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So, I invite all of you to jump in and take action. And if you do not know how, then write to me personally: tam@youthnoise.org (title your email: NoiseMaker) and I will direct you to one of our youth staff who will work with you to continue to be heard

I don't know why, but that really bothers me. Oh yeah. It makes me feel like I did last year, when I had a teacher who, though I was in senior, treated me like I was barely thirteen.

I have MANY more points to say, as I'm sure Meg does, but seeing as I'm in college (By the way, many of your "target" would be college aged, and this site doesn't seem very college like), and Meg is sick, they will wait until tomorrow.

I remember there used to be polls on the homepage but I haven't seen them recently.

I haven't seen any such polls. Where are they?

I would like to point out that there seem to be two types of people on this site, those who like to think and debate and those who like to do. There are some exceptions but not many.

I feel as though YN tends to favor the doers. We (the boarders) may be a small percentage but that shouldn’t make us any less heard.

On behalf of myself and the YN staff, we regret that you feel “unheard.” This is especially surprising in light of the fact that last time you (Meagan87) commented on a video you thought should go up on the YN site, it was up within an hour of your post. Also, the “old” YN that you miss was run, ironically, by only “older” (above 40) people. We made a tremendous effort to try to get out of the way by hiring a group of youths to actually “staff” the site (in my own case, I was the editor of that earlier incarnation of the site, and I made sure to write myself out of a job in order to hand over the editorship to an avid young NoiseMaker who contributed SO much to the “old site” that she worked her way right into a staff position. Several members of our staff are also NoiseMakers who got so involved that they ended up joining us. The youth on-staff, with some supervision, are indeed legitimate NoiseMakers and really do have as much right to make Cause Action Pages (CAPs) as everyone else. But the intention is neither to shut anyone out nor have YouthNoise be a staff (vs. user)-generated site--they are creating a few prototypes and examples of CAPs while the technology is developed for NoiseMakers to be able to create their own CAPs…on whatever causes and issues each individual NoiseMaker finds compelling. This is not an overnight process and we are working as fast as we can to create this technology so that it is available to you.

To answer another of your points, we are constantly polling the site to see what the NoiseMakers leading interests are and, though it comes as a surprise to you, AIDS and sexual health were indeed among the top subjects. I need to point out that the youth who post on the boards are actually a very small percentage of the total NoiseMakers on the site, and we take in to account all the NoiseMakers before going ahead with any agendas. In doing a deep review of the site, it seems that many of the youth on the boards mostly want JUST to be heard, but this is NOT the sole mission of YouthNoise. It’s not just about being heard, it is also about engaging and taking action.

In regards to this particular post, it is obvious that you do, indeed, have a desire to create CAPs (Cause Action Pages) and to get involved…and I will personally commit to making sure that as soon as the technology allows, you can create a page and jump in. In fact, right now you can work with one of the youth producers to create your own pages and they will be more than happy to help you do so.

The apology that I DO want to extend is this: I am truly sorry that you feel “left out” in terms of the change in site content. It is our sincere intention to be inclusive and bring in everyone who is truly interested in civic engagement. To that aim, there are many things we have to try in order to make the website more viral, spread the word, and engage youth. YN maintains a value of respect in discourse but has no judgment of an individual’s values. Everyone has their own ideas and their own agendas, but the entire staff at YN is truly committed to making the site a place where youth educate youth and no one is excluded (unless he/she does not follow the underlying rules of respect).

To those of you who get upset because you are asked to respond to a “lie” and or put up with content you disagree with, my response is this: If you do not stand up through words and action to what you think is an injustice, or mis-statement, or lie…well, then then you are responsible for the perpetuation of that injustice or misstatement. If you just take your marbles and go home, then you are not a participatory NoiseMaker and the choice and decision for your own voice NOT to be heard is yours and yours alone.

So, I invite all of you to jump in and take action. And if you do not know how, then write to me personally: tam@youthnoise.org (title your email: NoiseMaker) and I will direct you to one of our youth staff who will work with you to continue to be heard–maybe not agreed with, but, unquestionably, heard. But please remember that being heard is just a first step--taking action is the next, and we are an organization that must walk, not just sit around and talk, about what needs to be done.

Also, I believe that the next YAB meeting is scheduled for February 22nd.

Respectfully,

Tam Morgan
Program Director

Yes. I used to feel like all of the NoiseMakers were what made up YN. We were YN, its life, its spirit. Recently however, I feel like YN isn't really ours anymore. Now it seems like a bunch of YN interns running around having fun, which is great for them, I guess. I just feel like we aren't being heard anymore, which is what YN is all about. That is what we are all here for, to be heard.

*nods*

Umm...yeah, what Meg said.

I also agree that active members in YN should have more say. We are technically in the range of youth you are trying to target. So wouldn't it make sense to use us as a resource on how to better the site?

Besides that, YN is getting rather annoying with its extreme immaturity in handling situations. It seems that the admin (not saying all but some) are incapable of recognizing when they make a mistake in judgement. I believe that if they just would listen to us for once, and maybe consult us, these situations would not occur.

I think another main problem is the detatchment from the boards to the rest of the site. It may be partly our fault, but it is obvious that if we are not participating it has to do with that obviously its not that attractive to us.

But enough of my ranting...

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In my opinion, YN is making poor use of their most valuable resource, their members. Youth Noise is a site that is filled with individuals who want to work for positive change in their communities...why not give them the chance to start by making a positive difference on the site?

I couldn't agree more with this statement.

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Youth Noise used to be about the youth. Member input used to be valued. The site used to care more about the wants and needs voiced by the youth than about the stereotypical perceptions of youth today.

Meg is completely right, I miss the old YN in so many ways.

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In fact, having such increased presence of YN staff brings me back to my point about not listening to the wants and needs of the members. I will again go with the example of the Cause Action Campaigns (simply because it's a completely new concept). I understand that AIDS and safe sex are important issues...but I'm sure if YNers were polled about issues that were important to them, two VERY different causes would have been selected.

This is true. I think that YN should pay more attention to what the members have to say. I'm not saying that they never do, but I feel we have been neglected in many issues.

Meg and Ikki, this thread was a great idea. I support it one hundred percent.

Yes, the strange liberal extremist, i don't dare call it a slant, maybe more of an avalanche, is quite disturbing to those of us that want to have some semblance of hope for the future. It is all too often that I see a side of a story misrepresented and stuffed with Nancy Pelosi rhetoric and Bernie Feingold logic. I rarely (read never) see a fair assessment of any situation, event, or process. Just the usual partisan hackery that is come to be expected in America... Lets get a big round of applause for establishing extremists and partisan hacks at a young age without giving them the knowledge they need to understand. Bravo.

I speak from some sort of experience when I say all of this. You see, it has happened often when a story is misrepresented, and in one case a complete LIE, and I ask for its removal. I get shut down and get told to write a counter article. So I am going to waste my time to correct a blatant lie that was posted by a member of the YN staff? I think not. When a blatant piece of textual shit is posted and someone calls YN out on it, it should be recognized and removed. End of story. But this is not the case, but what else is new anyway.

Good night, and good luck.