Inspired by DelawareDem's diary about the downfall of Daily Kos, I did a bit of soul searching myself. Why isn't dKos as interesting, as informative, and as intellectually stimulating as before? As Dan Quayle said, 'One word: the Replies Box.'
For those recent additions to the Kossack community, the Replies Box used to be a part of the Hotlist box. Kos took it away before the election to prevent the servers from blowing up, but he never put it back.
Whenever a Kossack would reply to your comment, you would be notified. Once a reply was viewed, it would vanish from the replies box. This way, Kossacks from across the country could carry on conversations hours, even days after the thread has been abandoned. People could debate or converse about whatever they wanted. It was wonderful.
In addition, the only area where we can see if anyone replied to a comment is in the "My Comments" section, which can only be accessed by pressing 3 buttons. It's inefficient so no one does it.
The Replies Box is essential to an open discussion on Daily Kos. Without it, the bloggers become disconnected from each other and lose that special bond once present among Kossacks.