Update: It would probably help many of you if I put up the address to the beta site, huh? It's:
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State of Daily Kos, per BeninSC:
Now we are in the early days of the public beta for DK4. The same day the beta posted I read comments from (valued) Kossacks who felt the degree of change offered by DK4 might just be a step too far for them. We see departures on a semi-regular basis. The amount of dissension on the site is beyond their capacity, the amount of toxicity is, the anger is ... there are a thousand nuances to the explanations. dKos has lost its way, has lost its sense of purpose, has lost its consistency with its declared purpose, its tolerance of those whose contributions don’t directly advance its purpose. dKos has become too fixated on its purpose, too intolerant of topics that don't serve the 'cause.'
Because of (fill in the blank), dKos is ‘falling over into incoherence and dissolution.’
Or because of (fill in the blank) dKos is in the process of becoming ‘rigid, frozen, totalitarian.’
Ah yes. It's always been that way. The more people you get into a room, the more difficult consensus becomes. You get a couple of millions, then you're going to have rampant disagreement. I've always been comfortable with this, which is why I don't mind the debate over DK4.
The aesthetic debates are the funniest. I've seen several "I'm a graphic designer, and I can authoritatively state that the new design is gorgeous!", alongside the "I'm a graphic designer, and I can authoritatively state that new design is terrible!" There is no account for taste, of course. So I don't try. There are people who left Daily Kos when we moved on to this current design, because they though the previous version was better. I doubt anyone would agree today. Tastes evolve.
At our core, people hate change. We have an entire political party predicated on the notion that change is bad. Progressives believe change can be good. But even when it's good, change is difficult. People love the familiar. That's why McDonald's exists.
The new Daily Kos is a big change, and it's certainly not familiar. That's why I decided to do an open beta. Sure, it helps us find bugs quicker, but the open beta was also designed to give you guys time to get used to the new digs.
Now while I expected a great deal of angst, I've been surprised at the reaction. It's been more positive than I expected. Remember, my original prediction:
I warn you all -- the new Daily Kos will be a marked departure from this one, and everyone will hate it and I'll be accused of having jumped the shark (it happens every time I make a major refresh on this site).
The early reaction has been much better than that. BeninSC again:
In any case, for me, DK4 doesn’t come remotely close to being outside my spectrum. It is change, to be sure. Too much? Too little? Time will tell. But change we need. Absolutely. And the new site doesn’t approach the threshold of chasing me away. I’m 57 years old, and I applaud and embrace the edge of chaos!
nyceve:
Change isn't easy, certainly moving from the Daily Kos we've all come to know and love and converging over here en mass, is a little scary, but, I think, if you spend some time, you'll find it very user friendly and as pleasant as a warm bath.
I also think in terms of organizing and advocacy, this could be a real improvement.
It'll be night and day. DeadHead:
I'm almost going to feel sad in a way, oddly enough, when the site moves out of beta. There's a peacefulness here now. I can just post something, and not feel like I'm going to be flamed into oblivion, just for doing so. I suppose it's my hang-up, but I know it's not for no reason. After spending my first year reading diaries, both substantive and "NOT A DIARY - PLEASE DELETE" types, the feeling that unjustifiably vitriolic scrutiny will be placed on a diarist is real, for me. I really want to get over that.
DK4 is right on time, in that regard. BRING IT.
I look forward to getting rid of the diary police. Sometimes they were justified, other times they were not, but it was always obnoxious to me. I know many of you hate the idea of lifting the one-a-day limit on diaries, but I can't wait. And I'm glad those people demanding a single-diary limit weren't around when I started blogging, because I used to post upwards of 20 posts every day. Any limit would've cramped my style, and frankly, the notion that I should be limiting people's output is offensive to me.
Some people worry about Balkanization. Bindle:
THIS IS A test of how much Balkanization we're gonna get with this new system. I'm worried about it. You're worried about it. It's the слон in the izba, if you catch my drift.
The way you're worried about it, by the way, kind of ticks me off. But that's cool. You'll have your people to be that way with and I'll have my somewhat better people to feel my way with. Check out my followers. They're a good class of people. They come from the right backgrounds, were raised well, know a few things
Those who want to be balkanized can already do so. And certainly, DK4 will enable them. But the internet enables balkanization. And sometimes, balkanization is not a bad thing. It wouldn't be a bad thing to balkanize the most obnoxious of the Obama Sux and Rox clubs.
And ultimately, the groups are really cool. Farlfoto:
[W]ait till you see all the cool new features. The Groups feature allows you to make your own areas with your own interests. I set up one called "Westchester NY Activists" just so people in my area can talk about our local issues and maybe get to know one another.
I also set up a group called "Religion Watchdogs" so we can keep an eye on Fred Phelps and Tony Perkins.
This is a major fun cool new Kos.
Maybe fun, but will it make it harder for people to find you? Zackpunk:
I'm not one of those people who loathes change. Whenever something changes -- anything at all -- people have the tendency to complain about it. I'm as sentimental as anyone, but I love change. Bring on the new. And so far, DK4 may just reinvigorate my interest in this site again, after it fell off the map for me a couple of years ago. I still have yet to fully appreciate the new features in DK4, but I can smell the potential (it smells orange) [...]
Basically, Markos made it easier for you to find diaries. But he made it harder for your diary to be randomly discovered. In order for you to be seen, someone has to be following you, you have to be trending a popular topic, or you have to find some other way to jump into the stream that flows past a greater number of eyeballs.
For this reason, ironically, I fear that Markos may have created a system where "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." In other words, those people who have a following will attract a larger following, and those people who do not will have a harder time getting noticed.
It's similar to the difference between cable television and Hulu. Yes, on Hulu you can get what you want, when you want it, and you have worlds of obscure programming to watch. But will you ever randomly land on that old Robert Mitchum western you've never heard of? Not unless you're looking for it.
The Hulu comparison is pretty interesting. We'll have to wait and see how the new site shakes out, but one of the goals I had designing it was making sure that more obscure writers would be better read than they are today. Currently, you have one shot to be read -- the recent diary list, and you better hope you hit it with the right topic at the right time. And god forbid you are two seconds late on a breaking news story, where people will demand you delete even if you have a different and unique take on the news.
DK4 provides dozens of ways for people to find your content. And if it's not working, that'll be an area we'll continuously tweak. If obscure writers aren't being found, the new site won't be working as intended.
Several diarists have stepped up with some broad overviews of how DK4 works:
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse gives us DK4: Tips on networking for readers, comments & rec list.
Elfling, who is project managing DK4, has two good overview diaries -- one on the new tags functionality, and another on the new groups.
Smileycreek (and I) answered DK4 questions here.
LaughingPlanet did his own guide/FAQ for new beta testers here.
Update: I can't believe I forgot to link to two larger pieces I previously wrote about the new site: Mojo and DK4, which talks about the dramatically upgraded mojo system, and this post on the philosophical underpinnings of the new site.