I've been a member of DailyKos since September 24th, 2004. Back in those days, a 5-digit UID got you "what do you know, n00b!" comments. How times have changed for the better! You're probably wondering why the Lurker title? Follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold, but not until after the Really Important Part Of This Diary:
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When I first join anything, I tend to lurk. Feel out the territory. Well, truth be told I don't want to look like an ass in front of people, but we'll just pretend I said that using my inside voice :). I went looking in the archives (thank you Search!) and found the following timeline:
Joined dKos: September 24th 2004
First comment on site: October 14th 2004
First C&J: January 13th, 2005
Disclaimer: I did find a comment from the day before that was in the day's C&J. So maybe the Official C&J Start Date is 1/12/05. There are, however, no prior comments hiding in the Caymans, I promise!
I joined after months of a colleague sending me links from the site. I commented after lurking for nearly a month. Even that first C&J, it's clear I'd been lurking for a while -
"CHEERS to all you C&J regulars that make my mid-morning break that much more fun."
My first C&J was my 75th comment. That's 75 comments in 4 months. Once I stuck my toe in the Kiddie Pool, it took me less than a month to make another 75. These days it takes me about two weeks, sometimes less, to rack up that many. I'm closing in on 10000 comments, so I suppose I'm not a lurker anymore :).
I don't know if I've ever said this in print, but until I started writing here, I hadn't written anything personal since I was 17. My dad read my diary and I no longer felt safe writing about myself or my thoughts. BiPM gets the credit for making me feel safe enough to speak up and speak out on the site and elsewhere. Cheers & Jeers is a community where everyone is welcome to find their voice, to share what's going on, to belong.
The first Kossack meetup I attended was a Cheers & Jeers meetup, held at the lovely PoliSigh's place. I was nervous going to meet people IN PERSON... what if they took one look at me and said "You're brillig??! You're not what we expected." Instead, what I found was exactly the same warmth of community. (Oh, and pie... Doggie makes the BEST cheesecakes. Really.) I met Bill and Michael for the first time that day, I'm sure, although as this was pre-iPhone, I can't find pictures to prove it.
That meetup is the reason I jumped on the chance to attend the first Netroots Nation, then called YearlyKos. I knew that meeting people I'd met first on the Interwebs was going to be fun. It was (details redacted because what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas). It was at the second YearlyKos I got asked to join the Top Comments crew... and while I tend to be there most of my limited online time, C&J will always, ALWAYS be my home. I'm back to (mostly) lurking there, but whenever I do post, it's like I've not been away. The key to the washroom is right where we've always left it!
Five years ago, we almost lost BiPM to a bricks-and-mortar job search. I remember the panic that ensued, and a community coming together to support the guy who keeps us sane with his brand of snark and substance. Over the years support has slipped, as people leave the site, join but don't realize that Bill is reader-supported, or through the unfortunate glitching of Paypal (it happened to me!). I know above-the-squiggle is waaaaay up there, so here's the info again:
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To support your Postal Service AND support Bill, you can send checks via snail mail, the address is: Bill Harnsberger, 16 Pitt Street, Portland, ME, 04103.
Don't just lurk, contribute! To make this a bit more interesting, I'm offering a challenge: I love great cover versions of songs. For every cover song you post a link to in the comments, I'll donate $1.