How valuable is your input here at DU?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

There was an opinion posted earlier railing against the demise of DU as an “underground” entity. In this post there were many elaborate run-on sentences expressing a disenchanted view of the quality of posts (some crap relating to mealy-mouthed agreement to compassionate posts?) and how in the old days there was a more diligent, informed, and pro-active audience.

My rant is that this forum provides a very valid and legitimate venue for many “progressive” participants that otherwise feel isolated and impotent in performing a social, political function. Whether this forum is the ideal vehicle is still is open for debate. However, to deride the input, is to challenge the purpose and integrity of a large contingent of persons that may otherwise not have a voice.

It seems to me that if the goal is to initiate change and involve a greater percentage of this nation to actually participate and give a damn… that it would behoove the author to involve the audience and engage them in a manner that tends less towards an indictment of personality, and better evokes an invested reply. (run on sentence – oops)

Perhaps I am wrong in deciphering the intended message. I hope so.

I am not here to spin my wheels or waste time being sociable. I am here to learn and to effect change. I find the quality of information – and the information’s sources – to be an invaluable resource here at DU.

Wanting to be “underground” is really a petty goal.

[saltpoint]

1. We're kind of a small group statistically against the national average but

there's some darn cool folks I like a lot.

The boards are a great place to bump into some great people, and a lot of news and news angles come thru here that I don't hear ABC News covering ever.

[Horse with no Name]

2. I think everyone serves a purpose

More often than not, I feel I take more from here than I give.
However, it is near and dear to me so I'll stay for a while.

[wake.up.america]

3. I am happy that everyone puts up with me. I realize I don't have much to offer - But my ....

intentions are good.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Cheers to you all

:toast:

[Bonobo]

5. Here's my input: Post on the original thread

Sounds like you were offended by another thread.

You should keep it on that thread.

Furthermore, although you said "I am not here to spin my wheels or waste time being sociable.", you picked a thread that was critical of DU and you have taken a rather unchallenging, uncontroversial self-congratulatory position that is likely to earn you lots of brownie points with others who felt hurt by that thread.

You'll get none from me.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Your input is noted.

Thanks for your insight.. *sigh*

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

7. here's a thread

maybe you should read. You likely fall under the "authoritarian" model cited by the OP.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x389795

[HCE SuiGeneris]

12. read it after post

but thanks for your input

[pnwmom]

16. I disagree that the poster falls into the "authoritarian" category. n/t

[bananas]

21. "8. The Great Lurk Swarm loves you. It loves you more and more the ANGRIER you get."

LOL
Thanks, I missed that thread.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

23. delete -- reply was to another poster

[HCE SuiGeneris]

17. But Bonobo...

you know all I was trying to do was garner your favor...

[JNelson6563]

25. In spite of kicking this worthless thread

I wanted to post to tell you fine job on the reply. Crystalized my thoughts perfectly.

Julie

[mattclearing]

8. I see what you mean about agreement to passionate posts.

When you have a large community that tends to agree on the big issues, it's expected that there's going to be a lot of "me too," going on. I've found myself doing it as well.

Ultimately, that gets old after awhile and the people who don't have much interesting to say eventually start looking for something interesting to say, since the people on DU that get the most credibility/respect are the ones that open eyes and ears to what's going on and put things into perspective that can't be found elsewhere.

Whether or not DU is underground is silly. Everyone here is working to be a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure that DU's servers are above ground level. If they weren't, they'd be at risk to flooding, as anyone in DC knows. If DU's admins really wanted it to be underground, they'd make it so that you have to be logged in to view the forums.

I like to think that the main idea of it being Democratic Underground is that it is to hash out the ideological basis of the Democratic Party from the ground up, not from the top down. When you get told by politicians what the policy is going to be when their policies are driven by fundraising, compromise, and polls, you generally want to get back to them with something a bit more interesting. You can't have the debates we have here on TV.

Hence, you take them underground.

[SoCalDem]

9. I don't come here to feel "important".. I just love the fact that more often than not,

I will find a kindred spirit..no matter the topic or time of day (or night):hi:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

11. ...

Peace. :hi:

[SoCalDem]

13. See what I mean?

:hi: backatcha

[The Straight Story]

10. See my reply there

too lazy to retype it :)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

18. TSS

I read the initial OP sometime yesterday and neglected to bookmark the thread. Would like to read your response if you have a link to the post.

[The Straight Story]

28. Here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x387721

[MazeRat7]

14. I have no clue when I post if anyone finds my musings valuable...

Certainly nobody has ever said as much, so I must assume my value in this forum is limited.

I did once buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of stars for complete strangers, help send roses to the queen of political journalism, and have supported others causes like petition signing, letter writing, marches, etc. You know, doing stuff other than sitting in front of the monitor pontificating.

Is that "value" ? I don't know - to someone maybe ? But to me, if those actions helped someone have a better day or find a lost smile then we are approaching the limited concept of value that participating in an internet message forum has to offer.

What I don't consider valuable are opinions, likes/dislikes, pet-peeves, concerns, outrages, etc... I could care less since I have my own.
What I do consider valuable are facts, documentation, summaries, and references to the item at hand.

MZr7

edit: damn spell checker... I clicked "Partition" rather than "Petition"... my bad. Ha... Partition signing... thats funny. :)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. IMO

your generosity to further a variety of opinion and support for everyone's voice... is truly admirable.

Edit: dumb comment erased

[133724]

19. I have been posting here since '03

and I have found that almost all of the opinions that I have read have some value.

when I first posted at DU I was very concerned about confidentiality and the "underground" aspect. I had a security clearance from a big defense contractor that i could have easily lost in the early days of DU. It was my living; I have since moved-on thanks to DU...

People in this family of friend we call DU have different skills and abilities... Will Pitt for example is a published author. CorpGovtActivist worked for Halliburton; kpete is an artist; some are retired and spend a significant amount of time reading writing and researching issues. I am a CPA and currently in public practice and have a limited amount of time to spend here (especially during tax time). What i am trying to say is that not all of us have the same amount of time or resources or knowledge or writing ability to contribute to Du and that, unfortunately is reflected in whether or not a post sinks like a rock or rises to the top like cream.

I made a post earlier (2 to 3 weeks ago) about the economics of attention; there was only one response to the thread and it sank like a rock... A thread that I felt has/will have a significant impact on how people frame, address and think about issues in the "Future Shock" reality of the WORLD WIDE WEB that we live in. ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3232212 ) The paradigm has shifted; information overload has arrived and will be with us for the foreseeable future. Most people have several jobs; their responsibility to their families, the job in which they earn a living, their church or other civic responsibilities and their politics; these also are reflected in whether or not a post sinks or rises.

There was a point in time when I wanted (or rather felt that I needed) to have my post make it to the latest & greatest pages; I still would like to see my post rise to the top. But that is not why I continue to post here. What is important to me is to change the behavior of the the American people because if that is not done nothing else will matter; not my posts; not my job; not my family; none of it will matter.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. Initiating a change in behavior

is absolutely the desired end result. I couldn't agree more.

Not an easily achieved goal...

But a forum that eschews "mild" views, or less volatile agendas, isolates itself and participates in a self-serving dialog. The resultant consensus seeks to affirm the validity of tactics that may, or may not, be the optimum choice for change. My point, is that while there IS a diluted influence affecting the worthiness of topics in GD, the varied inputs and ideas more than counter-balance the mediocrity of more mundane subject matter.

(It's late, and I'm not sure my message is clearly stated... feel free to take me to task)

[bananas]

24. Your thread was deleted

I clicked on it and got "Missing Topic".
Too bad, sounded interesting.

[Annces]

20. I think some people find a good source of support here

where it is non-existent in other places, workplace, community. The board is not solely about gathering the political muscle of democrats.

[leeroysphitz]

26. LOL...

:rofl:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

27. I'm very sceptical about the influence of DU on American politics, to be honest.

I come here largely because I enjoy arguing about politics, not because I expect to make the world a better place.

It's valuable intellectual exercise, and one can learn interesting things, but if you want to make the world a better place then I suspect that time spent volunteering for a political campaign will be more efficient, and time spent earning money than you then give to Oxfam will be much more efficient.

I suppose I should stress, though, that I have no evidence whatsoever to support that, and don't see how any either for or against could be produced.