Grannydoc pointed this out last week. So I am not addressing a problem that hasn't been addressed before. This diary concerns what to do about the proliferation of non-diaries on this site, only a few of which are Troll-driven, that is really making Daily Kos somewhat difficult to manage, and also making it hard to find diaries of real substance. I am sure many of the one-paragraph diarists do what they do in all sincerity. But as Granny says, it just has to stop. The purpose of this diary is to make a suggestion that I think might improve the site, but I would welcome good suggestions from others.
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It's pretty easy to write a diary. You register your screen name and start typing. As Truman Capote famously observed, there is a big difference between typing and writing. When things cost little, they tend to be used irresponsibly, the so-called tragedy of the commons. The answer to abuse of dkos diary privileges is to make it cost more. No, I am not suggesting a subscription fee. I think the frequent flyer model might work here.
The plan would be that you start without any diary privileges. But you can post comments. Each rec your comment makes earns you a point. Collect enough points and you get to write a diary. Write a diary and score lots of recs, and you earn 2 points per rec. This system would be relatively easy to install, and would have the following advantages:
- No trolls. The day of the troll would be over.
- Writing diaries would represent a "cost" to the writer. He/she would use up some of their rec points. Write a trivial or uninteresting diary and you just blew some hard-earned mojo. So the new system would strongly encourage diarists to write more significant, carefully composed diaries designed to score plenty of recs. Good diarists would be favored and poor diarists would be be discouraged.
- The style of Kos would become a little more journalistic with fewer diatribes, and more analysis. I would think that it would garner a greater readership as a result, and that would be a good thing.
I do hope that this provides some stimulus to discussion and that Markos et al. will be able to glean some useful ideas on how to improve this generally enjoyable site.