If there are plans to make any changes to the way this site works there is one feature I would like. I would like to add a personalized filter to the "Recommended Diary" list that would allow me to say, "Don't included in the list any diary that matches these filter criteria (such as subject line, author, etc.)". I still want the traditional number of diaries in the list. I just want them to be recommended diaries on subjects that I might want to see.
I've adopted a "no candidate diaries" ban for the last couple of months. Unfortunately, these diaries make up about 80% of the recommended diary list. Just imagine all the other good non-candidate diaries that I am missing because of this clogging.
UPDATE: The critics of this proposal have nearly all said "just don't click on the diaries you don't want to read".
Duh! I never thought of that!
Of course that wasn't the problem I was trying to address with my proposal. The problem is this: when the precious real estate of the Recommended Diaries box is dominated by topics which I have no interest in I know that there are several other topics that are getting recommended but which never make it on to that list. This proposal would allow me to see those recommended diaries. That is not something that can be done by simply "not clicking on the diaries".
(BTW, this isn't censorship, since I'm not saying that people can't write diaries about topics I (or anyone else who uses filters) aren't interested in.)
DailyKOS is my first stop on the internet. Or, at least it used to be. The candidate/screaming diaries are drowning out what used to be useful about this site: information and activism (of the non-candidate variety). This suggestion might restore some of that usefulness by allowing people who wouldn't read the candidate diaries (or any other topic they aren't interested in) to still find diaries that fellow readers have found useful.
What could be wrong with giving people that kind of choice?