I wrote a few nights ago that I would begin working on this, I thought tonight auspicious to begin. It is not a one night project, but will involve several diaries. It is not ‘my’ project. Any TC diarist is welcome to weigh in, both in the comment threads of a given diary, or in TC FAQ diaries of their own. There is no ‘definitive’ TC FAQ, and there likely never will be one. Everyone’s thoughts about it are as valid as mine. Even if you are not (currently!) a TC diarist! Top Comments exists because of everyone, with everyone’s contributions.
More below.
Top Commentsrecognizes the previous day's Top Mojoand strives to promote each day's outstanding comments through nominations made by Kossacks like you. Please send comments (before 9:30pm ET) by email to topcomments@gmail.comor by our KosMail message board.
The first thing you should know is that Top Comments is a community diary series. We believe in supporting US, in validating us, in featuring the non-diary comments that are often brilliant whether they ‘develop’ into a diary or not. The ‘Rescue Rangers’ ‘rescue’ diaries that receive, shall we say, less attention than they merit. But when Carnacki began Top Comments in 2006, there was no site series that featured comments.
The degree to which comments are featured waxes and wanes. On nights when I have extra time, I am quite happy to look for comments. On nights with less time, sometimes it’s just not possible, and I think the others who write for TC would say the same.
When Top Comments first began (yes, even in the first diary I hosted!), members wanted to know what made a comment ‘Top.’ And why comments that we TC diarists found were any better than comments that others found.
Of course, there is no objective standard of toppednessocity. What pulls my focus may well not pull yours. What you love, I may have a problem with. The same is true of diaries, even if Community Spotlight picks them. If you don’t like a comment that I pick, that is fine! You are welcome to ignore it, or explain your issue with it in the comment threads. I won’t take offense, I promise!
One of the reasons we so enthusiastically solicit comment submissions from all of YOU is precisely because your judgment is as valid as ours. We just love having comments to present! And a given night’s diarist is one person, where the fine folks that patronize our little Top Comments community are … more than one! So you (collectively) encounter more comments than we ‘ones’ do. And we’re delighted when you share those that you find, for others to enjoy and learn from and share on, in turn.
How are comments found? Well that’s the crux of it, isn’t it!
I remember when gloriana joined Top Comments. She took the ‘responsibility’ of comment mining so seriously, as I recall, she mined for comments for seventeen or eighteen HOURS that first night! ( #onediaryburnoutwecouldnameitafterher ) When va dare wrote for Top Comments, she was an incredible comment miner. And we have had others who have been exceptional at it, each with their tricks and strategies for finding comments. Carnacki himself loved to check the comment ratings of Susan G (now Susan Gardner) and Meteor Blades and a few others, whom he knew to be exceptionally busy with their site engagement. He felt that if THEY took the time to recommend a comment, it really said something.
My preference, rather than a brute force approach, such as gloriana took, was to examine ‘highlighting’ comments, than indicated that someone else found a comment noteworthy. If someone’s comment reply began with “Brilliant comment!’ Then you may be sure (if I ran a comment search limited to that day, searching on the term brilliant), I would at least check out the comment to see if I agreed. If I did, that comment would get lumped into my mined comments for the day. We try to credit the folks that highlight the comments, as well, since they really deserve the credit for the submission. In some cases, comment highlighters have gone on to become active comment submitters! That’s a transition we cherish!
Over the years I have searched on many different comment highlights. For example, if I have time, I almost always search for comments containing the terms ‘Top Comment!’ Often those have already been submitted, which is fine, but often it is typed by someone who WANTS to submit it, but just doesn’t know how. One night I will write more about plausible highlight term searches. I suspect I have tried several hundred variations by now. Of course, those are not systematically or consistently conducted, so people can’t count on us finding comments by using specific highlight terms. I wish there was an automated way to do that!
So! While I know almost everyone visiting tonight DOES know how to submit a comment to us, here is info to share with anyone who does not!
A comment’s web address is its timestamp. If you control click the time stamp (works on Windows AND Mac), you may copy that address. That lets you send it directly to us, either via a Daily Kos ‘kosmail’ (or message to the Top Comments group, using this link, for example) or at the Top Comments gmail address, which is topcomments with the at sign followed by gmail dot com.
If you send the comment via kosmail, it is sent FROM your Daily Kos handle, so we pick it up automatically. If you send it via email to gmail, we ask that you include your Daily Kos handle so we may credit you with the submission. We also PREFER that you make some quick explanation of what it is you found noteworthy about the comment, so we can include that with your submission, and perhaps pique interest and readership for the sharing, but we will usually include the comment in that night’s diary even if you submit nothing but the comment address.
Each night’s diarist has final ‘say’ on inclusion of comments for that night (We trust their judgment!). We can’t guarantee we will always include a submission. On occasion we have rejected a comment in a troll thread. We may reject a comment from a pie fight thread if we feel it will draw the pie fight into Top Comments. We may reject a comment if it tends to rekindle primary war tensions, or I/P fights. Some of our diarists won’t include self-nominated comments. Yet for almost every seeming ‘rule,’ I can recall one or more occasions when an exception has been made and the comment included. It just depends. I would say 99% of submitted comments are included. We think you guys have excellent taste in comments!
I will write more about this. Please let me know if I have left things murkier than when I began, or if there is something that can be explained much better, and we’ll get gizmo to do it!
Know that we appreciate you, we value your contributions to our community, both within TC and on Daily Kos and our world at large. Top Comments would not be here without your help and your participation. Thank you.
On to tonight’s comments! Captured and formatted by brillig, one of our brightest lights!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From Lucy Montrose:
American parallel with a notorious Nazi saying… Audible Nectar posted this succinct, exactly-right response to my comment in Gaurang’s Just how many sociopaths are there in this country?
From KM Wehrstein:
ROTFL from this comment by bisleybum, in my diary A former CIA analyst's protips on surviving the onslaught of bad news.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, July 1st, 2018, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
Top Pictures for yesterday, July 1st, 2018. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!