India forums needs to be more inclusive! *Admin's Reply PG-6* - Page 3

Originally posted by: atominis

I have been on IF since 2011 as a member and was a silent reader earlier. Without a doubt it is one of the most popular sites out there. But what is lacking is a more inclusive representation.

No offense but I find many users are largely NRIs or outside India. Ones actually based in India are comparatively less. Gender wise also it is heavily skewed towards female members. Male members are comparatively few. Age wise it seems either members are too young or middle aged. I mean broader cross section is less represented in age groups.

I see often members register but wean off because they are unable to find those with similar age group, region or gender. I personally know a few who found it hard to stay on.

I request IF to take some steps to make forum more inclusive and not mainly NRI or female dominated.

Just pointed out what I felt in my IF experience. No offense.

Originally posted by: atominis

Hence asking, is this India Forums? Where is "India" here?

Yes, it's true that there are less Indians and less males, but the question is, how could IF have a wider demographic? I don't see any way so far?

Just see this thread from Bollywood section - https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/bollywood/4348278/in-india-a-woman-is-raped-every-22-minutes-freida-pinto

They post some news on crime in India and then non Indians jump in to make gross generalisations on how scary or pathetic India is or how it is like other backward countries where women are treated like trash and even babies are raped!

Then when we report such posts, still no action is taken.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen people bash India even if they have not visited the country.

Originally posted by: atominis

Hence asking, is this India Forums? Where is "India" here?

The "India" lies in the fact that the entire website is based off of Indian television shows. It lies in the fact that the website is dedicated to Indian actresses and actors. You mention the term 'inclusive' yet you rule out NRIs. If you're looking for India-Forums to be defined by members living only in India, then the correct term is 'exclusivity'.

Might I interest you in the full form of 'NRI'? Non-resident Indian. Yes, I live in Canada. Yes, I've been to India. Yes, I make 'ignorant' remarks about the country where my parents hail from. Where my roots are. But so do citizens of India.

It's impossible for Vijay to control who joins the website. Unless he restricts this website for other countries that are not India. =/ Which.. once again, is 'exclusivity'. As a side note.. astonishingly, most of the members I've come across are from India. I've met a select few NRIs so I was genuinely surprised to the opposite being brought up here.

I know the full form of NRI. You need not tell me. Thank you.

Where did I say there should be no NRIs here?

All I am discussing is the lack of those who live in India. Indians.

I always came across more NRIs and foreigners here. And plenty of insulting, ignorant, generalising remarks on India and Indians, against which no action was taken (more often than not).

It's not like Indians are not online. They do have net access. But somehow this site has way more NRIs than Indians.

Indian and Non Resident Indian are NOT the same.

The team behind the site, should try to attract the base it could be lacking. Either through new improvements or marketing initiatives if possible.

I raised a concern and made a request to admin. I'm not asking him to control membership.

Just today, an NRI from the US has posted stuff bashing all Indians, calling all Indian men sexist a-holes who are getting rejected everywhere, losing internships and called India rape capital of the world. When given clarification that everything cannot be generalised like that, she said maybe I was living a luxurious life this is why I was not abused and no nothing about abuse, sexism of Indian men. 😲


I see gross generalisations and blatantly racist posts daily from NRIs who think their US or UK represents whole world or global perception (as that NRI user wrote). They have the gall to bash India based on isolated cases or sometimes over flimsy reasons like criticism of a celeb or failure of a film or TV show.

See - https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/bollywood/4347037/why-the-my-choice-video-was-brilliant

We wouldn't have to see so many such posts and likes on such stuff if actual Indians were there on this forum.

The Pakistani serials forum also has India bashing comments.

No action taken on them though.

In EHT forum also we had racist posts bashing Indians on issues of rape, making fun of Indians' English and mocking how Indians called unrelated boys or girls as bhaiya or didi. No action was taken on such posts.

Heavily dominated by NRIs or foreigners, this forum makes one from India feel like minority.

Originally posted by: atominis

It's not like Indians are not online. They do have net access. But somehow this site has way more NRIs than Indians.

The answer to your request or question lies in your comment. Exactly. If Indians do have access to the internet, choosing to become a member on IF is their choice. You can't dictate who joins the website and who doesn't.

How do you propose to make IF more 'inclusive' for people living in India? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Originally posted by: Angel-Jot.

The answer to your request or question lies in your comment. Exactly. If Indians do have access to the internet, choosing to become a member on IF is their choice. You can't dictate who joins the website and who doesn't.

How do you propose to make IF more 'inclusive' for people living in India? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Please see previous pages of this topic and the discussion.

I am not dictating who joins the website. I am only saying there are less Indians here and too many NRIs and foreigners, an imbalance of sorts which is why it is hard to relate to any discussion. Therefore the admins should try to sort this out by trying to attract more Indians (who actually live in India and known firsthand what life is like here).

Please stop accusing me of dictating who joins the site or not. I am only raising concern and posting a request here to make efforts to correct imbalance.

The Beauty of India lies in its diversity and similar holds true for India forums...we dont have to follow a particular set of rules to make it Indian ..the fact is that this site runs on Indian soap & Bollywood discussions primarily and hosts interviews/ articles related to Indian television & Bollywood makes it evident and rather this site is a platform that showcases an aspect of India to the world and gives ppl a chance from across the globe to discuss that aspect .

About Indians being on India forums ,well I think there are plenty of them & even if they werent I would probably blame that on the fact that people in india have ready access to soaps on their TV sets as they air and that they have people around in real to discuss them which might not be the case for those from elsewhere around the globe since its not likely that they have a bunch of people around who are interested in Indian soaps so its more beneficial and suited for them to discuss it on a virtuual platform :)

Oh and about Boys being on this site Oh well i dont expect many to be watching ekta soaps and discussing them ...guys would prefer a sports discussion platform or a tech related platform over a soap /bollywood discussion platform any day in my opinion ...so if these sections of IF are made more attractive and popular then we might see the shift 😊

And the bit abt India bashing etc -well when controversial stuff will be shown you will get strong opinions and comments and one shud realize its not just IF but any social platform operating as a Forum and not a Fanclub will face this issue cause its very easy to type veiled behind a screen and there is only so much one can do to stop that .Its upto an individual to respect this cyber freedom .