Bawlers Vs Moderators In Online Conversation

In the last ten days or so, I made some observations that never existed before on this site, Desicritics. Suddenly many unsought words such as [EDITED - PERSONAL ATTACK], [EDITED], [IRRELEVANT RACIST CRAP], etc started appearing at regular intervals and these were sprinkled across many posts. So this was the fodder for my post, and I have tried to collate my views and present it the best way I could have.

"Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains". Probably Rousseau was clueless of the power of Internet, which is nothing but a network, a grid or an endless chain of computers/servers when he coined this phrase. Literally, with no strings attached, so much has happened till date that, 'chains' which has a negative connotation in the quote, has turned to be the positive catalyst for business, education, travel, commerce, administration, entertainment, for that matter anything and everything that one can think of. This has been aptly termed by Thomas.L.Friedman in his book, The Lexus and The Olive Tree as "The Democratization of Technology" and "The Democratization of Information". Global forums, which were earlier, confined to technical online discussion assemblies have now diversified and all the topics that were earlier discussed by print and digital media is now dissertated by common man. No wonder, why the TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 was You.

Diaries once sealed under lock and key are now discussed in the public, topics that were considered taboo have turned vocal and the playground is now the blogosphere and e-zines, where posts are made daily by all those who care to make the emotional investment, share opinions, and make this world a simple place.

But it is often not possible to carry on an online conversation without observing the difficulty with which a new element makes its way into the domain. When any person has strove for distinction, s/he would be surprised to hear herself/himself censured where s/he could not expect to have been named. S/he would find the utmost acrimony and tartness [note all this is happening online without physical human expressions] among those whom s/he never could have offended.

With internet as a staple equivalent to electricity supply or running water in our lives, it’s easy to follow some decorum and etiquette, when we are wired. For me the rules in real life and e-life seem to be same with a thin flimsy onionskin separating both, the physical presence. Just google on the word "Internet Etiquette" and everything is clear black and white.

But as the group blogs and e-zines grow with its increasing viewer ship, it divides the most miscellaneous and confused assemblages into discrete classes. The insects of the summer that torment these groups with their stings and the prosecutors of merit may be classified as Bawlers and the Moderators respectively.

The bawler is a dangerous enemy with the sole intention of gaining an air of importance. He has no other qualification for a champion of controversy than a hardened front and a biased voice. Vociferation is his weapon for any argument, failing to understand the thin line between a critical argument and an argument. He has little care to preserve the decency in the forum and always has a store of reproachable epithets and contemptuous appellations, ready to be produced as occasion may require, which by constant trolling he pours out with great ease. If relational database is mentioned, he without hesitation devotes it to mainframe systems; if the beauty and elegance of a lady is mentioned, he wonders how the town can fall in love with such deformity; if the achievements of a humble genius are discussed, he pronounces the champion a hopeless individual. His comments are generally without effect. Like a tree that bends to a tempest, to stand erect again when its force is past, the bawler sometimes hibernates and turns docile only to recover his former strength.
[look for the comments part for the underlined words]

The moderator is an unprejudiced person without any interest but honest curiosity. He is always disposed to rational, well-reasoned, sensible, humor tinged interpretations and last but not the least favorable unbiased opinions. If relational database is mentioned; he understands that it is the next generation information hubs for business and education. He believes that a young lady pleased with admiration and wishful of achieving perfection needs to be appreciated. The genius he knows to be a man of diligence who perhaps didn’t sparkle with the ball as did McGrath , but has the judgment to discover his own deficiencies and in his opinion modesty and humility is a quality so rare and amiable.
[look for the comments part for the underlined words]

As, no two children are the same and need to be respected and handled in different ways, similarly no two persons on an online forum are the same in terms of sensibility. This is where the job of the moderator becomes all the more critical. The moderator usually tries online peace to be maintained and the rules to be enforced by editing and deleting personal comments, warning members for offenses, avoiding flame wars, etc. The way in which the moderation system works depends solely on the site architecture and the software adopted, for example, the site algorithm may also allow the moderator to create word filters, automated scripts which strip undesirable text from commentator’s messages and spam comments. The algorithm like any other software product matures more with time and initially the word filters may strip off few desirable and legitimate comments and this draws in wrath of few readers.

There is an argument to be made on both sides of the coin. With the anonymity the Internet provides, people are more brazen or bold about what they voice. I feel that the conversations can be kept just fine without the stuff one considers dross. Peppered with regular dosages of humor and trivia, apart from straight comments actually make a better conversation. The Internet is teeming with passionate people, and passionate people are always the most eloquent, the most mindful of manners and outspoken with a call-a-spade-a-spade mentality. Treat your fellow humans and their views and opinions like one, would like to be treated, whether it is online or offline.

If the web 1.0 was centered on pages, web 2.0 is concentrated around common people. Web 2.0 is made up of ordinary people, who wish to opinionate their voice to the Web's great evolving conversation for the sheer love of it. It's amazing that this medium can bring out such varied potentials and ideas in human behavior. So if you wish to join the team at Desicritics, and let your voice be heard, do visit here and join the gang.

Keep reading and remain connected.

Music Majja Madi

Wow, what fun to hear lots of music and just the fine tune, the type you feel like hearing. Pick a genre and then the mood energetic or calm and then the shade, dark or positive, what I meant was choosing from platter what so ever you like in this pretty extensive collection. At least in the World Music and Latino, I explored, I was pretty much impressed.

What am I talking about? This is nothing but a web-based custom application streaming music radio, capable of satisfying the music taste and mood of just about anyone called Musicovery. Check it here.

What is good about the this application is the way it has been presented and looks like an Apple Ipod to a certain extent for its user interface as far as the look and feel is concerned. To add to it, a selection on a particular genre opens up typically like the rangoli, with the splosh, the spill, the splatter, the splash, the squish of colors, each color denoting the aesthetic appeal of the experience with a pulsating matrix format.


Some of the thanda thanda cool cool features of this application, which I tried myself, are as follows.

• Each time you change your preferences in the navigation bar the music selector jumps across the screen and plays another song. The best feature is that the music flows effortlessly without any disruption or interruption and having CD music sound clarity. With a good Internet connection there's no lag or song loading time, so you can expect smooth listening from start to finish. This is one of the smartest features of the application.
• To me it’s something of a blurred interface between an interactive toy and radio, of course for the better. If you see the navigator bar, there is a time frame and you can set it according to your taste and let the music soothe your mood. Find new songs and play with different styles of music. It isn't really a game, but it's got the same sense of exploration and fun free flowing on the Internet. I don’t need to save songs and waste my disk space.
• On the flip side, Musicovery plays songs in a noticeable Lo-Fi format (for any user free for cost), reserving the better quality for paid users. Subscriptions are reasonably priced but the registration process is befuddling and points at a number of hidden sign-up fees indirectly. I didn’t see it further beyond the initial list of points, as I am better to stick with the free version and enjoy the thrill of musical exploration and its free harvest.

Free tip in Ek Lo Ek Muft ishtyle (can do that gracefully for the music listeners): For a really interesting experience and a curious mind, try un-checking the "hit" box and checking "discovery". You'll unravel a treasure trove, a mine of obscure bands you just might learn to love.

The masterminds for this application are Frederic Vavrille and Vincent Castaignet. To have a detailed cook book approach to the know-hows of this application, the pros and cons, the business model, etc, check here.

Freaking Awesome, isn’t it and go here and enjoy. Next time you listen to any number, do let me know so that I can gauge which mood you are in. Will you ?

Keep reading and remain connected.