As the extended Thanksgiving holiday provided me with my first real downtime in months, I decided to test the new diary editor-- which, by the way, is a big improvement over the old one. What began as a brief .analysis of the 2006 election in South Carolina grew lengthier than I had planned, but at the end I had a finished product with which I was quite pleased. It was not my finest work, but it was solid, well-researched, and carefully edited, with well-placed links, a little humor, and more than enough substance to provoke thought and discussion
Then I posted it. Last night. At 9:00.
Big mistake.
It got 3 recommends and 12 comments, 7 of which were mine. The only other commenter was a lady who engaged me in a debate over whether the Constitution Party is sufficiently marginalized in our political culture -- which is sort of like debating whether Tom Cruise is a stupid asshole. As my diary plunged rapidly down the list into archive-land, I gave up and went to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, I lost my TU status.
So today, I have decided to conduct an experiment, and fire off a bullshit meta diary to see how much mojo I can garner from twenty minutes of unproductive bitching.
Just kidding. Sort of.
But seriously: I've been thinking about how I've been a member of DailyKos for two years now, but I still don't know how -- or, more importantly, when -- to post a diary in order to get it maximum exposure and spark the most discussion. Sure, I've picked up on a few tricks, mostly concerning what NOT to do -- things that might not violate house rules, but are bad form just the same (e.g., don't put "Breaking" in a title, even though it seems to work sometimes).
But what is the best way, within the bounds of ethics and good taste, for one to get maximum exposure for a diary? That is the question that I submit here tonight. I realize that luck has a lot to do with it, and that one can never predict just how long one's diary will remain on the active list; but I wish to explore here is how large a role skill plays in the process, and what tried-and-true methods other diarists use to make their diaries successful. I would like to get the feedback of other DailyKos members as to what has worked for them before, what they have observed from reading the diaries of others, and what makes them want not only to read others' diaries, but to recommend them, to tip the diarists, to offer comments, and to hang around and engage in discussion with other commenters -- in webmaster jargon, what makes a diary "sticky." It is my hope that enough people will submit suggestions to turn it into a guide of sorts for novice diarists, as well as veterans like me who just don't seem to get it.
I look forward to reading your feedback -- and don't forget to take the poll.
UPDATE: Many of you have posted fantastic comments so far -- well beyond what I imagined both in quantity and in scope. Thanks!