or CONFESSIONS OF A DKOS NERD
It all starts innocently enough -- you stumble onto the site because you heard something about it and like to get the latest in progressive news from one, good reliable source. So, then you sign up to support said site, although you really have no idea what signing up means or entitles you to. Then one day, when you're really bored at work, you discover this list of "diaries." What are those, you wonder. Eventually, perhaps through osmosis, you discover these are entries by people -- just like you -- who have signed up. Wow, you think. I could write a diary too!
So, you put your toe in to test the waters. But you worry. Will people be hostile to my point of view? Will I make some obvious error that exposes me as a neophyte? Will I be asked never to return? But the thrill of sharing your views with thousands of others is too irresistible. You take the plunge ... only to discover your diary entry falling down the list with only a few comments.
Not being banned from the site, you feel emboldened. You write a few more diaries. But they, too, slip into oblivion. Occasionally, you'll write something that sparks a commotion and you get 100, 200, over 300 comments on a diary! Yea! But no matter how hard you try, the pinnacle of DKos success -- a recommended diary -- remains elusive.
You scour the recommended diaries to see what appeals to people -- personal catastrophic events seem to appeal. So do rants against Fox News. Of course, some diarists make it to the recommended list for nothing other than making an observation about how beige is a better color than ecru. WTF, you think. Why can't people see the brilliance I'm trying so desperately to share with the world?
So, you keep trying.
By the way, did I mention that yesterday I lost my job, my house burned down and my partner of 18 years left me?
Fortunately, I still have my faithful Manchester terrier.