Founded in 2002 by Crashing the Gate author Markos Moulistas, Daily Kos was revolutionary for its time. Heavily influencing forums like Netroots Nation, DKos, powered by Kossacks as we affectionately referred to ourselves back in the day, spoke truth to power. At that time, most of us were still getting our news from the MSM, and the idea of “tweeting” political information seemed ridiculous.
Fast forward nearly 20 years, and DKos’ traditionally white, educated and decidedly older readership can only sustain the site for so long. I joined in 2007, and while I am still among the younger participants here, I am nearly 50 years old. Lately, I have noticed diaries increasingly referencing Twitter posts, which are becoming the “go to” source for news, discussion and debate among political junkies.
The idea of parsing through a “blog” to find “diaries” recommended by others, while at one time was revolutionary as community-based moderation and progressive accounts of the daily news were scarce—today, through Twitter, IG and even Facebook, we can tailor the flow of information in real-time to reflect our political preferences, or to debate with those whose ideas differ from our own.
As I posted in another diary, I believe Kos is simply trolling readers on this site for clicks in an effort to stay relevant as more people turn to Twitter, IG and other sources for news outside the MSM. In fact, I would say that DKos is not the future of the Democratic party either. Kos probably realizes this and is just trying to stay relevant with inflammatory posts and rhetoric.
I personally enjoy this community and value the depth of knowledge of the many posters here; however, when I joined this site, my children weren’t even in high school. Today, they are politically active adults who have never heard of Daily Kos.
This isn’t a knock on the site, but simply the reality. I would argue that Daily Kos isn’t as much about “crashing gates” anymore as it is about trying to stick around as its online presence fades. I get it, and have decided to simply enjoy this online community, and will try not get “worked up” over what Markos posts either way.
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2019 · 11:02:16 AM +00:00 · tiredntexas
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone to contributing to the discussion—even to the poster who called me “horrid” lol. It’s amazing what people will post online that they would never say face-to-face. At any rate, I can tell I “touched a nerve” with some given the comment to recommend ratio. I get it. It’s difficult when something I value is irrelevant to the masses.
Like it or not, more people are getting their “news” from Twitter, IG and other places and “web logs” (blogs) are fading. I personally don’t think it’s good or bad, just a sign of the times. However, I appreciate the opinions of those who feel differently.
Again, thanks for the lively discussion. I enjoyed reading all the comments.