You've been seeing the DU Admins around a lot lately. And we're not letting you off the hook today.

Skinner ADMIN

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Wed Nov-17-10 02:55 PM
Original message

You've been seeing the DU Admins around a lot lately. And we're not letting you off the hook today.

You may have noticed that the DU Administrators are around a lot more these days. That's because we've got a lot of things to do around here. It's no secret that having a Democratic President -- and losing the common enemy in the form of George W. Bush -- has changed the dynamic here on Democratic Underground. All too often, we seem to find ourselves caught in a circular firing squad, with no way to get out. It has taken a while, but the DU Administrators are now at the point where we feel like we understand the problems facing this community, and we know what we need to do to fix them. We have already made a number of important changes, but there is still a lot remaining for us to do.

This week we have our usual fourth quarter fund drive, and frankly we don't feel like we're ready for it yet. Holding a referendum on the state of Democratic Underground NOW -- when we've only just started to turn things around -- would be kind of like holding a referendum on a Presidency when we're only two years into the full eight-year term.

We would never do that, would we? (Kidding.)

So what have the DU Administrators been doing? Well, for one thing, EarlG and I are http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9221691&mesg_id=9221691">back in the office together for the first time in three years. (The third DU Admin, Elad, is out on the West Coast, and not with us.) We've been much more visible, posting numerous OPs about DU and about other topics, and participating in discussions on a regular basis. We're seeing the problems on DU first hand, and we are also experiencing all the many positive things about this community.

We've been much more hands-on in the moderator forum, working closely with the moderators to help get everyone working together on the same page, to make enforcement easier, fairer, and more consistent.

With help from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, we are aggressively defending our rights (and your rights, too) in a closely watched http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4556835&mesg_id=4556835">copyright trolling suit.

We posted our first-ever Democratic Underground Member Attitudes Survey. The results of that survey are available http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9352909&mesg_id=9352909">here. The survey has given us a much clearer picture of how members feel about DU, and what changes we need to make in order to give you the community you want. Perhaps the most important thing we learned is that incivility is a major concern for a large number of DUers. And so we are focusing almost all of our efforts on improving the tone, encouraging civility, and taking decisive action to deal with problems.

We re-opened the http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=437">Ask The Administrators forum, so members can ask questions and get a public response from a DU Administrator. This has been an incredibly important change that opened a vital line of communication between members and administrators. We believe that many of the problems we face here on DU, including a lot of the incivility and disrespect, are the result of misunderstandings. Giving members a place where you can ask questions -- or read questions other DUers have asked -- helps make it less likely that small misunderstandings will blow up into big problems.

We had an election which... sadly... didn't turn out how we'd hoped. But at least the DU web servers performed beautifully! We had a large spike in traffic, but service was never interrupted and DUers had full access to the site.

We've been working with the moderators to http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9563958&mesg_id=9563958">update the DU rules and how they are enforced. This is an ongoing project, and we will continue to make whatever changes we feel are necessary and appropriate. Our primary goal is making the rules simpler and shorter, and instructing the moderators to focus on the spirit of the rules just as much as the letter. After all, the message board rules should have one simple, overarching purpose: to facilitate good discussion. This re-write also represents something of a trade-off: You are going to see more active moderation of civility (personal attacks and deliberate disruption), paired with less active moderation of content (especially posts that criticize or defend Democrats).

We've updated the page that members see when you click "Alert" on any post, to help educate members about the DU rules, and to make rule enforcement easier for the moderators.

We've been much more aggressive and decisive in our efforts to identify disruptive people in the community, and (if necessary) to remove them so they will no longer poison the atmosphere for everyone else. Gone are the days when we gave problem people multiple warnings and second, third, and fourth chances that only served to delay the inevitable. We know that people don't like seeing DUers banned, especially DUers who have been here for a long time. But we have decided that we can no longer afford to let disruptive friends stick around forever, as they have made it impossible for everyone else to participate in a good-faith way. If we have to make DU smaller in order to make DU friendlier, so be it.

Yesterday we proposed an http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9569527&mesg_id=9569527">exciting new idea to enforce the DU rules, by giving members the opportunity to make a good-faith effort to fix their own mistakes. We hope that giving members the ability to edit their rule violations will help educate everyone about the DU rules, while encouraging everyone to take responsibility for the things they post here.

And that's just the beginning. We have a number of other ideas to help make this community even better. The DU Administrators are fully committed to DU, and we are committed to "bold persistent experimentation" to make this community the best it can be.

And with this in mind, we are asking for your help. Please take a moment to http://www.democraticunderground.com/donate.html">donate to Democratic Underground. It only takes a moment. And you'll feel good knowing you're supporting this amazing community of progressives.

Thank you for your help.

David Allen
DU Administrator

http://www.democraticunderground.com/donate.html">