We travel this road together, daily.
If you’ve become a member in the last two or three years, you’ve probably been welcomed by various people, who try to welcome, partner and mentor new users. Having mentors tell us how things are done here can be invaluable, but only if we make use of what they share.
Some of us, though, predate the group of Partners and Mentors, and learned as we went. I read here for almost a decade before I had the courage to sign up for an account. Turns out, reading the instructions is a pretty good idea, whether you’re learning your way around a web site or installing a dishwasher. What I understood to mean “You must write a diary a day.” turned out to be “You may only write a diary a day.” It shows both my lack of comprehension skills that day, and how long ago that was! I was a lurker, then, until 2012.
I was very blest to find Cheers & Jeers early on. I just read each day and got to know the lay of the land...and Bill welcomed me like an old friend. I still consider him one. C&J and all the kids in the Kiddie Pool TM helped me learn how things are done. They offered encouragement, advice, friendship, and gentle warnings of pitfalls.
BiPM has a “thing” for candy corn. We love him anyway.
I made one not-well-thought-out comment and Meteor Blades set me straight, gently but firmly. I’ve never forgotten that lesson!
aaaaak!!! I messed up!!!!
Probably the best lesson I ever learned here was:
Diaries can be deleted; comments are forever.
In the words of my mentor, Wee Mama,
Honestly answering those three simple questions has kept me out of trouble since the day I made my first comment...and that was about 80,000 comments and several hundred diaries ago. That is especially true during the weirdness that is Primary Season around here, when passions run high, and words can wound so easily. Factions are passionate about their candidates and wounds can be dealt so easily at times like that. We are better than that; we must be.
The last few years have been extraordinarily stressful from a political standpoint. And with the Trump Regime installed in the White House, we are all in a state of angst and anger much of the time. While we try to channel that anger into action, we do need places to rest from the constant stress of all things Trump.
We have an election to get through. And there is always another election! Always.
To balance out the stresses of politics, we also have Groups to join. Whatever your interests, I promise we have a group that will suit you. Whether it’s gardening, science, quilting, DIY, geneology, pets….we have Groups! Find one you like and ask to join. We are a political blog, sure. We are also much more than that. As I like to quote all the time:
Come for the politics; stay for the community.
We do an awful lot of good, as a community, not only contributing to election campaigns, but doing so many other things that keep us grounded in the communities we live in, and the community that Kos started here.
But…….mind how you go.
The best way to get along well here is to mind your manners. If that isn’t clear enough (and sometimes it isn’t as clear as we would like) there is a piece written by the owner of the blog, Markos Moulitsas: The Rules Of The Road. Almost everything you need to know is in that piece, but let me hit some of the highlights for you:
- We are here to elect more and better Democrats. If you prefer Greens or other parties, this is not the place for you.
- Kos has the final word on everything. It is HIS blog. This is not a democracy, it is a privately owned blog and the owner’s word is law.
- We do not have moderators, as such. We moderate each other, as Trusted Users (TU) and try to keep things under control. We can flag comments that go against community standards, and we do.
- We do not flag for disagreement with the comment, nor do we flag as part of some ideological pissin’ contest.
- We also do not accuse each other of being shills or Republican/Russian/DeepState trolls.
- Leave your baggage at the door. The rest of us do not want to deal with petty squabbles between factions.
- There are some words we never….I repeat….NEVER use. Yes, we are all grownups, but not using these words has become our standard of behaviour. Again, if this does not suit you, perhaps this is not the blog for you.
- Clearly stated in Do Not #4:
Do Not: Use racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, ageist, able-ist language -- or hate speech, generally. It is not acceptable at this site. We respect everyone.
The words? The N word, the C word, the B word (unless and only if you are referring to a female dog) the D word...although you will see someone use the acronym: DBAD (Don’t Be A D*ck) That predates the ban on the D word. We also use DBAA (Don’t Be An Ass). There are other words, sexist, ageist, homophobic words, all the crappy words that are used to put others down or make them “less than.” We do not use them. You can get flagged, timed out, or banned for using them.
Our stress as a nation is not over. We have a long, long way to go to set thing to rights and we need each and every ally to make it happen. If you have questions, the Help Desk is available. Their word is the same as if it came from Kos. Trust them, and you’ll do well.
If you have questions in the normal day-to-day of writing and commenting here…..ASK!! Plenty of old timers will be happy to help you or point you in the right direction.
Visit the link to the Rules of The Road. Bookmark it. Refer to it.
And when push comes to shove, get up and walk away for a few minutes. We all need a way to decompress from all the things we’ve seen and heard in the last few years. And walking away from a disagreement here is never a “losing” proposition. Always remember to…………….
