• Gender / Generation Crosstalk
• Crosstalk Step by Step
• Tips
• Groups and Discussions
• Decision Periods

Gender / Generation Crosstalk

The UNA Gender/Generation Crosstalk is an online community where the crowd-sourced voices of the genders and generations will weave a tale of love and wit, remaking humanity's vision of itself in the process. Through this new lens, the human race will see itself as the intelligent, generous and capable species that we are, giving us the trust and confidence we need to cooperate on pressing global matters. More concretely, the intent is to build towards a Human Unity With Gender and Age Equality Built In conference to be held in San Francisco for International Day of Peace, 2016. The Crosstalk is a project of UNA San Francisco and has launched with the backing of the United Nations Association (UNA-USA), the UN Foundation and the Global Fund for Women. 

First participate yourself at ugc.idp.intermix.org by writing a short message (150 words or less) to be voted on by others - that is key. All ideas are good ideas. And be sure to rate messages written by others - use the green and orange rating boxes. Then, through your social media and email, encourage friends to join this global conversation between the genders and generations: ugc.idp.intermix.org.

Once you have joined, you will be able to read, vote and comment on other people's ideas. At the new moon on August 14, 2015, the highest ranking messages, from the women, from the men, from youth, middle-aged, seniors and overall highest will be sent to Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. Each lunar month following, messages from these six "Voices of Humanity" will be selected and we will continue to send them to Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka. We know we can get the messages on her desk, and with enough participants, expect she will be interested to read and reply.

Suggested topics: Please feel free to set your own topic. A gender related topic is very appropriate for this first round of the Crosstalk, but it is OK to write about something else. Possibilities: the global roles of women and men, violence against women, Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), expanding the scope of the Women's Movement, how to bring in the men, and so forth. You might ask Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka a question, or encourage her. The field is wide open. If you have any thoughts about steps we can take towards human unity, please share!

As its name suggests, the "Crosstalk" is designed to go across the major social channels in a big noisy way. Please keep it civil, but it is OK to change the subject. It is OK to be quick and funny. The unexpected is expected!

Read more: Crowdsourcing the Genders. Together, we can make our world more compassionate and understanding. See also voicesofhumanity.org. And please "like" us on facebook.

The Gender/Generation Crosstalk will soon (Summer, 2015) be complemented by a "geographic slider" so the scope of the Crosstalk can be easily changed from Global to National to Metro and group levels. The idea is that the "Voices of Humanity" will support diversity as well as unity. In conjunction with the geographic slider, an Indigenous Peoples Voice will be implemented and a Disadvantaged Minorities Voice is coming a little further down the road.

The Voices of Humanity will be morale builders whose messages are always new and inspiring. The expectation is that the multitude of local organizations and networks that see the value of uniting humanity will promote the Crosstalk process as an easy way to build a global consciousness. We need a global consciousness to underpin a nonviolent Global Citizens Movement (GCM), and we need the GCM to persuade the nations and religions to cooperate for peace, human rights and sustainability. The simple trick that can make all this happen will be for local groups to make it a practice at their meetings to read aloud just a single one of the latest Crosstalk winners. This ongoing world-wide conversation will create a sense of community at all levels. It is the back-and-forth between the online and the in-person contexts that will make for success.
 

Crosstalk step by step

1. Prepare your message ahead of time so you can use cut and paste to actually post it. 150 words maximum.
2. If you use facebook to register, then it is a little easier and in the future you can log in with a single click. The software does not use or save your list of friends, in case you are wondering.
3. If you do not register with facebook, then go to ugc.idp.intermix.org and begin by clicking the "Join" button on the left. After you register, you will need to click in from an email that will be sent to you, just to confirm it really is you.
4. Check out the difference between "Easy mode" and "Expert mode". If "Expert mode" looks confusing, use easy mode at first.
5. Now you can read and rate the messages that have already been entered by others, as many of them as you have time for.
6. Write your own message by clicking "Add My Message".
7. Be sure to click the "Save" button at the bottom after you have written your message. That's it!

Tips

Click the title of a message to expand it. (The + sign in the upper right will also expand the message.)

The short version of your message can be edited separately to give people an idea of what they will get if they expand the message..

A "thread" is a root message plus replies and replies to replies. The "Threads" pulldown at the top of the forum list gives you control over how each thread in the forum list is displayed. The "None" option shows every message in the list separately, whether root or reply, so in combination with Sort by Date, it is useful for finding the latest entries. The "Tree View" option is a work in progress.
 

Groups and Discussions

InterMix at the group level is intuitive for most people. At the discussion level, though, people sometimes get confused. 

InterMix discussions have multiple participating groups. This capability to exchange messages across group lines distinguishes InterMix from other forms of social media, so it is something new and though simple enough in itself, is not immediately intuitive for all. Please read the following carefully and then play with the Groups and Discussions menu buttons and the "Where am I?" popup. Once you "get" it, InterMix is easy.

Participation is always as a member of one group or another. To change groups click the "Groups" menu button on the left.

Groups join together in open ended discussions. After selecting a group, you can see the list of discussions the group has joined by clicking the "Discussions" menu button on the top of the home/List page.  Select one of the discussions to go to the discussion. In the discussion forum are messages from members of all the groups that have joined that discussion.

After going to a discussion, hover the mouse over the "Where am I?" button on the left under the menu.  Notice that you are participating in the discussion as a member of a particular group. If you start a new thread by clicking "Start New Thread" then that new root message that you add can be viewed in both the discussion and the group you are in. (Messages added in the group, on the other hand, show up only in the group and not in any of the group's discussions.)

The rule is different for replies that are posted in a discussion. They always show up in the group of the root message, and if their group differs from that of the root, then they are listed with their own group name in red so they can be spotted easily.

Easy Mode for discussions has many fewer options. If you get confused, try Easy Mode to get started, but please do not give up on Expert Mode. 

Decision Periods

Discussions may have "decision periods" with rating results by group, gender and age. Both the discussion heading and the  "Where am I?" button on the left will tell you if the current discussion is in a decision period. 

Only the root message of each message thread is eligible to win in a decision period. Replies can also be rated, but they are not eligible to win. To see which messages are currently winning, click the "Results" button at the top of the forum page for the discussion. Root messages in a decision period are also called "candidates".