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Ali
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« on: June 07, 2011, 12:45:36 PM » |
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Hi everyone,
I wanted to get your feedback on an idea that one of our engineers had for the innovation iteration that is going on right now at Kiva. (For those of you who don't know, the innovation iteration is a two week period wherein engineers create their own features to build for the Kiva site.)
One engineer wants to add borrower salutations (Mr. and Ms.) to borrower profiles, so profiles will turn out looking like the attached file.
If a borrower's name is listed as John, he would be Mr. John, or if a borrower's name was listed as Samira Kerimova, she would be Ms. Samira Kerimova.
Would this be something you would like to see? Would it be more respectful to borrowers? Let us know your thoughts!
Thanks!
Ali
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« Last Edit: June 07, 2011, 02:45:33 PM by Ali »
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AccountAbility
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« Reply To This #1 on: June 07, 2011, 02:10:30 PM » |
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Considering all the current tinkering with just first names and "anonymous", not to mention groups, I think there would be more disruption in these kind of situations than the small amount gained from the addition of salutations.
And that doesn't even touch on the ambiguous situations where it isn't even clear from the loan write-up what would be the appropriate salutation.
Just my thoughts.
Dan
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We are loaners!
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iampaul
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« Reply To This #2 on: June 07, 2011, 02:11:03 PM » |
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Would this be something you would like to see? Would it be more respectful to borrowers? Let us know your thoughts!
My thought is that it should be left to the borrowers and the FPs to make such a determination. I think it is disrespectful not to honor their own cultural traditions of honorific and overlay someone else's concept of what is appropriate. Many of the loan descriptions I read now do include such honorifics and, where I am familiar enough with the original language in which those descriptions are written, it appears they are being translated accurately with regard to their inclusion or exclusion. I have trusted that they are being translated accurately for us in all cases to reflect the original intent and culture. Why mess with that? Paul |
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waywardcats
Kiva Supporter
SF Bay Area
Gender: 
Posts: 1950
Xania, Crete
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« Reply To This #3 on: June 07, 2011, 02:20:55 PM » |
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My thought is that it should be left to the borrowers and the FPs to make such a determination. I think it is disrespectful not to honor their own cultural traditions of honorific and overlay someone else's concept of what is appropriate. Many of the loan descriptions I read now do include such honorifics and, where I am familiar enough with the original language in which those descriptions are written, it appears they are being translated accurately with regard to their inclusion or exclusion. I have trusted that they are being translated accurately for us in all cases to reflect the original intent and culture. Why mess with that?
Paul
I absolutely agree.  -Kerry- |
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"Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity - men and women - to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams." - President Barack Obama, June 4, 2009
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cpbailey
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« Reply To This #4 on: June 07, 2011, 02:34:26 PM » |
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Some of the greetings already have a greeting, and it states that the name is a form of greeting NOT that all the women have the same name. So Mrs. Senora Maria Last-Name doesn't make sense. (too lazy to get the tilda on Senorita) Also, if a medical doctor were working selling perfumes or tilling a farm, it would be easy to downgrade his/her title to Mr./Mrs.
Colette
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Jan & John
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« Reply To This #5 on: June 07, 2011, 03:11:29 PM » |
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I think we might end up with a lot of Mr Anonymous and Mrs Anonymous... And I certainly think that Mr and Mrs are only North American (English speaking) terms, and heaven forbid if we try to lend to gender neutral persons or transexuals, oh my, in my part of the town, assigning salutations could be construed to be quite insulting unless you know for sure! seems like quite a wasteful use of valuable time... and I for one, am very glad you asked the question before putting it into practice. thanks -jan- who prefer *not* to be called Mrs jan nor Mr john... and get darn annoyed with these automatic computer programs that insist our names be capitalized... but we won't get into that  |
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"The place God calls you to is the place where your deepest gladness and the world's deepest hunger meet" - Fredrick Buechner (in Wishful Thinking). "Every child should be well born, well fed, well taught, well housed and well treated." Maude Riley, Alberta Council on Child and Family Welfare 1923 "Each of us feels that we are just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less without that missing drop." --Mother Teresa 1 click per person per day on this link means 1 additional cent for the Fistula Foundation - thanks! |
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alan
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« Reply To This #6 on: June 07, 2011, 04:30:18 PM » |
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In agreeing with the comments above, I do want to honour the fact that the intent of the suggestion is to be respectful to the borrowers, which is laudable. That said, we all know where the road paved with good intentions goes....  |
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"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime."
-Aristotle
"When I feed the poor they call me a saint; when I ask why people are poor they call me a communist."
-Dom Helder Carrera
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David2051
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« Reply To This #7 on: June 07, 2011, 06:13:15 PM » |
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Hi Ali, Thanks so much for starting the conversation here! This is what I found on wiki... The salutation "Dear" in combination with a name or a title is by far the most commonly used salutation in both British and American English, in both formal and informal correspondence. It is commonly followed by either by an honorific and a surname, such as "Dear Mr. Smith", or by a given name, such as "Dear John". However, it is not common in English to use both a title of address and a person's given name: "Dear Mr. John Smith" would normally not be a correct form. I think it is extremely important that we treat borrowers with the utmost respect and dignity, and the intention of this proposal to use titles for Kiva borrowers is clearly commendable. I would, however, be very uncomfortable seeing borrowers addressed as "Mr. John" or "Miss Catherine". In my mind a title and first name combination is reminiscent of the form of address used between individuals of vastly different social standing. This is sometimes seen today between children and adults in classroom situations... To me, it doesn't really show the respect that was intended. |
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JohnR
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« Reply To This #8 on: June 07, 2011, 08:10:26 PM » |
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I agree with the others. Sorry, but this isn't a very good idea and I hope it's not approved. No offense to the engineer. I appreciate your asking.
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Looking for serenity you have come to the monestary.
Looking for serenity I am leaving the monestary.
Soen Nakagawa
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Ali
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« Reply To This #9 on: June 07, 2011, 11:40:28 PM » |
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Thanks so much, everyone, for taking the time to think through this and share your feedback. We will NOT be launching this feature, and we really appreciate your thoughtful responses!
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AccountAbility
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« Reply To This #10 on: June 08, 2011, 11:12:42 AM » |
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Ali - Thank you so much for seeking this feedback here prior to moving ahead with potential "enhancements." Hopefully we can be a useful resource.  Dan |
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