Folks, just thought I'd do a bit of brainstorming on how those of us from SSP can help each other during the transition.
Yes, there have been difficulties during the first couple of days, but I think they've been outweighed by the hopeful signs. Yes, I remain a skeptic of the move, but as I told David, I want to give DKE an honest shot.
To that end, I've come up with a few things that we can do as swingnuts (aka users who've come from the Swing State Project) to help. I'll update the diary with other reasonable suggestions.
1) Be kind to people from DK. Most Kossacks are probably unfamiliar with the way we do things at DKE/SSP. It's OK to start a message with something like "You may not be familiar with the community standards we have in the Daily Kos Elections Subsite," etc, and then follow up with a reference to or a quote from the DKE Mission Statement..
2) Use the DKE "Mission Statement". If you forget the link, it's available in the right hand column of DKE, under "Elections's Blogroll". I've found it useful to cite one or more of the following paragraphs
The most crucial thing to know about DKE is that our mantra is politics not policy. That is to say, we stay laser-focused on the process and outcome of the electoral horserace, and we avoid debates about policy issues. This isn't to say policy questions never come up, but when they do, it's in the context of how they'll affect what happens on the campaign trail.
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We also try hard to separate out our personal preferences from our analysis. DKE is a progressive, Democratic site, and we never hide our partisan leanings. But while we root for Team Blue, we aren't cheerleaders: If the news is bad for us or good for the other side, we won't hesitate to report on it, and we'll give clear-eyed analysis no matter what.
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We understand that this approach may be different than what you're used to, but the great thing about Daily Kos is that if you are interested in debating policy questions on the merits, there are many, many venues for doing so without ever leaving the site. We just ask that if you see a DK Elections diary, you join us in sticking to a discussion of the politics, not policy.
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We also always try to support our arguments and opinions with evidence, rather than make flat, conclusory assertions. Evidence can take many forms, including (but not limited to) polls, newspaper articles, or even personal observations. And links are always greatly appreciated. The conversation is always more interesting when people bring support for their arguments to the table.
I think it can help to say these are the DKE community standards set out by David Nir, Daily Kos Political Director. Just don't push it into anyone's face.
3) I suspect most DK users will come to our DKE discussions directly from the DK front page. In other words, they may not know that we discuss things differently. If I understand correctly, there's a time lag between when the daily digests and election-specific diaries are posted here on DKE, and when they make it to the DK front page. The lag could be an hour, or it could be a day or more.
4) Use the rating system. If a swingnut makes a comment, recommend it! If a swingnut writes a diary, tip it -- and click "Recommend" at the bottom of the diary. That's how especially swingnuts newer to DK can get to "Trusted User" status. (The criteria to achieve Trusted User status is secret.)
Those of us who are "Trusted Users" can help defend other swingnuts. One key additional privilege we have is the ability to "hide rate" a comment. Click here for the criteria for hide ratings. (aka "troll rate", "donut")
(I plan to make a special effort to help defend our fellow swingnuts who are not progressives, and hope that others do the same. This includes Republicans who join under the same conditions as when they joined SSP. -- be respectful, and do not cheerlead for Republican candidates.)
5) For those of us with "Trusted User" status, be careful with the "hide ratings". But then again, if you see a personal insult directed at another member, especially a fellow swingnut, don't hesitate to use the "hide rating" either. (My personal standard is an insult that would have gotten a new user banned from SSP.)
However, I don't think it's appropriate to "hide rate" a user who just violates SSP standards w/r/t avoiding policy discussions. (I admit, I've had to resist the temptation to do so more than once in the past couple of days.) I know that David has been jawboning such users. We can do the same.
6) Encourage users who are newer to DKE to back up their assertions with data. I think that perhaps is the most important community standard.
7) If you encounter a DK user who won't conform to DKE community standards, or is just plain mean to other swingnuts, I presume David N would want to know. To contact him privately, click his username (at the head of any of his diaries), which should bring up his profile. In the right hand column, under "See More By David Nir", click Send New Message.
8) Enjoy our new home! While I miss the green, have fears of this brave new world, and wish the DK4 software would respond better, there are advantages as well. I think the private message function will be especially useful.
-- additional suggestions below --
9) It's OK to ignore comments that are just "irritating".. We are here to back up our arguments with data, and there will always be people in a larger community who refuse to listen to counterpoints. (For David's POV on this, see http://www.dailykos.com/... )
10) Final bit (added May 6) -- encourage users to avoid provoking others. David, James, Crisitunity, JeffMD always discouraged us from provoking our Republican friends into pure policy discussions or their candidate preferences. We as SSP/DKE users can encourage the same with others.
11) Another final suggestion (May 7) -- for diaries directed at the DKE audience, add the following code to the end of your diaries:
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This diary has been posted to DK Elections, an official Daily Kos sub-site. Please read the DKE <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/03/972535/-Welcome-to-Daily-Kos-Elections!-%28DKE-Mission-Statement%29">Mission Statement</a>. DKE's focus is on electoral politics rather than policy. Welcome aboard!
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This is per David N's suggestion It should look like this in your diaries.
This diary has been posted to DK Elections, an official Daily Kos sub-site. Please read the DKE
Mission Statement. DKE's focus is on electoral politics rather than policy. Welcome aboard!
Post-final bit: a number of regular DK users have posed a number of questions w/r/t the differences between DK and DKE. IMO, most are covered in the DKE Mission Statement. But there are other questions too. While I think a good majority of them are now covered in the comments, from David Nir and JamesL (and probably other DKE moderators that I've missed)
I've done my best to interpret what I've heard and seen from David Nir, et al, to try to answer some of the questions. But I am just a single SSP/DKE user, and not part of the management of DKE. Some questions may be best addressed to him directly, I suggest by private message.