Yeah, you, the new guy. Or girl. And you, the lurker, with the low user ID number who just started posting. And you too, old timer. Gather round, I have something to say.
OK, this will hurt. But I do it cause I love you. Well, in an internet-stranger-message-board sort of way. Think of this as an intervention if you will.
STOP SCREWING UP DAILYKOS!
Phew. That needed to be said. Now let me explain.
I've tackled the
"recommending" problem before. But now, geez, time for more meta.
I come here to read brilliant diaries by brilliant people. And yeah, newbies, lurkers, and old timers, that includes all of you. Just because you new doesn't mean you can't blow us away with an amazing diary.
What I DON'T come here to read is someone's personal blog, or a diary consisting of just a link or excerpted article.
So, let's run through some community standards. A lesson for the new folks, a refresher for all others.
A LINK IS NOT A DIARY
This is quite possibly the rudest thing in diary writing. When a Kossack clicks on your diary, and all you give them is a LINK, that's just wrong. And taking TEN seconds to post a link and a blurb pushes a diary someone worked on for HOURS further down the recent diary list into oblivion.
So, unless it's breaking news (REAL breaking news), a diary should NEVER EVER EVER consist of just a link and a blurb. Seriously, that is one of the laziest things I've ever seen. Take your mouse, shift it to the left, click on "OPEN THREAD" and post the link there.
AN ARTICLE IS NOT A DIARY
OK. I was wrong. THIS is the rudest thing. You know why? Because not only do you offer absolutely NOTHING of your own to the community (see above), but you're also violating copyright law if you post too much to make your diary seem longer!
Here's a secret. We're a savvy bunch here. We all read the same sites: CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, NYTimes, etc. DKOS IS NOT A NEWS AGGREGATOR. There are far too many diaries filled with breathtaking analysis that are getting flooded out by a dozen "breaking!" diaries.
NO REPETITIVE DIARIES
It's in the rules, folks. So if you sign on to dkos, and in your excitement you want to post a "breaking" diary link or an article or whatever, CHECK THE RECENT DIARY LIST. Hell, check the Recommended diary list. It's pathetic that there is a diary at the top of the recommended list and someone (multiple someones) post new diaries on it, with just the link to the story or something.
Proper ettiquite here is if you realize your diary is a repeat, and your diary doesn't add jack to the discussion, you immediately delete it.
So, in conclusion, PLEASE everyone, start being a little more consientious about what you post here. This isn't DU, where you can post three sentences and turn it into a thread. This isn't your personal blog, where you can just throw a link up like you're bookmarking it for later use. This isn't freeperville, where post after post lacks any content or real thought.
We have standards here (though you couldn't tell it from the last months or so). Let's start adhering to them, before DailyKos really jumps the shark.