STICK 'EM UP!
YOU'VE BROKEN THE RULES! If your diary's tags have brought you here read on. |
As the illegal domestic spying scandal unfolds and as midterms approach, your discretion as a member of this community will be CRITICAL. I ask that we all exercise our discretion with more judgment in two key areas: submitting entries and recommending diaries. |
"I think we will win the Congress," Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said, breaking the unwritten rule against raising expectations.
"Everything is moving in our direction. If it keeps moving in our direction, it's very reasonable to say there will be a Democratic Senate and House," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. |
"This box once belonged to a girl named Pandora. She opened it and evil controlled the land for 1,000 years." |
Leave nothing behind but footprints. |
I say, please, shut up. It's not as reasonable as Schumer makes it that we will win back the Senate. It's slightly more possible that we may make gains in the House, perhaps enough to reclaim the majority, but the election is seven months away. |
It pains me to write the word "official", since this site was always very organic in self-governance, without a strong hand from dKos HQ. But given the site's growth, it was inevitable that something more official had to be put together. |
Let's just not talk about it. |
"It's the only way accross."
This is a Democratic blog, a partisan blog. One that recognizes that Democrats run from left to right on the ideological spectrum, and yet we're all still in this fight together. We happily embrace centrists like NDN's Simon Rosenberg and Howard Dean, conservatives like Martin Frost and Brad Carson, and liberals like John Kerry and Barack Obama. Liberal? Yeah, we're around here and we're proud. But it's not a liberal blog. It's a Democratic blog with one goal in mind: electoral victory. And since we haven't gotten any of that from the current crew, we're one more thing: a reform blog. The battle for the party is not an ideological battle. It's one between establishment and anti-establishment factions. And as I've said a million times, the status quo is untenable. |
Diaries should be substantive. A good guideline is that if you don't have at least three solid paragraphs to write about your subject, you should probably post a comment in an open thread, or in a recent diary or front-page post that covers a topic relevant to what you wish to write about. |
"Most of the clues are pretty self-explanitory." |
"It's not the use of the term "breaking" that bothers me--hey, if it's really a breaking story, feel free." |
But let's be clear about something--you're not "breaking" a damn thing. You are just faster at repeating something than everyone else. And to those of you who lost the little contest to be first, just accept it and shut the hell up about it. Please, I beg you, don't bore us with rubbish about how your diary didn't get any recommends, and how unfair that is, or what a great bloody humanitarian you are for taking it down. Please, just spare us. |
Some topics which tend to make for poor diaries: Breaking news. Something you just saw on a TV show. Something currently on the front page of a major news site (eg, New York Times). Something currently on the front page of a major blog (eg, Atrios). |
The servers are crashing, the servers are crashing! |
Whew! I hope it wasn't our flame-war that caused the servers to crash. |
With a seemingly endless sea of material at our fingertips, it's remarkably easy to punch an idea in and come up with a source that seems to support your theory or claim. But part of our duty as bloggers is to weigh the credibility and reliability of sources we link to. Many times,you'll be surprised what a quick fact-check on your source may prove. A minute's worth of googling can save this community days worth of debate. |
What makes for a good diary: Anything which showcases original research or original analysis. Political calls to action with substantive information on how to get involved. News (plus analysis) on interesting/relevant topics that are not widely discussed. |
What makes a good entry?
"What do I need to do to get you to shut up?" |
You don't need to know about me, I don't need to know about you, we just need to work together. |
"Calling out" other site users by name in diary titles is prohibited. Diaries which "call out" another by name tend to needlessly inflame. If you feel compelled to address another user's comments or diaries in a diary of your own, please do so cautiously. Avoid ad hominems and stick with substantive, constructive criticism only. |
Diaries which engage in wild speculation without any proof are strongly discouraged. Repeatedly posting diaries consisting largely or entirely of wild speculation is an abuse of site policy. Bear in mind that that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence | .
Take me to the Kos!
"You're leading me on a wild goose-chase." |
Disrupt the Kos, or "I'll blow her brains out." |
Diarists are strongly encouraged to back up all assertions with facts (and preferably links to supporting materials) whenever possible. Use reputable sources whenever possible. If you can't find a reputable source that supports your position, then perhaps reconsider writing your diary. |
This election year will be a year of action for our community. We'll fact-check, research, google, and analyze every detail of every race. Traditionally, such valuable contributions to this community have easily made it to the recommended list where they get the exposure they deserve. But lately, I've seen too many excellent diaries buried in a mass of pithy livejournal posts or single-link entries.
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Now I will disrupt the Kos! MUAHAHAHA! "It's the content the matters, not the package." |
"Track my signal!" |
Hotlinking images without permission is prohibited. Hotlinking means using the [img src] tag to display an image on a diary which is hosted on someone else's server. Hotlinking, especially on a site as popular as this one, can cost people real money in bandwidth costs. It's essentially stealing. If we get complaints from sites about images being hotlisted, we will consider that as possible grounds for banning. |
Deliberately inflammatory titles, or titles which contain attacks, are prohibited. Also, while this site doesn't prohibit profanity, please think very carefully before using any curse words in a diary title. |
Crap, I've lost my trusted status!
"Find the spear, find the spear!" |
"If you want to hide something, do it in plain sight." |
As a corollary, diarists should always make it clear when they are expressing an opinion - please do not assert opinions as facts, as this tends to be needlessly inflammatory. |
Diaries which are deliberately designed to inflame are prohibited. |
We meet again! |
"I, um, am a big fan of your work." |
Copying and pasting complete copyrighted articles without permission from the copyright holder is absolutely prohibited by both this site's policies and copyright laws. Copyright infringement can expose both you and the site's owners to financial liability. Just don't do it. |
Duplicative diaries are prohibited. Please scan the recent diaries and front-page posts before starting to compose your own diary. A repeat diary with minimal analysis or originality (particularly on "breaking news" items) is prohibited. Such diaries are subject to deletion without notice. But if you write on a recently-covered subject and provide original analysis or research, that is acceptable and in fact welcome. |
"It doesn't have to be this way. We're going to rule the world. We could be together." |
"Get your own geek." |
Diaries on contested Democratic primaries: Be positive. Make an affirmative case for your favored candidate. If you do criticize a Democratic candidate, don't make ad hominem attacks - stick to substantive criticisms, and back them up with hard evidence. Be very cautious if you go after a fellow Democrat. Odds are, that candidate will have supporters on this site. Reasonable people will accept reasonable criticism - unfair criticism will only needlessly inflame. And remember, deliberately inflammatory diaries are prohibited. |
Diaries which contain hateful or defamatory writing are prohibited. |
"Now the power of the spear is mine!" |
"Because the things that make life worth living can't be thought here." |
"Open Thread" diaries: Diaries designed to serve as "open threads" for discussion on major, breaking events (such as a speech or hearing) are permissible. Please provide links to information about the events (such as news articles or webcasts) in such diaries. Do not post duplicate diary open threads unless an earlier open thread exceeds 150 comments. |
When writing a diary on a political race, prefixing the title is always helpful. For example: FL-Gov (Florida governor's race), NY-Sen (New York senate race), CA-25 (California's 25th congressional district race). |
"I believe this belongs in the library." |
"You're not the incredible pansy I thought you were." |
Do not use ALL CAPS or multiple exclamation marks !!! in diary titles. |
Please read an entire diary before hitting "Recommend." Recommending based on just the first few paragraphs or the author's name is strongly discouraged. |
"And you are not the raving-psychopath that I originally thought you were...but you are, in a good way." |
"I believe one day you could become a great librarian." |
But here's the fact -- every person who has risen to a position of prominence in the diaries started with the exact same limitations and challenges. Everyone on the site has equality of opportunity. If your words resonate with enough people, chances are you'll separate from the masses. If not, then you won't. It's like anything else in life. |