Repost: Re: Whining, Flaming, Do nothing! Who here hates DU?

After recieving notification that my thread was deleted by mistake, and some encouragement to repost for discussion, I will once again state:

I'm sorry that many have found DU to be an unbearable place where there is no open minded discussion. I know many feel we are out of the mainstream, and refuse to sacrifice ideology for more pragmatic success. I know that some feel that we ARE the mainstream, and should hold fast to the ideals that most Americans share.

I'm sorry that DUers are not sufficiently active in promoting what some feel are the pressing issues of the day, and spend too much time just bitching on this board instead of doing what they feel amounts to doing something.

I'm sorry that some lament that the board has not remained static since its inception, and has attempted to grow to serve the needs of a larger, more diverse community.

I'm sorry that some feel that they are bashed, marginalized, and oppressed when they are faced with scorn or opposition to their beliefs or views, be they religious, geographical, social, or economic.

I'm sorry that some feel that this community is not "open minded" when they get less than what they feel is the appropriate amount of back patting and agreement for their position.

What I get from this community is a vibrant, growing, sometimes very contentious group of people who have chosen to make a difference in whatever way they feel is approprite for them.

I can't agree with everyone on this site about everything. I wouldn't want to. I also can't take it personally, and label this great group as some sort of indicator of what's wrong with the left in this country.

If you hate what you read here, stop reading it. You may, but are not required to log on. You may, but are not required to read every post. You may, but are not required to agree with the thoughts expressed on an individual post. You may, but are not required to respond to a post you agree or disagree with.

I am just another random poster on DU. I am not issuing any kind of instruction or command as if I have any say in what any of you do.

I may even be "whining", or bitching about DU in my own way. Call me a hypocrite. I can take it. I have been known to resemble that remark.

If you want to talk intolerance, and malign this site for not defending you against being offended, I have no sympathy.

Log off, or jump in and defend your position. I also recommend the ignore feature.

For those who are trolling, you will lose. It's that simple.

So, I ask again. Who here hates DU?

If you do, I don't want a reply, but go ahead if you want to.

Have I said yet today how much I love the ignore feature?


Kisses,

Uhhuh

too curious for the ignore button to be of much use to me but if we could ALL vote on the relative merit/value of every single post and perhaps even categorize it i.e. funny, interesting, informative, etc. now that could be very useful for many, imho.

i always bring it up at the regular RFP's that come up during rule change season round here but it doesn't seem to be all that popular of an idea - whine - though it wouldn't disrupt anyone who wanted DU 'un-cut' so to speak while at the same time helping DU be even more useful by ORGANIZING the tons of USEFUL info on this site.

i hear ya about the whining that occurs on hear, like EVERYWHERE else in life, and i certainly wouldn't want that outlet censored but i DO want a way to browse this site with the added benefit of the collective wisdom of the community helping to rise the CREAM to the SURFACE.

let's face it... life is SHORT :evilgrin:

nice post :hi:

peace

I would like that if there was a way to make sure the feature wasn't abused. I tseems things could be misranked of misclassified if some poeple just don't like the opinion.

Still, it would be cool.

if you didn't like it you could still read DU uncut.

if everyone is voting - one vote per post - you get the collective wisdom of DU working for you instead of selective groups of the 'in' crowd passing judgment.

:hi:

peace

Post voting is too subjective, and people end up competing to be the most popular...it reminds me of high school cliques. I don't want my posts to be judged, I just want to share my views!

and if you post today your posts are being judged anyways just that it's not of any value to anyone.

remember this isn't about a clique voting on who's most popular this is where everyone votes on every post and besides you don't have to use it if you don't want to so you could still read DU uncut.

:hi:

peace

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=greatest_threads

:hi:

and categories...

:hi:

peace

I don't hate DU! There have been times I have been disgusted with some posters and attitudes I have seen here, but for the most part I enjoy it. IF I get to "worked up" I go to other sites or play some games, or bitch to my partner. I am SOOOO glad there is a board like this. Before I discovered this site, I used to read Yahoo! alot and I would usually end up screaming at the computer or crying! I had to stop reading those posts all together because the hate was overwhelming. Conversely, I don't think it is wrong to express frustration here either. There have been things posted here that make me mad and I say so! If people see it as whining, it is their right and I will not dictate how they should view my post.

I think this is a great place and enjoy it too much sometimes. :) That is what 21 months without a job will do!

This would allow people who come to DU to post without registering.
Freeper abuse could be shut down by the database of "bad apple IP's"..
and rather we could better invite participation from the exogenous set.

Anon's should not be able to start threads, and as a profile option,
users could click "show/no show" guest logins in threads. This would
allow elitists to ignore the rabble. If such a login existed, i think
it would be even healtheir for discussion, as folks who might actually
dislike DU might be able to speak freely without persecution on this
thread, as any of the "names" would never speak up to such a thing.

who is going to decide who the rabbles are and who is a member of the elite? Becoming judgmental against each other isn't good for free thought and suggestion.
In most of the threads I have read, there was a good verity of opinions. I haven't seen one where everybody jumped all over someone with no one coming to their defense. Democrats are usually not that judgemental....Republican are!!!

I don't think that it is news to anyone that our individual sacred cows may not mean a thing to others in this community. I don't think that there is anything wrong with that.

The fact that only some people don't need convincing to agree with one, or that some people can't be convinced does not make DU as a community a defender of racism, homophobia, sexism, regionalism, or anti-religious bigotry.

if any of us were able to use the login "anonymous" to post, it would
allow us to have non-ad-hominem discussions... which i would find
actually rather democratic, as they would be very anonymous, more so
than these monikers we are identified with.

:loveya: :grouphug:

love your post, love du. can handle it all. best conversation i have had in a long time and so many topics. havent see a better board

There are always good topics here. I know you can handle this place You always put up a good case for you opinions. I have only found a few times where I disagreed with you, but even then, you stated your case well.

I don't know of a better board either.

bah hahahaha. i am just funny and laugh so with me.

even in the disagreement, or especially in the disagreement, huge lessons. and always appreciated. maybe not at the time, but hopefully, in time. if i am doing my job with me

My beef with DU is basically that I feel the sort of conversation you're talking about is stifled by, among other things, too frequent and too heavy-handed intervention by moderators.

I've never been a moderator, I don't know what sorts of provocations they really get. (All the really inflammatory stuff is gone before I get to see it-- my reaction time is real slow!)

But, that said, I think the Democratic philosophy includes the idea that citizens will be self-responsible when given the opportunity to be. It's the Repuke doctrine (actually conservatives of all stripes) that people are inherently unreliable and have to be led around by the nose for the common good. Democrats like free speech, it's the best free market there is: debate, refute and refine ideas, and the cream rises to the top-- and, best of all, as long as we remain open minded and don't feel like we're wedded to our errors, we all become better off, it's not a zero-sum game.

My opinion, and worth what you paid for it.

These people on DU are the mainstream in a world where the radical racist/homophobic/sexist/closed minded-bigotted-neo-cons crawled out from under their rocks about 5-years ago and deemed themselves mainstream. This place is the sanity-check in the world turned upside down and through the looking glass.

I love the difference of opinion. I love the fact that those closed minded bigots are so frightened of diverse opinion that they have set up a web-site just to respond to our posts and thereby exposing their vicious ugliness for all the world to see. The trolls are fun--and provide entertainment as they strip away their masks and we see how utterly devoid of thought they actually are as they spew RNC talking points while giving Bush and Co. their money and rights.

That's my take on the whining here.

I love love love it. In fact, my family would tell you probably a bit too much.

I have a DU bumper sticker on my car, I'm buying a DU shirt next. I tell every liberal/Democrat I know about DU. Money comes out of my account every month to this place. If I had tons of money, I'd give some to this site.

I'm marching in Austin on March 19 and I'd love to carry a sign that just reads "http://democraticunderground.com"

Mine's a classic story, I'm sure, but before I found DU, I felt very alone. Because of the courage and education I got out of this place, I started reaching out and getting politically active in my own life. This started long before the election and I lurked LONG before ever posting.

I totally agree with you.

Edited to add, I've met a lot of local and statewide DUers and they are da bomb.

My husband isn't into message boards, but I find it telling that not a day goes by that he doesn't ask me "what's up at DU?" (He's a liberal, too.)