Don't get me wrong; I think we can all agree that as diarists or writers or bloggers, the main reason we write is because we want others to read our stuff. And here in Daily Kos the best way to know people are reading what we write is by the reply comments posted, tips, and recs. Getting a huge number of reply comments (especially when they are engaging and have substance), tips and recs is our reward.
But in reality, most of the time and for whatever reason, there is little correlation between the quality, importance, and substance of the diaries and their appearance in the rec list, or the number of tips, or comments.
I've been hanging around Daily Kos for about four years now (ignore my current profile info), and during that time I've learned that to get the most value from the site (as a reader), the best thing to do is to ignore the Rec list. It's come to the point that every time I visit, I don't even glance at it.
So what I do is I first look at the title of the diary and/or mouse-over to read the first couple of sentences. If the title or introduction catches my attention, then I read the diary. With time, you also learn to identify the really good writers and when you see they posted something, you know it's likely that what they wrote is going to be of interest to you--that's how you become a "follower."
I've read many very interesting, informative, and well-written diaries that only got a few comments and recs (for whatever reason). Yes, just like with anything else in life, because the site is open to all, there is a huge amount of diaries that may be extremely offensive, petty, or are just not that interesting or well-written--to put it mildly.
But I can attest to the fact that every single day, with just a little bit of effort, you can find true literary gems here. You can find news and information written in very professional journalistic-level prose. And about all kinds of topics--not only politics. And about not only the U.S., but about Europe, or Africa, or Israel, Greece, the Middle East, or the Sun (as in the sun in our solar system).
Also, on quite a few occasions I've been in contact with well-known published writers and media personalities who have contacted me to follow up or comment about something I've written, privately.
The reason I mention that is to encourage anybody that feels passionate about something and likes to write and share their ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and interests, to keep writing diaries regardless of whether they get on the rec list often (or not), or whether they get lots of comments, or tips.
I also think that if you make the effort of writing well, and of expressing your ideas intelligently, the likelihood that your material is going to make an impact (somewhere) increases. What you wrote could be picked up by a radio or TV host, or it could inspire somebody, or provide solace to someone who's going through a hard time, or even start a social movement. Who knows. The written word can be very powerful.
There are many great writers here, but here's a small sample of some of my favorites: Denise Oliver Velez, LaFeminista, slinkerwink, Seneca Doane, Gustogirl, Louisiana 1976, Bob Sloan and his great reports on ALEC, and TomP. Who are your favorite diarists, and why?