Crafting a moderation policy for cross-cultural dialogue online
What are the ingredients needed to craft an appropriate moderation policy for a cross-cultural forum? That’s a question we’ve been trying to answer for some time. In many ways, it’s a question we’ll need to be asking as long as this project exists. Meedan obviously brings together people of very different linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds – which makes moderation challenging in two distinct respects. One, there are not obvious cultural norms we can draw on. And two, we are necessarily bringing together divergent viewpoints which are more likely... Read The Rest →
5 ways Twitter location API can help improve global understanding
When I first encountered Twitter’s location search, I was awestruck. Here was a way to filter what people were saying in Tehran just as the post-election protests were gathering pace. It seemed a great way to get closer to authentic Iranian voices and an invaluable stream which seemed more likely to be reliable. It helped make the Twitter experience of the crisis so compelling. Until – that is – activists from around the world suddenly decided to start setting their location to Tehran. Then it became a mess. The idea... Read The Rest →
Wanted: Thousands of shoes for Palestinian-British play about civilian suffering in Gaza
After a week of heavy snow, Londoners may well be reaching for those old sneakers long since discarded at the bottom of the cupboard. But now a theater group has come up with another use for them – as the backdrop to a play highlighting the civilian suffering in Gaza. A joint Palestinian-British troupe this week launched an appeal for thousands of pairs of second hand shoes to form part of the set design for a its production, ‘Go to Gaza – Drink the Sea’. Zeitgeist and Passion Pit Theatre... Read The Rest →
'Bloggers scream: We are searching for a real outlet for our thoughts, away from surveillance!'
Read the original Arabic article in Al Raya here. Translated by Randa. Cairo- Al-Rayah Newspaper – Raymaa Abdel-Ghafoor: One of the events at the Cairo International Book Fair was a provocative symposium about “Blogs’ literature: Is it just a number of screams or scattered papers?” The symposium was run by the novelist, Youssef Al-Qaeed, in the presence of Shaban Youssef, the poet, and the young bloggers, Ghada Abdel-Aal, Mai Khaled, and Shady Asslan. Al-Qaeed mentioned that the subject of the symposium considers the ideology behind blogs, of which the new... Read The Rest →
Egyptian culture comes in for criticism at Cairo Book Fair – Islam Today translated to English
Read the Arabic original on Islam Today here. Translated into English by Mariam. Thinkers and intellectuals have criticized the level of the Egyptian culture and its current situation. During the conference on “Cultural services, between service and profit” which was held at the Cairo International Book Fair, participants considered the Egyptian culture to be in a bad shape. Dr. Said Allawandi (international relations expert at Al-Ahram Foundation) says that the Egyptian culture is currently suffering from a severe “malaise”, and that it no longer holds the position is used to.... Read The Rest →