DU hijacked by freepers? Worse yet FBI net-police? Dissent Trackers?

Has fear set in to the point that most DU content has been reduced to a circular argument, a diversionary tactic, or a divide and conquer exercise?

A few great minds keep my interest here, but there were so many more before.

Please, don't give up on Democracy!

what gives? anyone know anything?

I don't need a 1000+ post count to feel validated, to appear to have validity, or to influence another member of or visitor to DU to support my points or consider my questions.

I still consider myself as a newbie most of the time.

But, I do have the common sense the forum members have.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5563415

A couple of good theories have been posted.

I missed whatever wars were going on - so this thread didn't make sense to me, beyond the periodic... we are infiltrated with freeps posts that often appear in GD. Your original post in the linked thread, plus comments by others - gives a clearer context both to what was going on ... and as to possible theories.

sometimes, i'll work on a post for 10 minutes, even put links on, but then, when it comes to 'post' it, i don't because the post might upset people, and cause dissention etc (which is being presumptuous; does anyone read the posts anyway?)
part of the reason might be the number of 'pro biz, pro death penalty, pro war pro bush' posts that seem to emerge once the posts' entrails are gone through, and whether this reflects on the personality of DU or just the popularity of DU among our righteous friends, i dunno ...with the busheviks on the rampage, it's vital that DU be policed though, to keep out the riff raff so geniuses can split hairs in peace, and prepare life rings with the tethers just a little short (real liberals should be able to/can swim a few feet!)......

lol - that just strokes my funny bone... I have missed many of the recent flame wars - so really can't comment upon them. It just caught my attention when several long timers commented that the valence (degree of anger/heat) seemed much higher than in the past... as I have seen some pretty ugly periods (eg primary season of 04; old 02 nader threads - which ironically became pretty neutered in 04 - probably due to the primary wars in 04)... do you see a difference in tone?

I think the two biggest issues are that 1) DU is bigger, and 2) people have a tendency to selectively recall the past.

I wrote a long post about this a few months ago, which is in the archives. If anyone is interested, it's here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4866571&mesg_id=4869867

But I would disagree with you on one point:

This is the Golden Age of DU. Right here. Right now. And the day before, and the day after this, and the next day as well. As long as DU's servers remain going and we've got you guys at the helm, every day for DU is the Golden Age.

we are facing a problem as old as the internets, information overload, as DU's popularity increases =)

how do we separate the wheat from the chaff?

if the community could help rate & categorize EVERY post (i.e. /.) we can then use filters to help us it get at what we want.

of course you could still turn off all your filters and read DU 'un-cut' when you have the time ;->

peace

because it sounds SO familiar (as in I recognize it all...) Guessing selective memory, and attention to particular issues... that is - if one didn't get into the reparation threads - one has no memory of how ugly those could get; or if one didn't read/follow the Dean/Kerry/Clark wars - one has no memory of how ugly those were...

While I do believe that history repeats itself in the DU community (as you say, the community keeps growing and changing), I also believe that some of these discussions have merit - as they get people to think about tone... and what/how different posters will choose to interact as a result of these discussions... in an ever changing community these discussions are part of a "renorming" process (reestablishing or establishing new community norms). Funny thing is that I think I remember having a discussion about community norming during a slew of threads on civility - at least three years ago (after I had been here awhile)...AND I recall moderator calls for posters to STOP calling other posters out as freepers upon my arrival at DU in Jan of 02 - so yes, these discussions have been going on at least as long as I have been here... and clearly in the year before I got here.

there's a wreath on your dog.

How the heck did that get there?!?!

besides the increase in numners. I seem to remember 30,000 as a high benchmark back then.

where's my pony!!!

we'd like to see the bush admin made history right away, and this grinding slowness as the facts, which spell doom to the busheviks, emerge just takes too long....so many thought a smoking gun might upset the bush cart, but there's a growing awareness that the gopig minority control the only media that matters, as it pacifies enough voters, and that's a pissoff

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DU periodically reaches a point where the flamethrowers are working overtime over some hot button issue or another.

It often seems to happen with issues like abortion and the death penalty,because those are issues that transcend politics and get to the heart of what people believe about life itself. It's difficult to find compromise or grey areas about life and death...(Personally I try to avoid those subjects, because of the "brick wall" nature of them.)

I was pro-DP until the last couple weeks. I just cannot justify it any longer. My brick wall crumbled.

I've never really been involved in politics. I've only in the last few years been able to have the "luxury" of getting into them. Sounds horrible, but honestly - when you are poor ($4 an hour) and have a young child - where do you find the time? Now I'm not so poor, but certainly not middle class, but I have access to information now and can fully start to understand the bigger picture.

What scares me is how easy it is to listen to the tv blurbs and think you are making an informed decision. I may not be poor any longer, but the people who are - are not informed by any means.

What I saw during Katrina blew my mind and I will NEVER EVER EVER get to the point of not being informed again.

:D

attacked and ridiculed. I think I'm TOO liberal for this site. And if the FBI is really reading, FUCK YOU!!!!!!