I got up this morning to discover that the diary I posted before noon yesterday was still on the recommended list. It now had 377 comments, 32 of which were new, and when I checked just under 192 recommends. I'm not complaining. The volume of response, both on dailykos itself and in emails sent directly to me has in this case been somewhat overwhelming.
As a writer it is always gratifying to see one's work valued by others. As an agent provocateur, it pleases me no end to get a good discussion going. But as a person of conscience and responsibility, but one with limited time, this level of success raises several problems. Let me explain.
When I create a diary, I attempt to at least read every comment posted. That in itself can be very time-consuming. But once a diary passes a critical mass of comments, that becomes exceedingly difficult to do. There is no quick way to get to those comments that are new.
Yes I know -- there is the red highlighting on all comments which one has not read. But imagine trying to scroll through several hundred comments looking for that highlighting. Either it is very slow as you scroll at a readable rate, or else you run the risk of missing comments, especially shorter ones.
I can easily enough find those comments in response to ones I have made by using www.dailykos.com/user/teacherken/comments. And any new top-level comments directly in response to the diary will be added at the end of the thread. So some of you may say I have no reason to complain, because if the comments are in response to others, I should not feel obligated to respond. Let me answer that.
At least for me, I find that sometimes the most cogent or important ideas are posted as part of a sub-dialog, on one point of the diary, or even on a point that has been added to the discussion in the comments. These may be the ones that are most important for me to see, and yet I know of no easy way to locate them. I also experience this difficulty when a diary by others on a topic that interests me also receives voluminouus commentary. But in those cases I do not feel the same obligation to read each comment - after all, I do have a life away from dailykos.
So let me repeat that I am not complaining about the success of my diary yesterday. I am asking for two things.
From the technical gurus hear (and that includes you, jotter) - can we add a feature that enables one to search a diary for unread comments? Or, if the current search facility would allow one to put in the url of the diary and search by time -- I tried that, but it did not work. If there is a way of accomplishing this that I don't know, I would be most appreciative.
From readers in general - it is nice to receive email directly, but it represents a bit of a problem. Remember, you are responding to something that I posted in a public forum, expecting responses to be public. If a lot of people started to respond directly by email (as happened on this diary) that (a) short-circuits the public dialog, and (b) may create a situation where what you send me is duplicative of what others send me. That places me in the difficult position of either not having the time to respond to your message, or of repeating myself. I would hope that unless it is something high personal and confidential, readers should consider making their responses using the comment feature.
Please note -- none of this represents a complaint. Quite frankly, I did not expect anywhere near the response level the diary engendered -- I was posting at midday on a Sunday, a time when the most active diaries normally flow from the Sunday talk shows. I imagined that I might get 30-50 comments in total. I am honored that the diary received the response that it did, and that it was of enough value to members of the community that the dialog has continued. I am offering the remarks contained herein in the hopes of making the process more efficient. And if I am an idiot who does not understand a readily available technical feature that could make my life easier, I will humbly accept correction.
So, if something I write is of value, by all means, comment or recommend.
And now I have to go to school.