I'm working on a project with
PsiFighter37 to develop a blogging community for younger progressives. It can be a bit terrifying and intimidating to post on DKos or other political blogs, as you are all very smart, and make younger writers (certainly myself, at least) feel inadequate, as you all write so eloquently. Too, blogs like DKos don't often deal with issues that younger progressives identify with. As Psifighter37 notes
here there are not a lot of progressive blogs geared toward younger progressives.
We're going to change that. We want to create a blogging community that appeals to young progressives. To do this, we are considering combining the frontpaging and diary of DKos with a social networking apparatus similar to facebook.com or myspace.com. The site would primarily be geared toward progressives under the age of 25-30, providing them the opportunity to create a community of young progressives.
As we envision it, the site would be comprised of three basic elements. The first, and most important, if only slightly, is the ability for users to post diaries. This is in combination with frontpaged posts similar to DKos. These posts would be geared to issues more directly affecting younger progressives. The second aspect of the site would be a social network similar to Facebook.com. This would enable users to enage with other users in a geographic region (NE, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-west, etc). I think that this would infinitely increase the potential for community-building of the site. The site's final feature would allow users to move from online blogging to offline activism. To this end, the site would assist interested young progressives in attaining internships and positions with campaigns at all levels. This would give young progressives the opportunity to get their feet wet in political campaigns, when they might not know how to go about getting involved.
We've worked a little bit on the mission statement of this (entirely theoretical) site. "The mission of unknown is to provide young progressives with the tools to: effectively communicate progressive values with their peers, develop a community of like-minded people across geographical boundaries, actively engage in political activism at the local, state, and national levels, and mold the future leaders of the progressive movement."
I've got four questions for you. First, is this site feasible, or a noble, if a bit naive idea? Secondly, are there any suggestions to make a better community for young progressives? Third, if you are a young progressive, would you participate in this type of community? Finally, if we continue with this idea, what should the name of the site be? Names that have been suggested include: myrevolution.com, and myprogressivefuture.com.
We look forward to hearing from the DKos community regarding the potential for this project. I look forward to reading your comments.