Noticed something odd in the wake of the November DU hack.

[Orrex]

Over the past few months I've wondered "where are they?" about this or that long-time poster, around three dozen or so.

When I've checked their profiles, I see that very nearly all of them logged their last posts on Nov 8, 2016, shortly before the hack shut the place down.

What are we to make of this? Maybe they came back after the hack but opted not to reset their passwords?


Just seemed a little odd, is all.

[fierywoman]

1. I waited a long time to reset my password

because I found it a pain. Only came back this week. Also thought a few months off of being snarky might do me some good.

[rufus dog]

2. Strange - Any specific names?

I would think you may have a certain % (albeit small) who would freak out and never go back to a site that was hacked out of fear.

[LisaL]

5. That would be my guess as well.

I think they were concerned about the hack and never went back out of fear.

[Orrex]

6. I didn't want to name names, at the risk of being a call-out

I've noticed two major "waves" in the last year or so. The first occurred shortly after the nomination went to Clinton. A number of vocal Sanders supporters left at that time.

The second was the aforementioned "hack night" exodus.


As noted down-thread, perhaps some of it is the PITA-factor that kept people from re-upping?

[rufus dog]

8. You are correct - probably best to avoid a potential call out

The Bernie wave were likely those who refused to get along after the loss. I'm sure there were a number of HRC supporters who dropped in 2008.

I remember briefly pondering should I reset, but I live the definition of a boring life, so updated password and moved on. Someone with more concerns may have had a different mindset.

There could also be a similar response to the HRC 2008 drops and 2016 Bernie drops, that is supporters of being so pissed that tRump won that they just quit.

[FSogol]

12. The probably just created new accounts and are back as zombies. n/t

[Orrex]

13. Definitely a possibility

I wondered about that, in fact.

Hmm...

[canetoad]

23. I think this happened

There seem to be a number of very new posters with recent join dates but - and this is intangible, their *style of posting seems like a long term DUer.

[FSogol]

24. Agreed. n/t

[NightWatcher]

3. During the latest hack I guess somehow they used my screen name to spread it or something

I received notice that my posting privileges were revoked. I cleared this up by emailing Skinner and all was fixed within days.

Maybe some said screw it and never came back or decided they needed new accounts.

[Dave Starsky]

4. Many long-time members couldn't reuse their old accounts.

Because you had to have a new password reset sent to the e-mail address you originally set up your account under. Difficult, if not impossible, to do if it was under an e-mail you hadn't used in 10 or more years.

And so we just shrugged and got new accounts. The old one was getting boring anyway.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. This.

[EllieBC]

18. That happened to me on another website.

When I signed up I was using yahoo email and that was in 2001. I couldn't recover my password for a website in 2008 because I got rid of my yahoo account in 2004 and didn't update my email in some places. Granted that was my own fault but it still sucked.

[Nitram]

7. There were Russian trolls on DU, and some of them were very obvious.

They stuck out like a sore thumb in their anti-Ukraine posts. If they played nasty Clinton or Bernie voters who dissed the other candidate too put the two groups at each other's throats, that would have been harder to detect. Perhaps a study of the post made by those who dropped out?

[DetlefK]

9. There was this pro-russian guy.

I got into lots of arguments with him here on DU. He was a big defender of Russia. November 7th was his last post.

EDIT: He joined DU in October 2015.

[Orrex]

10. I'm sure that's the case for quite a few of them

I don't recall all of the specifics, but some of the vanished had been here for years.


Good observation about Oct 2015...

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. I miss the posters who were in some of the groups - cooking, gardening - I chatted in

beac, JDPreistly, Le Taz Hot, Erich Bloodaxe, Blue_In_Ak all come to mind - good DU friends...

Between the big November and smaller recent hack, people drop away...it is really challenging times now politically, of course.

Not a call out, above...just memories of good chats here with some who are now elsewhere

[tenderfoot]

14. I know of one that hasn't posted since a few days before the election.

I have always suspected this user to be a shitting stirring conservative troll and assume they were pleased with the results of the election and haven't returned because it would be obvious that they couldn't be happier.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. I know that if you go back to the debates I had regarding Russia and Ukraine in 3014

The vast majority of the posters toeing the Putin line left around June or July 2016 in the lead up to the convention.

And a good number of those posters were very excited about the "Guccifer" hacks in the Spring of 2016.

Just an observation, nothing more and nothing less.

[Orrex]

17. A good observation, at that

Since I posted the OP, I've spot-checked a few more, of the admittedly anecdotal cross-section of posters who come to mind.

I mentioned the two "waves," citing the departures following Sanders' defeat and the departures resulting(?) from the hack. Your Spring 2016 observation certainly suggests an earlier, linked wave.


As you note, it's simply an observation, and I don't have the data to draw any conclusion beyond "that seems conspicuous."

[malaise]

29. I wasn't pro_Putin but I wasn't pro-US over the Ukraine

because I see no reason for the US to be fugging around near Russia's border anymore than I would support Russia doing the same near the US. Some folks missed that I was genuinely non-aligned and not picking sides on many issues.

I was also very objective about WW2 and the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Russians.

One day I'll tell DUers what followed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Or they found other places to post during the enforced time off

and didn't bother constantly checking to see if DU was available again. They may have decided that if Trump can get elected in the USA, then spending time talking about politics online has no positive effect.

[Orrex]

20. Both are strong possibilities, I agree

And even if they weren't "constantly checking" availability, if they'd returned months later, then they wouldn't have hit my radar during the spot-check, so in that way my sample is tainted.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. I think the old time poster count has dropped and the new troll count has skyrocketed.

Between conservatives who are just here to fuck with people and stir shit for their and their buddies' amusement and the serious political operatives/trolls/bots that get paid to do so, this place is quite different than it once was. And not for the better.

That said, it is still probably the best place to post about politics.

[SoCalDem]

35. this...

I used to be here all the time..and eventually got tired of the trolling and deliberate mean-spirited attitudes of many who are here now,,...so I moved on..

Still read a bit every once in a while, but I outgrew DU and miss the fun it used to be so now I play the free slots on facebook

[davsand]

22. I know a few who don't do loyalty oaths.

A couple got banned. I also know a few that left the Dem party completely. Not gonna lie, DU is not at all the same community that it used to be, and there are days when I am less enthusiastic than I used to be. I go on "walk about" for a while then drift back here more often than not because of something in the lounge or for LBN.

YMMV.

Laura

[hunter]

26. Loyalty Oaths???

I don't do loyalty oaths for religious reasons in real life, not even the Pledge of Allegiance, since I was a kid.

Maybe I'm a hypocrite, but agreeing not to bash Democrats here on DU doesn't seem like any kind of loyalty oath to me.

[davsand]

30. Not talking about something doesn't mean it is OK.

Dems screw up too. That should not surprise anybody on this site to hear that statement. There's a sub-sect of Democrats who feel it is important to discuss that so we don't keep on making mistakes. They feel it's a good thing to be able to exercise freedom of speech in everything, even in a website owned by somebody else. They choose not to play with that set of rules, and that certainly doesn't make them bad Dems or mean they are up to anything nefarious.

Primaries are always a painful experience, as we all know, but it does seem this particular one was even worse that usual. I lost friends--long time DUers--because I supported the ticket after the primary was done. THOSE are some of the people who have gone from here. It makes me sad they have gone, and we are less without those voices. If the Dems want to ever improve our lot in life we have GOT to pull it back together and grow past our current in-party stuff. I'm afraid that is not going to ever happen unless we all hash this stuff out.

Think of it as being like family counseling.


Laura

[hunter]

32. I'm a hard core leftist and some kind of environmentalist extremist. I never self-censor here.

Most trouble I ever got into here was on MIRT. Yes, I do have some issues with guns, largely born of experience.

[seaglass]

36. No, it is not the same community. Trust was broken. Some DUers who went to another website and said

they would not vote for Hillary, did not vote for her. I wouldn't welcome any of them back.

How can there be community without trust? We discovered that we were not in fact all in this together.

[denbot]

25. Some people get burned out and take a break after a terrible loss

Like say, your democracy and online community gets hacked.

[wasupaloopa]

27. I could not use the email address I signed up with.

I used my work email address when I signed up and when I retired it was deleated.

I had to open a new account so that is why I am wasupaloopa.

[Squinch]

28. I noticed the same. Some of the shit stirrers that I dreaded running into, long time posters,

disappeared with the hack.

[Awsi Dooger]

31. It was rather difficult to reset the password after the hack

I made many attempts over a couple of weeks and none of them took, even though I still have the same email address as when I joined in 2002.

I gave up for a while and eventually contacted the administrators. But even after they gave me a link to reset I was still too stunned and discouraged so I intentionally ignored politics for quite a while. It was several months after the election before I reset the password.

Prior to that the only post-election post I made on this site was one contribution to the "thoughts" scroll that the administrators thoughtfully provided while the hack could be worked out. I wanted to emphasize that there had not been an ideological shift in the electorate, contrary to conventional wisdom. In fact, the gap between self-identified conservatives and liberals actually dropped below 10% for the first time in recent history, at 35-26. Naturally the media outlets completely ignored that aspect. I haven't seen it anywhere.

I'm sure many DUers experienced the same thing I did and simply gave up in resetting. That's only natural. It won't be a large percentage but even if it's a few percent some names will be noted among the missing.

***

On return I have to say I was extremely disappointed and miffed that the General Discussion 2016 forum had been locked. That should never happen, IMO. There is a valuable difference between the main General Discussion forum and the General Discussion forum devoted to election cycles, whether past or present. I remember when that type of forum was first instituted. I think it was called General Discussion Politics, or something like that. Such a revelation. Previously there was a very low trafficked forum devoted to politics and political races. The volume and participation exploded exponentially when GD Politics was instituted.

Obviously there is going to be relentless arguing after a devastating defeat. It's pathetic to pretend there should be a time limit on the arguing. I am more of a numbers and analytical and handicapper type than cheerleader. It is difficult not to laugh when surrounded by posts claiming Hillary will win by 10% and that we'll sweep the senate seats. I noticed as soon as GD Politics began that many impressive posters who shared the same focus that I do would hang out in that forum and exchange ideas. It worked out well. Allow the cheerleaders to stay in General Discussion. Now I'm posting mostly the same stuff, since that's the way I think, but I realize it doesn't fit as well in General Discussion as in a forum devoted to politics specifically.

[L. Coyote]

33. Do we need an opportunity where posters can reclaim their old user names?

[LeftyMom]

34. Might be burnout.

I don't post much anymore. This is all so depressing and I don't feel a sense of fun or community.

[Stinky The Clown]

37. Hammer meet nail!

I think you hit on it. Far less of the sense of being part of a community.

I seem to spend more time fending off trolls and calling them out than posting actual stuff. The quality of my OPs is down while the frequency of my troll fends is way, way up.