I just received an email from someone I don't know at boldprogressives.com asking me to recommend their diary so it would be seen by more people.
Seems to me, this is the path to Dailykos becoming just another propaganda outlet - whoever has the most money and organizing skills will dominate the recommended list, or Community Spotlight, or whatever it is we're calling it now. Sure, it'll probably be organizations we like better than Citizens United, but it goes against the grain of this website being a voice for individual activists.
The more this site becomes a mouthpiece for political organizations, the less interesting it is going to be.
What do you think? Is astroturfing a fair way to do recommendations, or should we try to keep recommendations a true reflection of individuals' reactions to individual diaries?