OT: Has anyone checked out the new DailyKos?

[beachmom]

http://www.dailykos.com/

I have to say, for pure consumption, it is a vast improvement. Why? There is actually some curation of diaries going on, something that has been needed for a long time. When you first see the top of the page, there is a section called "Community Spotlight". These are akin to Rescued Diaries -- meaty original writings that make you think. Now sure, as you scroll down you'll still see Recommended diaries on the right, and some of the Community Diaries are there as well, but, well, oftentimes they are not that well done or serve as flamebait. They are why I stopped visiting dkos, frankly, as they became polluted with hate, counter-hate, etc. Additionaly, the Front Page articles are not always that great or tend to be liberal boilerplate topics you can read elsewhere. But the Community Spotlight diaries make visiting dkos worth it. You can also scroll through more so it's not just the six showing that you can read. Of special interest, there have been a lot of diaries on education and things like teacher's unions that I feel are unique content not easily found on the web.

So kudos to Markos for that new innovation.

As to interactivity, I am a bit disappointed with "Groups" as they are not really all that organized the way it is done so in DU. Of course, that is part of the point -- anyone can start a group. But I don't quite get "how it works" yet. It may be a good idea for us to have a John Kerry group on dkos. There might be interest in that amongst many Kossaks, but how to get visibility? I am not sure about that.

What does everyone think of the DKos4 and whether we should start a group there?

Edit: okay, this is probably a good place to start - http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/DK4_FAQ

You have to be a trusted user to start a group. I am no longer one as I rarely comment over there.

To be seen you need to have the most members/followers or be "most prolific", meaning consistently having new diaries daily. I mean I could probably get "my mojo" back with some effort in order to set up this group. DKos has bigger traffic than DU. Again, is it worth it?

[Inuca]

1. I spent a bit of time there

the emphasis being on a BIT. The page (font and the like) is more readable. but beyond this rather superficial difference, I did not have the time nor the patience to dig into the differences. I heard about groups, I even tried to get into one suggested by a front-page article a couple of days ago, the "pragmatists non-haters" group (not the exact title, but something like that, pragmatist was part of it, I am almost sure), but to be honest I am not sure I am in or out, not sure I clicked on the right thing.

If there are enough takers here for starting a JK group over there, I am definitely in, and I promise to visit and post more often (I hardly ever do now). No diaries though.

[karynnj]

2. I have not yet looked at to any real degree yet

but will next week. Any comments I write now are based on not reallu understanding how groups work. Would a diary be just within a group (ie like a post here) or would it be both there and in the common area?

The idea of a John Kerry group does seem interesting - as it would put all the John Kerry diaries together. This might mean that someone interested in one diary, would see the others - and maybe read them.

I am not a trusted user now, but likely could start after Monday (we're going to NYC) to become one - which has been tedious but easy in the past. I have only written 2 diaries, but this would be motivation to create more rather than just creating cut and paste DU threads. It would likely have a side affect of helping on DU, because I think posting one DKOS link, which tries to do more than just links, could do better on DU-P.