
Thanks for the blog feedback. We do try to feature the exciting things happening on the site that you won't necessarily see on CNN.com. Do you have any suggestions of how to drive you to the blog more often?@gilldreams -- The newsiness boxes are determined by a math formula that measures freshness, popularity, activity and ratings of iReports. I don't know exactly how it's calculated.
I think it would be good to have someone from Ireport team to constantly monitor posts to filter out all of the bigotry and hate on peoples' posts without us having to always do it. What happens if someone leaves such a hateful message on a post and the other person goes on vacation. That comment could be really damaging.
@AlunHill That's great to hear. Can you give us some examples of some of the posts you've enjoyed? What would you like to see more of? We're trying to blog more often -- glad you've noticed!
Katie, I don't know. Profile it on the sidebars. Some people are just interested in their specific thing. Did you ever consider email alerts to ireporters who would like them?
@AlunHill what kinds of things do you like to see highlighted? What's helpful? It's nice to see that people are reading.
Hi All! Suggestions for new assignment: "What are you doing for Earth Day?" I think it's April 22nd, coming up soon. Thanks.
zdan, thanks. Maybe put the assignments on the blog page. That will bring us there and then will venture out on the page to see what else is going on. Jsut a thought
Margot I agree. I sometimes have trouble finding an interesting post that I would like to go back to. Yes, can we extend the "recently viewed" list??
@rosehips The latest blog posts are featured in the left-hand sidebar on the home page of the site, but perhaps we need to make it more visible. Sending messages to iReporters when they're featured in the blog is a good idea.
I love the freedom to meet up by chance on posts and catch up with the not only the ireporters who are on ther at the time but also to have great discussion on the topic of the report. It's great!
We have no way of kowing who is on what post and it keeps things alive and interesting. I like others can talk about the post along with other things going on too..it is a mix of being social and also debating the content of the post..it's just a great place to do this. I have never heard of a better venue than this site. thanks cnn ireports!
@MarieSager great suggestion!
@Zdan I think the blog could use forums like roundtable like this but of course on other topics
Ireport if you can't find someone to do that job you could find many people out of work who can filter out all of the bigotry and damaging comments.
Posting about the 30 Day Sex Challege which was popular a few months back, which CNN and every other news source covered seems to be off limits, to us small time I-Reporters.
Why can we touch on subjects like CNN.
Or do you just want off beat stories and good time, warm an fuzzy rock and roller pictures.
love the Earth Day suggestion Marie!
The anger on here is untenable, I try my best to stay off of the political posts, and that has helped. Neither side is going to listen to the other. This behavior still happens on other posts as well, I guess I am hearing that the best policy is first to not engage and second do a "report violation". As said above, some create the flame posts to keep there Superstar ranking high, and the flame posts appear to enable that behavior. That being said, any suggestions on how to keep these types of posts off the Newsiest, and the highest commented. In most cases, the highest commented posts is a group of 5-15 people drawn to that type of post to either support or attack the post?? This will continue and appears to be a flaw in the ranking system??
@everyone Hypothetically speaking -- what could we ask for Earth Day? Got any fun and unique ideas? In some parts it's even a whole week.
@Spon
We do drop links related to the specific assignment in the blog post. We tend to give an example of a great iReport and then link to the assignment. Any suggestions for how to make the links more apparent?Stepping out -- need to get to a meeting soon. Thanks for coming, everyone! The rest of the team should be sticking around for about another half hour.
@OCGirl -- We do have people monitoring the site, but we get about 3,000 comments each day. It is a huge help to us to have members of the community flag things that are objectionable.
Also, I think that if someone posts something racist or mean or offensive it reflects badly on them, not on the person they're insulting.
We will remove people who are being abusive, racist.
nsaidi: What are we doing to safe the environment? What outdoor project we are doing at home (planting trees, flowers, etc.). Just ideas
Goodbye all, I find all of this is as useless as the chatter - if people cannot read what is written and take everything as an attack, good luck with trying to control it. I wasted 2 hours of my life trying to help an iReporter see that I was NOT attacking her. How can you deal with that? I cannot.
I agree davidw, thanks!
@waecomobile -- It is one thing to talk about sex and sexual issues. It is something quite different to start talking about what you would like to do with other members of the community.
There are communities where that's cool, this just isn't one of them.
David I have recieved nasty emails on ireport from time to time by individuals who are not able to contain or control themselves. My remedy is to expose this behavior by posting the nasty email on the post I am on or it refers to then send it in to Feedback Complaints or Management! I do not see the value in people sending nasty emails on this site for any reason at all. If they cannot say it in public then I really see no place for it in an email on this site that we all use for much more productive uses..thanks
nsaidi What kind of celebrations in your town?
A newsiest post should have a time limit, like no more than 6 hours. After a period of time, it just becomes a chat room.
zdan, mmm, I have to think about that. Flashing, colors get my attention online :-)
@Spontaneous Plant a tree maybe? How are we helping the environment? Go on, go on... why something outdoors? What can you do outdoors?
@MarieSager -- That's a great idea. I think an iReport on volunteering in general would be awesome.
AGREED yorksnbeans. There is so much that can go there. Some are there for days.
Nsaidi: Have people paint a sign to put outside their house as a reminder of Earth day. Maybe that isn't a good idea. I tried!
@yorksnbeans Newsiest posts currently have a limit of 24 hours. Is that too long? What would be a good timeframe?
is there such a thing as RANDOM ACTS OF TREE PLANTING? LOL
Also is there something wrong with stating that you think someone's I-Report is total Garbage?
Or that their point of view, more geared toward 5 year olds?
Some I-Reports deserve to have negative comments.
If everyone was always holding Dan Rather up to the Gods we would have never found out the lengths he would go to slant a story.
If its good enough for Reporters who get Paid. Why cant we negativly challenge I-Reporters?
@gilldreams -- if someone sends you an abusive email or pm, pleas forward it to me or to report.violations@ireport.com and we will handle it.
Airing these things out publicly tends to escalate the situation.
Like I mentioned - something like 6 hours.
nsaidi, Earth Day is the earth (literally). Planting trees, flowers etc is improving the earth and our air I would think. A lot of video's could come from this as people start projects at home. Just ideas
@sintheeesize there is indeed such a thing. It's called "Guerilla Gardening," where you take over a space and use it as your garden. YouTube has a bunch of stories on it.
@Katie @nsaidi - re blog
I have been travelling almost constantly for the last week, so had very little time to scour the site, so I used the blog to alert me to what was happening.
I really did feel it was useful to me.
I would suggest that it's used to highlight iReports which capture the team's interest - as that would be a good way to tell what makes a good iReport.
Ideally, I would love to see "Tyson's pick of the week", "Nsaidi's Favourite" and so on, but appreciate that may be more difficult!
Alun
the newsiest posts should continuously be fresh. 24 hours is way too long.
@waecomoblie i dont think its bad to disagree with the ireporter in a respectful manner
Thanks nsaidi :-)
@waecomobile -- I think there's a place for constructive criticism on iReport.com. We have some incredibly talented people on this site, so their feedback could be very helpful. Things like "try to shoot photos with sun at your back so they won't be backlit," or "if you get closer and use a wide angle your video won't be so jumpy."
"Your post is garbage" isn't constructive.
another idea for earth day...a couple of years ago i took my son to the local park and took garbage bags with me...while he played i picked up garbage...i got a lot of strange looks but the park looked GREAT...for about a day and a half...sigh.
Also, it should not be dominated by the same topic posts. The formula should take in to account different assigments and tags.
@AlunHill
We have bounced around the idea to have a pick of the week, or something like it. As you say, it would be difficult to pick out just one iReport from the many we get.first, I think that too many Ireporters act as if they are auditioning or something..who cares about the 1 star bandit or comment counts...I would like to discuss content...is it acceptable to use a persons own comment in a post that is related to content of the post?
I saw a question about private rooms on ireport?? what would they be used for? I thought this site is an open forum and although I don't understand the use of a private room on here, why would people want to do that? Posts are like rooms aren't they? I personally like to see everything out in the open and then it's aboveboard. Flame posts is a new term to me.. I had not heard this term until a couple of weeks ago.. Flame Posts?
well I like the idea of each person taking responsabilty for their own comments and really if they cannot be at least in the agree to disagree mode and only insult everyone on the posts because that is their agenda..they might want to look at another hobby or interest.
Accusations, lies, name calling, it's like combat on the internet and it's really stupid!
nsaidi...kewl...i'll look it up!
@yorksnbeans -- The time limit is a very interesting idea. We'll have to talk about it. It makes a lot of sense though.
Your right telling someone that their I-Report is Garbage may be an insult to Garbage, if their I-Report is that bad.
For earth day have ireporters interview people and ask what they are doing to help save our planet?
@Spontaneous we have an assignment on victory gardens, as it turns out, and a CNN.com story just came out based on iReports about people saving money by growing their own. Produce. That being said, Earth Day is coming up. How could we hone in on the environmental idea? Could we challenge people to plant some trees or save energy? Would you actually do it? Just curious.
nsaidi I don't have a camera so I sometimes upload videos I find on YouTube and elsewhere. Some are for information, some are pure entertainment. I recently and got criticized for it. Is it OK to do this?
Sounds like Yorks is on the right path of thought here. Same type of post, same type of reaction, and it is rewarded by comment count??
I would. I posted about it actually. It saves on your electric bill (the shade). Other people commented saying they were planting trees as well.
thanks david. I like going to newsiest to see what the hot posts are, especially when I don't have much time to browse, but so many times it's just the same posts that become idle chatter.
Thanks David I will do that if it happens again..just send it in instead of exposing the negative and threatening behavior..no problem..
thanks
@numbersdude -- I can see why people would want to quote another person in a debate. If done respectfully, I think it's fine.
The key word is "respectfully."
@Margot707 We strongly encourage people to upload things they've shot or produced themselves. That being said, you can post what you want on iReport.com. It's considered good Internet manners to cite the source of material you use, whether it's from you or a friend.
Earth Day: Clean up your neighbor or park (pick up trash, paint old signs, plant flowers in your neighborhood (entrances)). There's plenty of assignments for Earth Day
I don't see being on Ireport as an audition for anyone. To me, I see it as having the freedom to have a voice. I am not the best writer so it's a lot easier for me to just speak. I think it's easy for people to judge others too quick on IReport without stopping to think that person could have a disability or a reason why their words may not come out perfect.
I ask again, is it acceptable to use a comment by someone in your comment on a post, even if the comment did not originate in the current post, however is relevent to the current post, since so many are concerned with comment counts, not individually rather collectively?
i've often found interesting stories in the toronto sun...can i post some of those stories if i list it as coming from the sun and the reporter's name?
Forums on ireports anyone know how you would start one?
@Spontaneous thanks for the awesome suggestions!
numbersdude
See davidw's comment above for your answer.Would people be concerned with comment count if their reports generated a lot of comments?? I don't see why this is a concern to anyone. I tend to stay on my own reports a lot. I venture out once in a while, picking and choosing which reports to comment on.
thank you, david...as long as we use the quoted comments then we should be ok right...I have to go will check back for the answer later
Np nsaidi - recycling too in your house and outside. Carrying totes to grocery stores instead of plastic bags :-)
@sintheeesize -- Instead of posting the stories I would encourage you to tell us what you think of the story. You could either write your response or send a short video.
You don't have to do original reporting on the AIG bailout, or the tobacco tax or marijuana legalization to have an opinion on the subject.
If there is a great post and the comments are all about the post then some conversation on other topics not relating to that post happen, it is not a planned thing, so it should not make any difference to the counts or anything else if people are exercising their freedom of speech weather it be on topic or not on topic. I don't see how anyone can dictate how long or how many comments are made and in any particular style or type. People are just people and talk weather on the phone or on a website..So what? It's great to see so many people communicating.
@sintheeesize We welcome all breeds of stories on iReport.com. I always suggest to iReporters that it helps if you have a picture you've taken or even a pic of yourself to go with the story. If you can add your own personal interpretations of the news, that's often helpful as well.
davidw Any word on raising the age?
Hi Lette
It's certain April 22nd is Earthday. Let's talk about carbon foot printing, solar, wind turbine's, these all are subjects for Earthday as well.
I would think David Volunteering would be a separate assignment?
Lette/Numbersdude not all are so altruistic with there views on comment count, some seek there validation on here by that very number. Also it is difficult to be seen on here if you do not post a topic that is a HOT topic. Economy, President Obama, ect...
Hey OC! ;-)
@MarieSager alternative energy? I know we have a lot of alt-fuel fans out there...
10-4 david...gtg all...my little one gets home from school...just wanted to say thanks again for all your hard work...to many of us it's very much appreciated...have a good one...eh?
Hi Mariesager
@MarieSager -- I'm sure we'll do something special for Earth Day. Not sure what it is yet.
That said, if you have an idea for a great iReport, don't wait for us to ask. Go for it.
We can't wait to see it.
nsaidi Global Warming could be another topic around Earth Day if not its own topic.
Karma, being that I don't see this as a competition, comment count doesn't matter to me. Many posts have conversations that are on topic. After a while, people might tend to stray off topic. Why is that a crime? Often times, it takes one comment to bring the discussion back on topic. Have you tried that?
NSaidi why don't you set up decoy profiles to help catch the people who come on Ireport just to harrass people.
Hi all
@KarmaHD -- Lets try not to make this personal.
One of the great things about this community is that people have gravitated towards each other and have become online friends.
It's natural that people would want to see how their friends are doing.
I don't think folks are trying to artificially inflate their comment counts to push stories into the newsiest.
OCGirl Hi there, I think they already do that :-)
Sorry to repeat my qeustion but Forums on ireports anyone know how you would start one? Or does ireport even have them?
I myself have not done that many posts in total.. but when I do post I really am not interested in the count on anything..I am just happy to be able to post something of interest and that it might be of inerest to somebody else too..
All this talk about numbers of comments, numbers of views numbers of everything..really is not that important to me personally..Lots of reports don't get anywhere near to CNN or Newsiest..that is not the purpose of being on this site is it?? If it is, man I have really missed the point of being on here. Sure it's great if and when you get way up there, but it certainly is not the sole reason for being on here is it??
Thank you David! That's my point!
Does anyone have good health care stories or problems with insurance companies?
Thanks davidw for reminding us you all monitor for us and all we need to do is flag the violations.
Sometimes my ideas are way out of the box
@OCGirl -- We do aggressively weed out people who are abusive and violate the terms of use. We won't be using dummy accounts, because that will just lead people to start accusing each other of being iReport spies.
I have a new website that I want to get real world stories at http://singlepayerhealthcarenow.com/ and I would love to get them.
I forgot to add to my last comment: It is feeling like this ireports is like a competition or something and putting pressure on people if they don't make a quota or something and if they don't then their posts and comments are like worthless. That is so sad.
A lot of people do drive to "CNN" or "Newiest", want their post to have high comment snd ratings and nice, sweet, pretty comments. I'm not one of them but they do exist.
@EWillies1961 a few weeks back we had an assignment asking for health care iReports specifically. That sounds like a cool question to ask though.
I too Lette do not care about comment count, but my thoughts are that is the reason creating the discourse and anger on here. The same posts if you look at the history are the ones with the highest comment count, they are generally about, President Obama for and against, religion, the economy, and of late some gun posts. All viable topics, but this is where you will find most of the anger as well. It is like giving a kid a lolly pop they keep returning for more,and it gets elevated. Look at the type of posts where most of the cut Ireporters were on when they were cut, the topics speak for themself. The issue I also have is that comment count implies interesting, these types rarely are, but rather a selling of one's opinion. Seems to be the cause to me is my point, the cause to the anger.
Thanks davidw!
I agree with KarmaHD
@nsaidi Thanks... I need to find people willing to type in some compelling stories at the site... I want to get a couple hundred so if you know anybody, please direct them to http://singlepayerhealthcarenow.com/ and just tell their story and upload a picture if they feel free to.
OK thanks David
Karma a question and comment for you please: How do you know if someone is angry just by reading comments made on a post? Also isn't politics the most highly rated subject in America today along with finance, healthcare, bailouts, the President, agendas of the government, all highly volatile topics so people are having heated debates..not necessarily angry debates..some yes..but not all..
@everyone I personally am signing off now, until next week, but will check back to see. Thanks for participating! Great discussion, great ideas.
@gilldreams -- It really isn't a competition. We have a very large community and success doesn't come at another members' expense.
I have seen many, many cases of iReporters being supportive and nurturing to other members of the community. I think abusive behavior is more of the exception than the rule.
We have great people in this community and it is very important to remember that. Especially when someone aggravates you.
Thank you nsaidi. Bye
@everyone I'm heading out, but will see you next week, when some of the editorial members of the team will br leading the discussion.
Be sure to bring any good assignment ideas or questions about what we're looking for on the site. See you then!
Karma, in my opinion no one should be able to bait anyone into getting banned. We're responsible for our own behavior. I will usually tell people what I think of their behavior, and move on. Sometimes I'll ignore them and/or report them!
@everyone I'm signing off too, but see you around the site.
Bye zdan, thanks!
It's not a matter of having "nice" comments but just respect without hate and bigotry. This isn't a competition. It's just a hobby. Have a good day everyone. Thanks David and Nsaidi, yorksbeans, gilldreams, lette, and everyone for your input.
Bye katie, thanks
Ok before everyone leaves can someone answer my qeustion first about the forums on ireport!!
thanks nsaidi..bye
@Lette -- I agree. Being baited is an explanation, but not an excuse.
In most cases that I deal with, both people involved think they were in the right and that the other person was baiting them.
@Spartancoll
I have not seen a forum here.
Any answer on the tags being so slow to type out?
@Spartancoll -- Setting up a forum would take some pretty heavy lifting from our developers.
It's not a short term solution.
@davidw
You guys are doing a fantastic job with this platform.
Oh ok thank you guys do you think in the long term ireport will include forums?
@davidw
I would love if when we get email notification on a comment for a story we issued that it would include the comment and allow us to simply reply to it by email by placing the response between two tags. It would make discussion even more vibrant with the author.
@EWillies i agree email would be a feature im sure ireports would like or even a txt message feature!!
@Spartancoll -- I really couldn't tell you. If they decide to add them, I'm sure there will be a big announcement.
Sorry David my comment was directed to karma from his comments re: comment count and validation of those numbers..that is what I was referring to and that to me makes it seem like a competition somewhat..my comments were not directed at the community..
KarmaHD » Lette/Numbersdude not all are so altruistic with there views on comment count, some seek there validation on here by that very number. Also it is difficult to be seen on here if you do not post a topic that is a HOT topic. Economy, President Obama, ect...
@EWillies -- You can get a notification if someone posts a comment on your story. If you click on your screen name it will take you to your "My Stuff" page.
Then if you click on the Notifications tab in the green bar, you can get those alerts.
I am about 17 comments behind on this ..sorry..and this is still a good thing to have to discuss ireports.
who is it we contact when you are away? same email address but who's name??
@gilldreams -- No worries. I would just remind everyone that most of the members of the iReport community are here because they love the news and are passionate about what's going on in the world.
Everybody doesn't agree, but I'm betting most people would get along in an offline situation.
@everyone -- I will have limited email access, so please email any questions or concerns to report.violations@ireport.com or contact@ireport.com and someone from our team will respond as soon as possible.
You can also contact me at david.williams@turner.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Take care everyone.
A quick jump in and question.
I have received several emails on how it is determined what is accepted to get the CNN logo.
I believe it is said photos with words across them, cut and paste reports from another source, copyright violations written or music,and that is is better to have one longer post with more photos, instead of posting five or six posts with one photo each of same subject.
What little "detail things" might stop a post from being labeled for CNN? What are good points to work towards?
davidw I would like to think so. ireports has been a very good site to seek news all around the world and because it is not just about American News, then people from other countries can join in on the posts discussions. I hope that the American ireporters are open to views comments and conversation from people not from the USA. We are all in this one world and we are all affected by everything going on in the States, either directly from having family there or indirectly. I would hope that will not create a negative attitude towards nonAmericans. I personally have not run into too much of a problem. Most people are very cool about my not being American..Just a small handful who are not friendly about it and feel I have no right to be on this site...puzzling but true..just have to take it all in stride and keep moving forward. Thanks David for getting this roundtable happening each time..
@Ryn -- That's a great question and we'll be talking about that in depth next week.
The big thing is that we want it to be your story, opinion, experience etc.
We really want to hear what you have to say.
We view and approve as many stories as we can, but unfortunately we can't vet every great story.
I would encourage everyone to tell their story the best way they can. If that's text with a picture of yourself or a grainy cellphone photo, a web cam soundbite, or a fully produced documentary film.
@everyone -- Thanks for a great discussion. Have a great weekend.
Darn! I missed it.
Next week looks very interesting!
Alun
Bye davidw, thanks. Enjoy your time off. We'll miss you
Alright so no round table next week right?
Yes Spartancoll, someone else will be here for davidw
I didn't have much to say, I just wanted to share by "banning" ideas:
In my opinion, bans should not be permanent. A ban should serve as a warning, for example:
1st violation: 3 day ban
2nd violation: 7 day ban
3rd violation: 14 day ban
A 4th violation, or something extremely severe, such as pornography or repetitive harsh personal attacks, should then be a permanent ban.
Just in my opinion, if a person has to be banned then it needs to be permenant. But there are plenty of them back under other names as we type.
Permanent bans don't teach them a lesson... and what if that ban is unnecessary? I had a real life friend banned, so I guess I'm biased.
I as out in hte filed today and could not particiapte but to bonbonnie's comment- we make world we live in. I try to kep that in mind whe i put up a post and when I comment on another's post.
Speaking of helping one another; can somebody please fix my signal aka TAG. My selections from the assignment desk are not registering in the "tag" section.
Thank you.
Mz. Ella @ LadysHoodJnl Reporting.
50 SCANDINAIVIAN on their way to Strasbourg, FRANCE.
People are preapering to show their opinion on the upcoming NATO (otan) - meeting in Strasbourg.
Read more (in norwegian) vg.no
http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=571440
dang, I missed another one!!
@Lette, @Margot707, @rosehips Your comments helped us recreate the problem with the Submit button staying grayed out on the story upload page, and we are working on a fix.
In the meantime, you can work around the problem a couple of different ways:
1. Use the "Upload Now!" button at the top of the page instead of clicking "Share your story". Then choose the appropriate assignment topic from the dropdown.
2. Or try a different web browser. The problem does not seem to happen with Firefox, for example.
@everyone Thanks again for your feedback!
hi i got here too late still with my issue of jeke ok catch you next week thanks and david have a nice time off
kisses larena
CDC Chief Admits that Vaccines Trigger Autism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh-nkD5LSIg
Vaccine Nation 1-10 watch all the videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TdSp3hyuHk
Gary Null Calls Out Corzine on Vaccine - Part 1 watch both videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-xG_Yxj8PE
Guys ..what happened to the stories on Great K9 companions.....
Alexander the Great Golden
http://alexanderthegreatgolden.blogspot.com/
hello, i'm from Michigan & we recently had the use of medical marijuana here. I'd like to know what people think about legalizing it completely
Sorry peeps but this Roundtable meeting ended on April 2nd. The next meeting is April 9th at 2:30pm EST.
like all dis-ease/discomfort[effect,NOT cause--sign of THE symptom of blood-pollute by smell/swallow/skin chem-absorb V malnourish:hypoglycemia/low brain-FUEL], autism worse <- photo/ink plasticized /petro/rot/cancer,...[gas-stove worse]:heal green cabbage/spinach/celery SEPARATE raw, cut chems -> happy/smart/strong/fast,...
anyone here for round yet
anyone on second life come to ireport island during round table
I have arrived
Where is everyone?
I guess I must have missed a memo..lol
Just in case someone does show up for this meeting and I am not here: Although ALL of my Ireports are on the same subject and some may find them boring or uninteresting many people in our situation have emailed me and sent their graditude on having their voices heard. So I send my deepest gratitude to CNN Ireport producers for allowing my Ireports to be heard. Just in case many here have not read or listened to our Ireports the focus remains on those that have been unemployed for a year or more and have always been RESPONSIBLE people, but cannot find jobs for the life of them and now face the enviable foreclosure. Hundreds of thousands of baby boomers are losing everything at a time in our lives that we cannot recoup such losses such as our homes. I know we will see crime and suicides rise in the future when the hundreds of thousands of people who have been RECENTLY become unemployed get to the point we have, it is truly hell. So I hope people can understand why we continue to keep our focus on this subject only. It is having our voices heard that I advocate for, not just my family. The Government has plans for most people with good credit to now refi or those a littleunderwater to modify their loans. Unemployed do not fit into any of those catagories.
Thanks for listening
Patty (My son Tlewis3462 does my Ireports)
I would like to address the comments I am seeing from Ireporters on how many stars they receive and basically saying Nah Nah Nah I still got on CNN. I am finding this very childish and unprofessional on the part of the reporter. So many people do not use the star system, basically it comes down to having an audience that shares the same focus and opinions that you do. Hey we have freedom of speech in this country, so far that hasn’t been taking away from us. I have also received personal attacks on my weight people, calling my family losers for the situation we are in etc.. I just consider those folks have nothing better to do and have very lonely lives. If you want your voices to be heard there will always be someone out there that disagrees, that’s life. I suggest Ireporters should focus on their message and not the amount of stars they receive, rather than lowering yourself to someone’s level by creating more drama and attention to a negative comment, just ignore and move forward. not everyone will agree with your Ireport
Hugs
Patty
wow that was inspiring what patty wrote
is there anyone there
davidw what inspired u to be an ireporter