JJP Call For Open Feedback On Writing, Tech And Community. Survey!

12 Aug 2009 Author: Baratunde Thurston (Jack Turner)

Hey fam,

The past 18 months have been insane around here. We thought we’d put out an explicit call for comments on the direction, tone and substance of Jack and Jill Politics to see where yall are with what’s going down. We’ve got new writers, much more media exposure, a ridiculous amount of comments and more widgets than you can shake a stick at. We’re looking for feedback from everyone, especially those of you who never comment. I’m talking to you, lurkers!

Check out this short video I did asking for your feedback then complete our survey

Again, the main areas we’re interested in:

Writing: Feedback on the writing volume, style and substance. Do we have enough writers? Are we covering (or sharing and opining) on the topics of interest to you? What would you like to see more/less of in the editorial department around here?
Tech infrastructure: You can now leave comments with Disqus or your facebook login. We’ve got mad widgets, an expanding blogroll and hella video embeds. How’s this working out? Is the site crashing your computer? Too slow? Confusing? Would you like easier ways to share JJP content.
Community: How do you feel about the tone of the discussion in the comments? If you’ve never left a comment or used to and don’t anymore, why not? Should there be more policing of comments? Explicit guidelines?

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS SURVEY

You can also feel free to freestyle in the comments on this subject, but we’d really love you to use the survey. I’ll make this post sticky for a few days so everyone sees it.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://www.examiner.com/x-19673-Michelle-Obama-Examiner 7434be
I think you guys are doing great. I want you to organize more and start going after some of the conservative bloggers that are trashing the Obama administration to no end just to make quick buck like Michelle Malkin. She is peddling hate to right wingers. http://www.examiner.com/x-19673-Michelle-Obama-…
Myth
My two cents worth:
I think the writing is fantastic and is always current, valid and on point.
The technology is about what we all can keep up with best at this point. I know there are advances every day in social networking with webcam conversations with immediate feedback. The “call and response” here is better/faster than most sites. There are some problems with either my computer or this site when trying to refresh and get updates quickly. Beyond my comprehension though.
Now let's see how candid do I dare be about the JJP community? Uh, considering that there are extremely intelligent and highly opinionated people here who don't mind expressing there thoughts about the issues of the day, there are STRONG bonds and DEEP commitments between individuals. Would rather not judge whether that's good or back. I do believe its important that everyone be considerate of each others views/opinions and not try to influence value systems. But that goes along with the community bond here I suppose. I have not one problem expressing an opposing view if I so desire, but there can be those who verge on intimidation if you don't follow the popular belief. May be why some “lurk”. I think we can do betta at agreeing to disagree as well as respecting the opinions of others, even Conserv1. Sometimes even within the JJP Fam, things are taken personally and go tooo far. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that everyone owns their on ass and is entitled to own their on opinion.
lizadiamond
Thanks for asking. I filled out the survey. Love JJP! Seriously dislike cut and paste conservative hijacking.
http://baratunde.com baratunde aka jack turner
keep the feedback coming fam! this is so helpful and long overdue. and complete the survey!
chicagodyke
it's a lot of work, hard work for little to no pay most of the time, to run a quality political news and analysis website/blog. i know, and i appreciate the effort people put in here. very few websites even bother with posts like these, and that just goes to show why this is one of my five daily stops, above hundreds of others to choose from.
seriously: don't sweat it. y'all are doing just fine. i'm very pleased that you have the audience and reach you've achieved, it's an accomplishment to be proud of. it's the blogosphere: you're free to write what you want, kick off whom you don't like, and have your opinions at the center of what your write. i'm still getting to know the work of the newer writers here, but if you wanted to add a few more, i wouldn't complain. i like group blogs so long as the writers aren't too much like each other, and so far that hasn't been a problem here.
Justice58
I just finished doing the survey! I added my little cents that I'd like to see on the tech issue.
BTW.. I'm glad Conserv is gone. I really feel good about it & I don't feel depressed by reading what he/she posted!
spirit_55z
Thanks for asking us to provide feedback, Jack.
I completed the survey.
It feels great on the JJP site, like someone exterminated the pest! :-))) Thanks
eclecticbrotha
Niall Ferguson responds to criticism of his comparison of Barack Obama to Felix the Cat.
Worst.
Explanation.
Ever.
Keep digging that hole, Ferguson. Its fascinating the way bigots and such always blame their bigotry on the beholder and not themselves.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/niall-ferguson/wh…
eclecticbrotha
What, someone banned Conserv1? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
MsKitty
As soon as these fools pull the “I'm a victim of political correctness” card I stop listening/reading. In the immortal words of Judge Judy, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.
Town
LOL someone on Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog wondered if Obama = Felix, does that mean Rash Limpball = Master Cylinder?
Personally I think Obama = Road Runner and GOP = Wile E. Coyote.
mon_dieu_ishmael
McCain = Elmer Fudd
TruthSeeker
I can't believe I'm having this discussion…but Road Runner defied the laws of physics. Road Runner doesn't play by those rules….levitating, disappearing.. while Wile E consistently played by the rules. Obama seems to me to be the ultimate rule follower, while the GOP tells the biggest, boldest, most outrageous lies..and watch while chaos ensues.
TruthSeeker
Police-man-Jack!…
Did you go to The Pittsburgh, and live to tell the tale?
TruthSeeker
Conserv has offended your sensibilities more than I have?
antennaness
What do you think about Obama being compared to Brer Rabbit in the Uncle Remus family of animals. Brer Rabbit always out smarts every on who is laying traps for him. My late father (1910-2007) sometimes told me these stories whenever he wanted to make a point. His first reader in elementary school contained Brer Rabbit and Aesop's Fable stories. They were food for thought, funny, and always had a moral. He passed them down to me.
http://www.justicelove.com Webb
Dayum, that was a thorough survey. Who put that shyt together? McKinsey? Bain?
dopper0189
I love the writing on this site. I would only recommend two things. More weekly features. Pick a subject (especially a complex one) and deal with it over several days, or weeks. See if WE can come together and offer solutions, for example could we organize enough folks to petition more of our elected officials to get more farmers markets in poor urban areas to deal with food deserts? This would require permits, and more police so the government needs some involvement?
Secondly how about a “week in review” of the top stories that effected our community over the preceding week? In the interest of full disclosure, I do something like this over at Daily Kos (it's called Black Kos) but I think this site should follow suit and do something similar.
Love you all!
RobM
Someone posted that they had problems w/ their responses staying up. Suggested you are editing for the N word is this true?
http://www.brownmanthinkinghard.com Brown Man
JJP is to my internet as The Tom Joyner Morning Show is to my radio – I gotta have it or my day just ain't going to go right.
The only thing I would like to see is a way to harness some of the energy of your fellow bloggers like me to come up with a way to run an adjunct think tank, an entity that we the black blogging community can use to expand the nation's political narrative by releasing our own studies or reports so they can be dissected, and more importantly, QUOTED by the MSM and other news venues.
We bloggers are not putting enough of our raw meat into the sausage they end up calling news in TV and newspaper land.
The right wing has more think tanks and foundations than you can shake a stick at, all publishing all manner of arcane and obscure studies or reports that are only meant to dominate the political discussion of the day.
Also, I am ready to buy my ticket to “Jack and Jill Politics: The Documentary” that shows what goes into running a 7 day a week internet enterprise on a shoestring budget.
Congratulations again to all of you on keeping the flagship of the black political blogosphere running like a top!
Brown Man
http://www.brownmanthinkinghard.com
MariaKLove
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MariaKLove
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Cheryl Contee aka "Jill Tubman", Baratunde Thurston aka "Jack Turner", rikyrah, Leutisha Stills aka "The Christian Progressive Liberal", B-Serious, Casey Gane-McCalla, Jonathan Pitts-Wiley aka "Marcus Toussaint," Fredric Mitchell, Keith Owens, Anson Asaka, Barbara Moore, Deborah Small, Lisa Coffman, Michael Patton

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