First a little background. I will admit it, I was a long time lurker before finally registering here back before the election. The prediction contest finally got me to sign up, I guess I'm a sucker for competition. I have been following Daily Kos periodically for the last few years for my political news and lately its been hard for me to stay away for more than a day or so. Bottom line is:
When I finally came out of the shadows and started participating here my experience improved. If you are a lurker like I was, I think yours will too. Start commenting on diaries and recommending comments and diaries you like. I guarantee you will learn something and feel like you are part of this community.
The interaction with other users once you register and start commenting is fantastic here. Also, if you're a lurker who hasn't registered the auto-refresh feature available to registered users on diaries really helps you keep up with the discussion.
I'll keep this short and sweet but just to reiterate, I have had more fun as well as felt like I truly am a member of this community now that I am a registered user rather than a lurker, so if you're out there and you're still lurking, give it a shot and start getting involved around here.
I feel that one of the driving forces behind the Democratic Party's recent resurgence has been the increase in involvement of the grassroots and blogs like this are a big part of that. Just look at how much money Actblue has raised for candidates in the past few cycles. 92 million dollars to Democratic candidates since 2004. That level of participation starts right here with you shedding your lurker status. Join me (and everyone else), you won't regret it.
PS- As this is my first diary here, let me know if it sucks and I will gladly delete it.