YAHOO

[Pocho]

Gee, but I'd give the world to see,
That old gang of mine,
I can’t forget that old quartet,
That sang Sweet Adeline,
Goodbye forever old fellows and gals,
Goodbye forever old sweethearts and pals, ……… MAYBE NOT.

Organizing and engaging in social action had been a partial life's avocation. Circumstances, however, now limit my own involvement to no more than encouraging others more able to chart similar courses. Strategy has been to promote individual movement one step at a time leftward from wherever one happened to stand. Tactical tools to further that were formulated to agitate, antagonize, educate, and organize.

The population and posting format of the Democratic Underground provided a suitable arena. Interaction with some from there on Global Free Press, an encrypted and access by invite only system, also helped in that it brought some of us to better know one another and thus increased our effectiveness on DU.

There are many internet users who potentially lean in the right (left) direction but are neither users of DU nor GFP. One has to go where flowers grow to gather a bouquet. While considering fertile gardens, I reflected on two comments presented by others on GFP. One described the essential task as that of intensifying political polarization so as to hasten onset of battles necessary to the changes we seek. The other stated that in doing so, we ought to develop multiple communication channels to facilitate meeting whatever eventualities occur. The rest of this is about a way of doing so.

A while ago, another user from GFP introduced me to the world of public real time chat rooms with Yahoo's Instant Messenger. There are other similar systems such as AOL and MSN, but I consider them rather limited for public political agitating and organizing from afar. Yahoo's has much more flexibility, and I believe it the best. It offers real time messaging among individuals, public and private group chat rooms, written, voice, and even live video facility. Files can also be transferred among users. It can be downloaded and used without cost from http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mesg/mesg-02.html . Be sure to get the one that fits your machine. I've had no problem running it with Windows XP and hear of none with other systems. Several of us from the above systems have been using Yahoo regularly not only in communicating with each other but also working among others.

Like any new system, it takes a bit of playing with icons and menus to get the hang. After installing it, which is automatic, you first assign yourself a unique login name. Next step is to configure it to show which of your designated friends are online at any time and connect with them directly as desired. You first need to contact and trade Yahoo identities with those friends in order to do so.

I use my real name as a Yahoo login for recognition among family, but doing so in chat rooms is not always a good idea. There are many who use chat rooms with undesirable predatory motives, some of which can be downright vicious. It is best not to use an identity of one’s real name or anything that can be personally traceable. To avoid that in chat rooms I use an alias "pocho_at_du" and a nick name of simply “Pocho”.

One can optionally choose to establish several aliases and publicly accessible profiles. The content of those can be left blank or contain personal information, photo, and even voice as desired. My own can be seen using any browser and with or without having installed Yahoo at http://profiles.yahoo.com/pocho_at_du .

Yahoo's private chat rooms can be created as desired and others invited to join. Once there, they can also be marked as favorites and returned to at will without invitation. There are also many public chat rooms organized and listed by interest.

One such category is titled "Government and Politics", which is divided into two groups of public rooms. One of those contains Yahoo's standard permanent set, and the other consists of user created chat rooms which vary with time and name. Those range in slant from bigot right to hard left. There is always at least one that will be democratic oriented and identifiable by its name. For example, that might be "Bush Betrayed the Nation". There are commonly from a few to up to about 40 users at a time in such a room.

Since the public rooms are open to any Yahoo user, many often contain considerable intentional disruption, and much of the activity then evolves into juvenile name calling through short profane epithets. Paragraphs appear but are relatively rare. Activity often resembles a street fight with each combatant a gang of one. Street brawls, however, can produce fighters with future promise. With those worthwhile communication can occur but it is better done in a more reasoned setting.

Operating from reflection on “If you build it they will come”, several of us established a Yahoo government and politic public chat room titled FURTHER LEFT. That's where the flowers bloom for picking, and to where many of the more promising street fighters from other rooms did come.

My own tendency in FURTHER LEFT is to operate both by questioning to draw out others and by example in providing information formatted in sentences and brief paragraphs. A twist has been to copy paragraphs from DU's latest breaking news section and paste it into the chats along with links to boards such as DU and appropriate others where more reasoned impressions can form. That has shown some evidence of moving people toward them.

The song line "I want to be where everybody knows my name" reflects an innate desire of group acceptance. Acting in unison amid the haphazard confusion of chats rooms can create a similar peer effect.

Just as some of us worked DU in tandem to support and encourage each other, the same can be done in real time chat rooms. Friendships and knowledge of each other developed through other internet systems as well as real life involvements are prerequisites to the required trust for working together on Yahoo. That is, you'll know where I'll be to catch it if you throw a pass, and I know you or others will block on the way to the goal.

We can use all the help we can get and I would be happy to help you set up Yahoo Instant Messenger if you would like to join the fray.

Pocho

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Addendum: To help guide and understand use of the FURTHER LEFT chat room we have written a information and frequently asked questions sheet which is linked to in the room. Its content is appended below.

FURTHER LEFT CHAT ROOM INFORMATION AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is this room about?
The words “FURTHER LEFT” do not refer to position. Rather, they imply moving one step left from any current political stance. The word “LEFT” is to be taken in a populist sense of whatever enables masses of people to free them themselves from that which they feel binds them. The room enjoys visitation from many nations and thus offers views and concerns extending beyond limitations of local provinciality.

Who is responsible for this room?
Several users of politically left internet web sites joined to create this room. Its style then developed through user suggestions and examples. No one person or group is in charge. Such responsibility falls in shared manner to all who judiciously contribute to its purpose.

When is the room open?
Yahoo chat rooms automatically close when they become empty. This room generally reopens if closed about 12 or 13 Universal Mean Time (the standard time in Greenwich, England) and is recreated if emptied until about 4 or 5 UMT.

Who are the users of this room?
56 of 192 nations and 62 colonies have been in this room: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, TRNC, Turkey, United Arab Emirates United States, Wales, Yemen.

What language is appropriate for this room?
The internet is an international media. Though English is the language most used in the room, many users have that facility only as a secondary language. Simple sentences which avoid uncommon terms and those with significance only in particular nations and cultures are best.

Why is there no voice in the room?
The room had become one of diverse leftist thought with an international flavor. We tried voice, and it turned to one of US democrats and bigots labeling each other with profane names. Those who preferred more than bumper sticker reasoning in the style and provincial focus of the US disapproved. Voice was then disabled to enhance returning to what the room had been, one where enlightened ideas could propagate to encourage leftward movement and organization.

What is the preferred room netiquette?
Yahoo public rooms are open to any user. This room welcomes any who wish to add to its purpose. The key to useful participation is to listen, sincerely question and add, and then listen some more with an open mind. Wide difference of opinion and stance within the room’s intent should be expected, encouraged, and accepted.

What is improper posting in this room?
Threats, harassment, name calling, personal attack, bigotry of any sort, profanity for the sake of same, dominance, imposing fonts, topic diversion, and other malicious disruption should be considered improper here. Instances are best handled by right clicking the name and choosing “Ignore User”. All activity of that user will then disappear. Responding to or even noting presence of objectionable material only adds confusion and encourages further disruption.

[Lefty48197]

1. Are there actually chat rooms that haven't been taken over

by a bunch of teenage republicans?

[Pocho]

2. YES THERE ARE THOSE, BUT OTHERS AS WELL.

If you build it, they will come. You don’t however get to preselect who shows up. There are many people from many places with many experiences, views, and motives. Some are fabricated of self indulgent fantasy but others have been clarified by experience in the world’s harsh and varying fields of reality. In order to gather a bouquet in those fields, one has to learn to identify and brush the weeds aside. Your own perspectives in doing so can help enhance the sight of the flowers that remain. You can also appreciate and absorb views never before noted. Like either hanging around or standing on a soapbox in Bughouse Square, life in the FURTHER LEFT chat room differs from either being one of or preaching to the choir. It goes by the name of organizing.

[jackemoe]

3. has anyone here

notice that yahoo has increasingly begun limiting the amount that people can post on it's message boards? You receive a message notifying you that the message has already been posted(when it hasn't) and limits you from posting for several minutes after that.

Kinda limits dissent or discussion of certain threads huh?

[LSK]

6. limits on yahoo boards

If you post too many messages in a certain time period, then yahoo will do this to you. They do this to prevent spammers.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Pocho!!!!

You rock!!! How to hell are you????

[NYC]

5. Interesting idea.

.

[Andy_Stephenson]

7. Yahoo rocks

I love it and use it everyday.

[bpilgrim]

8. kick

sounds great :toast:

thank GORE he 'invented the internet :bounce:

:hi:

peace