Welcome, New Users, to Daily Kos. I'm your host, catilinus (just call me cat). This Diary is intended to help you orient yourself to the site and ask questions about how to use it.
Below the orange gnocchi-doodle you will find links intended to get you participating more effectively. Also in this edition, putting out the hand for recent from Huffington Post emigres. How about a swig of new user gin to get the taste of spam out of our mouths?
After that, ask anything you want to know about the site in the comments section. If I don't know the answer, one of my compadres or comadres wiil. This is just the right place to ask that question that you wrongly assume everyone else knows the answer to but you.
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Now back to today's focus-
Ex-Huffington Post New Users
Kossacks, something is happening here you might've missed in your battles with spambots from Hell (they which the mighty elfling is slaying with new magic even as we speak).
I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for new users who aren't spammers or to the right of Darth Vader. I'm odd that way. Flying way under the radar of most stalwart kossacks, a new slew of users (not spammers or right-wingers) have been coming aboard the last few days. The Huffington Post is responsible for some of those.
Maltus (9+ / 0-)
Somewhere, the shade of Thomas Maltus is laughing and saying, "I told you so!"
By the way, speaking of Malthus, this website is going to see a lot more traffic - the Huffington Post just committed suicide by declaring that anonymous accounts will be banned. I am the former 'Steelsil.'
by BenFranklin99 on Fri Aug 23, 2013 at 09:11:13 PM PDT
(Welcome Ben!)
HuffingPost has decided that non-anonymous users will no longer be allowed.
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For folks like me who are concerned with keeping tenuously employed (I've got two jobs), that's a no-no and a deal-breaker. So I completely understand why the exodus from HuffingtonPost. In full disclosure, I'm still (I think) a registered user there, but only posted one innocous comment back in '08 (I think). Huffington Post whiz-bangs, flash-gadgets and heavy graphics have disliked the computers I've owned the last 5 years.
So Kossacks, please join me in saying to any folks from HuffingPost (or anywhere else) who've just registered,
New users, the over-riding meme here revolves around electing "
more and better" Democrats. What exactly that means is often a bone of contention on this site. Some folks focus more on the latter (IE we need serious reform in this party now) & and some on the former (IE we need more Democrats first). Some on both. Some on neither. That's okay. Happens everyday with new users and veterans alike. The caveat here is that if you propose a specific named non-Democratic candidate over a Democratic one, bad things are likely to happen very fast, and your voice will soon be sorely missed. That said, most here (IMHO) love Bernie Sanders to death.
Like all communities, we also have a plethora of other...what...guidelines or etiquettes that most of us didn't become familar with before posting. I assume most of you will do the same without great harm. We mostly do our own moderation here. The links below I (and many others) have found both invaluable and fun, but you certainly don't have to read them before posting. You can just jump in and see if you find the water cool or boiling hot to the point you evaporate. I hope you just stick a toe in first, but that's your call.
From those already established in the community here, I am hoping you'll receive a warm welcome and a bit of time to get acclimated (cut 'em some slack, folks). Having to transition to a new site is no walk in the woods. However, you'll certainly get a warm welcome as a new user from the community groups here (see links below at the end of the diary). You can also check the comment section below as I'm sure denizens of many groups will appear and extend invites to you.
One other thing, if you meet a seemingly nice, rather shy, introspective and soft-spoken genteel person named Armando, I would advise leaving the room. I've been here five years without problems. I've left the room many times. He's a damn good soul...until this "thing" suddenly happens occasionally. No one can forecast when it will happen, but often it is preceeded by the word "meh." Some folks survive. Others go screaming into the night with wild claims of having various chunks of body parts missing.
For the rest, have fun. Do what you do. Comment when you wish, post diaries, join communities, or work your steam up in a variety of ongoing political debates or in pie-fights related to meta. This house has many rooms.
Oh, and get the rest of your friends over here as well. Got it? Good. And, again,
and a Tip of the Hat to Some Recent New Users:
swidnikk's first diary on a panel about Climate Change at a Tisha B'Av service in Los Gatos, California made the Rec list. (h/t remembrance)
Infected Zebra first made a positive impact as commenter and then as a new diarist with these ruminations on getting that first job out of school with I Just Don't Know What to Feel. (h/t belinda ridgewood)
4peacemom, a teacher returning to the classroom full-time asks a succinct question about education: When will we stop calling it "reform" and start calling it what it is: privatization? in Diary Virgin No More: An Educator Mom with Something to Say (h/t smileycreek)
santas posted a chilling account of working in local government when revenge gets personal in He Killed the Zoning Officer -- I'm a Nearby ZO (h/t smileycreek)
In a sweet first diary that was rescued, Frolics posts A Letter to My Childhood Dog, Frolics (h/t smileycreek)
puckmtl shows signs of being an astute political commenter and friendly new kossack. (h/t paradise50)
Mike732 just plain seems to be having a good time here, and his 4th diary Impeach Me Quick; Mr. Economy Completely Outthinks The WSJ: The Weak in Review (with Chapter and Verse) shows how good writing and an engaging involvement with commenters increases your recs and recognition over time. (h/t smileycreek)
In vzerda's diaries, including one Rescued, it's good to be reminded that there are 18 year olds who are that well-spoken, smart, and literate. (h/t belinda ridgewood)
The Fritz, a recent Huffington Post refugee, demonstrates how to fit in: By asking questions and actually listening and responding to the feedback on community norms. (h/t nomandates)
What new users have you met or helped in the past month?
Share them with us in the comments!
Please also check out the buddy system over at the New Diarists group. While WNU and New Diarists do quite a bit of cross-pollinating, there is one essential difference between us: Over at New Diarists you can request a mentor who will help you learn how to write and publish a diary that won't get you publicly consigned to Worst Diary Hell at the GOS (Great Orange Satan, as we are affectionately known among wingnuts). Just send them a kosmail asking for an invite! Also check out their Resource Diaries. Note: The New Diarists groups also welcomes experienced diarists who would like to be mentors.
Got questions? Comments? Ideas? We're all ears-- just join us in the comments. And remember: Since this diary is for New Users no question is too basic, no matter how long you've been here!