Welcome to another addition of New Rules! This is an ongoing series in which I compile some of my least favorite meta trends on Daily Kos and then complain about them. You can read the previous diary here.
As I said last time, these rules are mostly in good fun. Mostly.
New Rule: Enough with the "thanks for the Rec List" updates already!
You just wrote a diary on Daily Kos. Congrats. That same diary got a lot of recs and made it onto the Big Bad Rec List. Congrats again. Guess what I will not congratulate you for? That update you put in at the end of your diary thanking everybody who hit the "Recommend" button.
Your diary was great before I read that. It had lots of good information, analysis, links.....then you had to go screw the whole thing up by turning the diary into your friggin' Academy Award acceptance speech. "OMG! You like me! You really, really like me!" No, they don't really, really like you. They like your diary -- they couldn't care less who wrote it. To them, you're just a series of pixels on the screen who's lucky to have an outlet to talk about politics on the intertubes, when you could have been spending your time watching porn. If anything, shouldn't you be thanking the internet for porn?
If you want to find ways to celebrate getting a Rec-listed diary, here are a few suggestions: Clap your hands. Eat some ice cream. Have a cold one. Do some jumping jacks. Crank up the Vanilla Ice Beatles. Make love to your spouse, significant other, or yourself. Finish choreographing that fabulous dance you've been working on that you will show to exactly no one, because you suck at dancing and the only time you'll ever want to bust it out is in celebration of your blog. But please save the gushy meta-histrionics for the people on Oscar night.
That's right, I'm talking to YOU, SuperBowlXX of April 28, 2009!
(Head, meet desk)
New Rule: If you leave a tip or a rec for a diary, and then leave a comment, you have to say more than just "tip'd/rec'd."
Look, we already know you tip'd and rec'd the diary. We know that because you put a tip in the tip jar and then pressed the "Recommend" button in said diary. Do we need to see your comment confirming that you did indeed tip the tip jar and recommend the diary? That's like hearing a speech by an elected official, going up to the microphone during the Q&A session, and saying nothing except "Clapped/Cheered."
In a related note.......
New Rule: If you post a diary on Daily Kos, you must stick around for at least 30 minutes after you hit "Publish Diary" to respond to people's comments and questions.
This rule applies for all Daily Kos users, but I'm directing it mostly towards the elected officials and candidates who post diaries here, and then leave shortly afterward.
Picture this: You're at a town hall meeting. You're giving a speech at said town hall. Some people from the crowd have questions about your policy choices. Would you turn around and ignore their questions altogether when the Q&A session comes up? No, you wouldn't. You would listen to those people and do your best to answer their questions adequately.
Daily Kos is basically another town hall, only it's online, and it's very widely read by lots of politically motivated voters. People are going to ask questions and scrutinize your policy positions. Sticking around after you post a diary to answer those questions shows good form. And hey, if you've got a killer diary on the big bad Rec List, feel free to think of your diary as a rock concert. The comments that come in after publication is your after-party. You wouldn't want to ditch the after-party before it's even begun, would you?
Now, I know some might argue, "But some people are busy and have really busy schedules! You can't expect our elected officials to stick around on the internets to answer our questions, do you?"
Well actually, I do. They apparently had enough time to write the diary, so why don't they have enough time to respond to some comments? I'm only asking for them to stick around for 30 minutes after publication. I mean, if they're running to a meeting or some engagement, why not wait until afterward to post the diary, or at least until a time that's convenient? Hell, even Ashley Judd stuck around for a while to answer questions from Kossacks during a live Q&A last year!
Some caveats to this rule:
- If an emergency comes up -- something unexpected that requires the diarist's immediate attention -- then go deal with that. Life happens.
- It's not required or expected that you respond to EVERY comment in your diary. That would be both impossible and impractical. Respond to as many as you feel like -- just make sure you respond to at least some of them.
- If you're Ashley Judd, ignore this rule. Sorry, but I give her a free pass.
New Rule: Quit stealing everybody's mojo by replying to the tip jar!
Lots of people got to the diary before you. They had the courtesy to leave their comments in the appropriate space. You, on the other hand, just HAD to budge everybody to the front of the line just so you could get a couple of extra tips. This is a practice known as "top-hopping." Your comment was sooooo important and funny, you just had to reply to the tip jar so you could hop to the top of the diary, didn't ya?
Lemme tell you something, hot shot. You're just like that bully who stole my lunch money and budged in front of my place in line at recess in 1st grade. I was going to buy some pizza and Fritos that day, but that's a dream from which I was forever robbed. You wanna steal my lunch money again? Listen to me, buster: Every time you top-hop a diary, a little kid somewhere gets his lunch money stolen. How could you be so heartless?
That's right, I'm talking to YOU, SuperBowlXX of January 27 and February 4, 2010!
(Head, meet desk again)
And finally, New Rule: Stop telling commenters who criticize a diarist's opinions to "get out" of the diary because you don't like what they're saying.
This is Daily Kos, not your private bedroom. Every user here has the right to express criticism of another user's opinions, diary content, and presentation. If you're going to opine about politics on a political blog, you better be ready to defend your opinions when somebody comes in to disagree with you. It's a big internet out there, so you're guaranteed to find at least one person who does.
Besides, if you're confident that you're correct about a particular issue, prove it! Back up your points with substantive criticism, analysis, and questions. Engaging in civil, productive debate is a valuable learning and teaching tool for everyone on this website -- by arguing your points clearly and cogently, you may teach somebody something new, and you might learn something new from people with whom you're debating.
Yes, there are trolls out there, and no, you're not obligated to respond to every comment. But remember, not everybody who expresses criticism in a diary is a threadjacking troll. Telling a user who expresses valid criticism in a civil way to "get out" of a diary or refrain from criticizing the diary -- without addressing that person's substantive points -- shows a complete lack of respect for others who are reading the diary, and only demonstrates that you're not secure enough in the positions you claim to support.
Note: The one guy whose diaries you should never, ever criticize under any circumstances is jotter. Seriously, that guy's the man.