General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy I will never participate in Discussionist
This thread, right here:
http://www.discussionist.com/10156634#post3
If they can get away with using pejoratives against the Democratic Party with no repercussions, there can be no civil discussion with them. Thus there is no point in even attempting it.
liberal N proud
(60,339 posts)I get too much of that every day, I don't know why I would go on line and argue with the crazy ones.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)All the while in the background hoping to get enough people on a jury to hige the other side's posts.
And sadly, the conservatives will win when it comes down to gaming the system because that's all they have.
Kali
(55,019 posts)Leme
(1,092 posts)I like the topics and "news" here, not so keen on a thread closing I saw though
CurtEastPoint
(18,656 posts)Maybe I didn't read the intro materials but I don't need to see, hear, read abuse. I come here for safety and learning and support.
hack89
(39,171 posts)why do you think he started DU?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)I have no doubt that it started a labor of love but it clearly has moved beyond that now.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)seems like a good idea to me.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)Especially with the upcoming elections. It changes how I feel about the owners of DU. It's hard to believe that they've decided to provide a place for cavers and freepers to bash democrats, women, gays and minorities while spewing republican claptrap. Ugh.
TYY
hack89
(39,171 posts)DU is a purely commercial enterprise and Skinner is under no obligation to favor one political side over the other.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)I think he has an obligation to the Democrats who've been paying his bills for the last 12+ years. Skinner built his democraticunderground.com brand around being a Democrat. I think he has an obligation to those Democrats who've been his bread and butter up to this point. Either that or admit that we've all been duped.
TYY
hack89
(39,171 posts)have you considered that perhaps DU is declining and Skinner feels less obligated to us because we are no longer his bread and butter? Every discussion board has its lifetime - maybe Skinner feels it is time to prepare for a future without DU.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)...to start another website and make all the money he can.
What I don't agree with is his apparent decision to distance himself from Democrats. I think he should embrace DU and the brand equity it offers, and brand Discussionist as an offshoot of DU. The open discussion platform is a good one. The welcome mat for trolls is a little disturbing.
The way he's approaching it now, he's inadvertently alienating the people who've helped him to make DU an equitable business venture.
Turning his back on Democrats feels more than a little hypocritical.
TYY
hack89
(39,171 posts)To attract a larger and different audience requires a different emphasis. A broader audience requires acceptance of a broader spectrum of views and beliefs.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)Right now he's using the traffic from DU to populate Discussionist and lure the haters but he's turning his back on the Democratic angle.
I think he needs to embrace the fact that Discussionist is a byproduct of DU and brand it as such. As it sits, Discussionist is a new entity with no identity. Skinner is trying to distance the new website from DU and the Democratic angle while, at the same time, using Democrats from DU to populate his new website. It's disingenuous.
I think he should use the brand equity that 12+ years of DU has to offer and create a brand message that doesn't try to hide the DU connection.
TYY
Lex
(34,108 posts)over to the new site to tangle with the tea-baggers.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Not really, the discussionist is the culmination of 14 years of work, understanding forum administration and user interface.
You dismiss the genius to easily. Go grab a turn key forum and see how cool it is. The forum software, not the users are what make it valuable.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)I suspect it will be incredibly profitable in our world of Crossfire political insult hurling.
I't just not for me.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Some may learn and change.
Who knows perhaps someday republicans will hate the sight of their little hobbits making hundreds of those nuttie posts.
Then a big rich R will have to buy that message board for a couple million to close it, keep those posts off google search results
He can always start another & pocket a couple million republican money!
Lex
(34,108 posts)The more crazy long hateful argumentative threads, the more clicks.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)jambo101
(797 posts)As a new member over at Discussionist i'm not seeing any money for my posts.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)So long as pejoratives can be flung without repercussions, there can be no discussion.
So really, it's an insult hurling board.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Trajan
(19,089 posts)Discussionist would be a supreme waste of MY time ...
I want none of it ...
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)LordGlenconner
(1,348 posts)On the contrary, I think one of the biggest problems in our culture is that too many think their opinions matter. Go look at any major news gathering website and look at the comments below stories. Most are vile, or angry and hateful in tone. Not sure what if anything that accomplishes and I think it's without question that our culture has become more coarse because of it.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)And so can the rest of the general public who also reads their hateful posts. Their posts do not favor or help the republican party at all.
Many of the major 'news' websites don't even allow comments anymore. Some like fox haven't had comments allowed for many years. They are embarrassed of their baseline voters. As McCain called their own little rs "hobbits and squidges", to be needed for a vote but not actually heard in public
I would much rather have all the squidges in public, loud and proud spokespeople- The Brand- for republican values.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)That doesn't bother me,it's more like a big flashing sign that says" dumb person posting".They should be pointed and laughed at instead of begging them to be nice.
JI7
(89,262 posts)Who can now be more open with their true feelings.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)they stop the 'Democrat ' insult.
lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)It would be stooping down to debate a hot button topic with PeeWee Herman. To win would be nothing to write home about. Any points brought up by their side are based on outright lies, exaggeration and propaganda spewed out by their favorite RW AM Radio Hatemonger. And I'm sure I'd need to bathe in Clorox afterwards.
Don't look for me over there.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)There are enough "rugged island" wingnuts on every other board on the interwebs.
Having them spray the furniture with bootstrapper/racist/Dunning-Krugertarian piss seems redundant.
Dawgs
(14,755 posts)And the participants are mostly left leaning.
I'm not sure why Skinner felt they needed to create discussionist. There are already many established sites for these types of discussions.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Rigid ideological boards like Freeperville and DU are on their way out.
Uncensored discussion, places like reddit, twitter and Discussionist, are the future.
LordGlenconner
(1,348 posts)But what makes that different than any other places like the Yahoo! News comments and other cesspools?
I think when I visit those sites and read the comments the old axiom about opinions and assholes takes on added relevance.
Gothmog
(145,489 posts)The DUers posting on that thread did a good job of pointing out the stupidity of this trick. You are never going to convince an idiot to change his/her/its position but you can expose the ignorance of such position. I thought that this thread did a decent job in this regard.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)I have no interest in participating in an uncivil shouting match.
While I agree participants sometimes became a bit "heated" in their exchanges here on DU I have been frustrated with the jury system.
You have to read everything you post on here as if you have an "eggshell plaintiff" as we learned in law school lest you offend anyone.
It has been my experience that participants on juries rarely use the TOS as their guide in determining whether or not to hide a post. It is all based on their personal whims.
We seem to have a lot of DU members who are virulently pro-gun, for example. I have seen more than a few posts about gun regulation hidden by a jury. I seriously doubt there was anything that violated the TOS in most of those hidden posts.
So whether or not I continue to participate here will depend on the behavior of the other DUers. I find this is a good place to source important information and to exchange ideas but I don't always feel I can openly share and exchange ideas because there is a jury of eggshell plaintiffs out there waiting to hide my post.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)But I'm have a ball dealing with some of the right wing idiots who have ended up on the site.
One guy, no matter how much his BS is proven to be completely wrong, never ceases to keep it up.
The guy is like The Little Engine That Could.
Who knows? Maybe he'll get it right some day.
War Horse
(931 posts)Maybe he will
PotatoChip
(3,186 posts)You remind me of a cat keeping a mouse alive long enough to bat it around a bit, sometimes even allowing it to think it's got a shot.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)You have to keep them wanting more.
War Horse
(931 posts)For some reason, Discussionist seems to attract freepers and their ilk like moths to a flame.
Good to see that they are getting some pushback, but what good this does eludes me.
I guess it's just another place in cyberspace for people to vent and fight their personal battles.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)That is the most offensive thing I've ever heard! Thankfully, the DU is here for people who want to have a civil discussion about "repukes" (because, of course, name calling is civil as long as people we don't like are being called names)
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)On a board where you expect to have a civil discussion with members of the opposite political persuasion, it should be the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. No exceptions.
If you cannot even begin the discussion on civil grounds, there can be no civil discussion.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)Discussionist probably isn't for you anyway. Yes, I'm familiar with the history of the term "Democrat Party" and it's still nothing more than a mile annoyance that repukes perpetuate because they know it bugs us.
Yes, you're going to find some people there you can't have a civil discussion with, but then, you're going to find people here of the SAME political persuasion you can't have a civil discussion with, too.
Old and In the Way
(37,540 posts)I suppose I could use Republic Party over there, but I see no reason I should play that silly game. Personally, the very low end con posters are all about insults and juvenile responses. Their simplistic one line statements might work over at FR/CC/CU, but they are going to be surprised at how stupid you can make them appear when you call them on their nonsense and force them to defend their initial post. Lots don't, but some come back for further embarrassment.
JustAnotherGen
(31,869 posts)If this is someone's biggest worry or concern in a 'culture' section then the Kartrashian/Kimye wedding can't come soon enough! If I were to register I'd blow it up with a bunch of TEA and Blind Gossip Items - like the recent reveal on . . .
LordGlenconner
(1,348 posts)Here's my 3 word review: Free Republic Lite.