I have been reading/posting/diarying here at DailyKos for quite some time. Maybe only 2 or 3 years, perhaps longer, I don't remember. I believe that I read stuff here, long before I posted, but again I don't remember. Over the time that I've been here, I feel that nothing much has changed. The website, for the most part, seems to have actually remained quite consistent. However, there is one thing that has either increased dramatically, or perhaps it's just been brought out more during this current hyperpartisan period we are experiencing, largely resulting from the healthcare fight. Read on if you are interested in my thoughts.
I honestly can't explain why exactly it is that I look at DailyKos more than other websites. I think the answer is that I often, perhaps even mostly, agree with the political views represented here. Somehow it is nice to always return to the same site and know that the arguments made will not baffle and enrage me like they do on many others. Perhaps it is also due to the extensive number of people here who write and comment. I'm not sure.
However, one reason that doesn't exist for my presence is any inherent quality of research, writing or thought on the site. I feel that we the left have generally the right approach to government, but those that disagree are not stupid or evil, but rather brought up differently, educated differently, etc. "The South is racist" seems to be a popular albeit controversial commonplace thought here. I would think that we would examine the validity of that statement and think about how culture effects thought. I don't make judgments about the intellectual honesty of people holding different political beliefs. We here at DailyKos are a group of people who are tied together by passion about our politics, not by intellectual prowess or any sense of superiority.
What has begun to bother me is the sense that I feel that I am under attack for my views whenever I comment or write a diary. I feel I have to preface everything I write with disclaimers on my support for the left, lest people think I'm a troll. I feel I have to preface everything (see above) with statements about how long I've been on the site, lest I be termed a newbie (or however it's fashionably spelled these days), and then unfairly discredited. I feel that I have to complement everyone for their research skills, good manners and eloquence in writing.
In reality though, we're all a bunch of asses, the same as any other groups. We have some people who do their research, some people who think they do and some who don't and just make outlandish statements (I often fall into more than one of these categories). We have some who are not very good at writing and others who are. We have a whole lot of posturing, people suffering from the "sitting-at-the-table-with-the-cool-kids" mentality, a lot of people who are self-righteous beyond all recognition (I know that I often fit in this category and I apologize) and a lot of people who need to prove their extensive knowledge on everything at the expense of what we are trying to do here. The content is far more important than site-protocol (I was recently told that I should not enjoy a diary without reccing it).
DailyKos IS something special, in sense that it is unique. It seems the most popular American leftist site that has a strong reader- and writership. That does mean something; it means quite a lot. I don't participate in the functioning of any other website as much as this one. I give Kos and us credit for that. However, I'm extremely tired of this attitude that we are somehow better people, that we are brilliant academics with higher morals that will prevail over the right wing due to these attributes. Our goal with this website should not be to talk about how stupid the right is and how morally superior we are and how we can enact our ideas simply by being activists and unflinchingly supporting our group over another. We, as a group, seem far too self-congratulatory for my tastes. I think we could do with a lot more discussion of issues. Anytime I question an idea held by many here, I'm attacked as "unhelpful," "misinformed" or "negative," often without much context for these claims. We here at this site have the same problems as everywhere else, because we are normal people. We should be proud of that. That's what makes our group interesting.
I guess my concern is that in the end, I'm not sure my time here is always spent wisely. I come here, I read and learn a little bit, I get really excited and then I exit the website and realize that we are just a website. We are cordoning ourselves off in this strange new-media world where we, like every other online community, somehow are "great" or "different" from the rest.
SO, CAN WE PLEASE STOP TOOTING OUR OWN HORNS?
I am sure that I have made plenty of comments along the lines of what I am attacking. I am by no means attempting to raise myself up as different. It's the culture that has developed here. However, no matter my reservations, I'm certainly not going to leave. It has become too much a part of my daily life to just stop. I just wish we could calm down a bit.
Fianlly, a thought on the rec list. A common topic of discussion is how people seem to write outlandish titles hoping to get recced; others perhaps might write controversial things to get on the reclist. I think the reclist is detrimental to our community. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have some sort of feedback mechanism by which we might perhaps elevate certain diaries. However, one of the huge downfalls of interactive media of this type, is how they foster short attention spans at the expense of quality content. Often, long diaries are overlooked simply because they are long. Or diaries with pictures are rated highly. I feel that we should come up with a new system by which diaries are elevated based on the quality of content alone. Catchiness should have no bearing. We don't want to be California (my love) with its ridiculous initiatives ruling the day rather than important legistlation. So, I would enjoy an editor whose job it is to pick the most well-researched, important, pertinent content for a new type of reclist. Perhaps that would alter the vanity involved from making the reclist away from a stress on popularity to a stress on quality. What do you all think?
I look forward to your comments. Thank you.