Markos says:
Daily Kos traffic has nearly tripled from January 2005, and that traffic had nearly tripled from January 2004 when Dean hit the Iowa buzzsaw, and those growth trends (and those across the progressive blogosphere in general) aren't slowing.
Georgia says: WOW. (Don't worry, I won't be speaking in the third person in this diary. It's safe to keep reading).
Those of us who spend a ridiculous amount of time on this site know that there is an ebb and flow in the both the quality and quantity of diaries. Since "Hey! Newbie" I've learned to stay back and kind of let new and old users alike adjust the quality of the "work product" on this site by themselves. But, I'm writing this diary because I feel we need to address the issue of signal to noise if we're to continue being effective in the challenges that will be presented to us.
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.
We've always had to sift through the noise to pick out these gems. But lately--at least for me--it's become more difficult to do so. I have to click on 5, 10, 15 "open thread" material diaries to finally find a piece that I think should be representative of this amazing community.
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.
SUBMITTING ENTRIES
I'm going to be blunt here, not to signal anyone out, but just to express my own personal opinion. Two paragraphs of quick commentary does not a diary make. A link and an excerpt is not diary material. A link to a poll is not diary material. Is it important to bring links to the community's attention? Of course! Give me a link to a poll and I'll freep that bad boy in an instant. But please, give me the link in an open thread.
Now, Markos specifically says in his rules the following:
"No single-line diaries. If you want to bring attention to a single link, or make a one-line pithy comment, head on over to the Open Threads, or an appropriate post or diary entry."
Unfortunately, either out of excitement to post or just plain disregard for the rules which keep this site sane, too many of us are violating that rule. (By the way, check out my mad html skillz. hehe)
Do we need more open threads? Could that be part of the problem? If so, please, let me or another front pager know, or perhaps we can ask Markos to set up automated threads to appear with greater frequency. We'll do out part to make sure your needs are met so you can post your links and pithy comments there, just let us know.
RECOMMENDS
I also ask members to exercise some discretion in recommending diaries. Again, I'm not telling anyone what to recommend. Your privilege to chose what appears on the list is purely yours, and yours alone. However, I urge everyone, before recommending, let's ask ourselves if this is a diary we think should represent the entire community.
This is especially true, from my perspective, with diaries that make extraordinary claims. We welcome the exploration of ideas here. Remember how our community investigated possible voter fraud and organized suppression in 2004? Those were controversial claims, but we backed up our claims with sources and data. Reputable sources and data.
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, I think, 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.
As for recommending said diaries, think of the recommended list as our panel of guests on a cable news show. When you click "recommend" ask yourself if this is something you think is worthy of being highlighted for an audience of millions. Ask yourself if this is a work you think is worthy of more discussion by our community. Let's filter out the noise a bit, find the gems, and let them speak for all of us on that list.
RATINGS
I'll keep this point short and sweet. Fly-by troll ratings or low ratings without explanation do nothing to raise the level of discourse on this site. Let's explain our low ratings. Let's bring the debate out of the drop-down 1s and 2s and into the actual comments, where we can can disagree in a substantive, and hopefully constructive manner.
I desperately want this community to keep being the amazing, action-orientated machine it is. We have a lot of work ahead of us. A little discretion can go a long way towards streamlining this site, and increasing our effectiveness to advance the Democratic agenda.
Thanks! Gotta go hand a hankie now to meta Jesus who is weeping in the corner.... ;)
Update [2006-2-1 15:44:46 by georgia10]:: Just a note that hopefully, in the next site upgrade, some of these problems may be addressed. Until then, like I said, it all depends on our discretion. :)
Update [2006-2-1 16:12:2 by georgia10]:: lol. Use your discretion as you wish, but there are some WAY better diaries for the rec list than this one. I just wanted to get this of my chest. And, I confess, I wanted to use BIG RED LETTERS for once. Just once.