Hi All,

I am planning to carryout a major upgrade to Bahamas Issues within the coming weeks. Included in the upgrade will be features that I hope will increase the level of influence this site has on our country.

One of the new features will be an Online Petition System that will allow members to create and distribute petitions on any issue. For privacy reasons you wont have to be a member or logged in to sign and fill out petitions.

I had discussed this feature today with a well known politician who is also a long time, everyday reader of this site. He had doubts that even though members identity will not be traceable, many will still be afraid to sign and fill out online petitions. His view is that many here on this site are patriotic and bold only behind screen names and that they will not be the same way using their real names.

My question is do you agree or not and who is willing to prove him wrong?
I would also like you to suggest various features you would like to have in the new upgrade.

Thank you.

First of all......CONGRATULATIONS

perhaps we wont want our REAL names attached to the screen names...but I'm sure if given the opportunity....(without logging in)...many would certainly do it...at least let me speak for myself...especially if said petitions can hold some weight in decision making...

Sounds like a cool idea, gives everyone a wider perspective on what's going on.

Sounds very good.. however for a petition to be effective I am sure we should ensure that Names should be signed against a national Idenity of some sort....

Also, we should add a forum to ask questions of MPs and Senators as it relates to their resposbilities.. making them accounatable..

Hi All,
I am planning to carryout a major upgrade to Bahamas Issues within the coming weeks. Included in the upgrade will be features that I hope will increase the level of influence this site has on our country.
One of the new features will be an Online Petition System that will allow members to create and distribute petitions on any issue. For privacy reasons you wont have to be a member or logged in to sign and fill out petitions.
I had discussed this feature today with a well known politician who is also a long time, everyday reader of this site. He had doubts that even though members identity will not be traceable, many will still be afraid to sign and fill out online petitions. His view is that many here on this site are patriotic and bold only behind screen names and that they will not be the same way using their real names.
My question is do you agree or not and who is willing to prove him wrong?
I would also like you to suggest various features you would like to have in the new upgrade.
Thank you.



Sounds good to me. People usually get bold after a tragedy or near a general election, that includes some politicians by the way.

Sounds very good.. however for a petition to be effective I am sure we should ensure that Names should be signed against a national Idenity of some sort....Also, we should add a forum to ask questions of MPs and Senators as it relates to their resposbilities.. making them accounatable..

That is a good point. How reliable is a petition that does not contain real names?

That is a good point. How reliable is a petition that does not contain real names?

I agree with CG, I do not see the validity of a petition that does not contain some kind of identifier. It would just be the same as some of the polls that we have now that non-registered viewers can skew in which ever way that they want. (Can anything be done about that, by the way?)

Will you make it so that the photos section works? If not why is it there?

I would also like to see some kind of security system put in to prevent bots from signing up as members and to prevent multiple identical threads in different sections of the forum.

That is a good point. How reliable is a petition that does not contain real names?

real names should be used in petitions but im not sure persons want the real name to coincide with their screen names...i.e John Smith =adidasboi....this may work if you are allowed to use your real name without signing in to associate it with your screen name

Hi All,
I am planning to carryout a major upgrade to Bahamas Issues within the coming weeks. Included in the upgrade will be features that I hope will increase the level of influence this site has on our country.
One of the new features will be an Online Petition System that will allow members to create and distribute petitions on any issue. For privacy reasons you wont have to be a member or logged in to sign and fill out petitions.
I had discussed this feature today with a well known politician who is also a long time, everyday reader of this site. He had doubts that even though members identity will not be traceable, many will still be afraid to sign and fill out online petitions. His view is that many here on this site are patriotic and bold only behind screen names and that they will not be the same way using their real names.
My question is do you agree or not and who is willing to prove him wrong?
I would also like you to suggest various features you would like to have in the new upgrade.
Thank you.

If one does not have to log in, how will you prevent someone siging a petition 100 time so to say??

Delroy, any chance of some new smilies while you are doing the upgrade? I really want one for LOL and ROFLMAO :D

my two cents is, allowing anons to sign in on petitions will cause a lot of hit and run character asssassination-style posts that won't contribute to the family look and feel of the forum at the moment.

not that we don't fight anyway :cutie:, but at least you have some "sense" ** i use this term loosely! ** of whose opinion and background you are dealing with. i don't see how ten thousand anonymous posters on a single petition could possibly sway a political decision in nassau?

I am no expert, but BI is a very good product and I am hard pressed to think of even one way to improve it. I prefer scientific polling to petitions, not sure why, but I do. Maybe because petitions favour the powerful and those with special interest over the common man, whereas a poll could include a sample that reflects the entire society. How do you do perform a scientific poll using a forum like BI? I cannot think of a way. BI is already very influential. To make it more so, maybe members should do radio spots in a membership drive, and give talks at COB and high schools, and civil society about the site to grow it. I think that we would be more influential if we set a goal of say 75,000 member by years end, and achieve it. We could also endorse policy positions, promote legislation, and give money to causes, and politicians that support our views.

I am no expert, but BI is a very good product and I am hard pressed to think of even one way to improve it. I prefer scientific polling to petitions, not sure why, but I do. Maybe because petitions favour the powerful and those with special interest over the common man, whereas a poll could include a sample that reflects the entire society. How do you do perform a scientific poll using a forum like BI? I cannot think of a way. BI is already very influential. To make it more so, maybe members should do radio spots in a membership drive, and give talks at COB and high schools, and civil society about the site to grow it. I think that we would be more influential if we set a goal of say 75,000 member by years end, and achieve it. We could also endorse policy positions, promote legislation, and give money to causes, and politicians that support our views.

12play while I agree, in the most part with what you are saying here. I don't see the point of having huge numbers of members if they never join in. Have you ever checked the members list and seen how many people join but never post?

I like what the admin of one forum I belong to does. If you join and don't post within a certain length of time, then your membership is revoked.

If you join and don't post within a certain length of time, then your membership is revoked.



That would work, I think. I see your point about people not contributing, and even some people who contribute only contribute one liners, and the occasional "lol". What can we do to get folk to participate more meaningfully? Maybe an ideas contest with the winner receiving something of value, or a problem solving thread where people post papers, etc., a more focused approach to certain issues.

I am no expert, but BI is a very good product and I am hard pressed to think of even one way to improve it. I prefer scientific polling to petitions, not sure why, but I do. Maybe because petitions favour the powerful and those with special interest over the common man, whereas a poll could include a sample that reflects the entire society. How do you do perform a scientific poll using a forum like BI? I cannot think of a way. BI is already very influential. To make it more so, maybe members should do radio spots in a membership drive, and give talks at COB and high schools, and civil society about the site to grow it. I think that we would be more influential if we set a goal of say 75,000 member by years end, and achieve it. We could also endorse policy positions, promote legislation, and give money to causes, and politicians that support our views.

BI member are not doers they are talkers

actually if you want the site to be really good you need some alternative moderators representing. Not just ones that tolerate. (Moderators are leaders imho ) You know Non christian as in CG. I like knowing Lynette is a mod. I would also like to see a GLBT in there as well. I have offered but it does not need to be me actualty I would prefer it not to be me.