dKos as I see it
On Diaries:
Diaries have rules. Read them. Enforce them. If you see a repetive post inform the offending author that their post is repetetive and unwanted, ask visitors not to recommend. For updates, update the original diary, don't write a new one with the same title and the word UPDATE in it. No one line diaries. If your going to waste diary space, have the courtesy to put some thought into your diary. Every single day someone is pissed that their diary got rolled off the recent diary list five minutes after its posted. If we get rid of the repetetive posts and the one line diaries, good diaries will have better chance at getting noticed.
On ratings:
These are the rules I'm going to start using to rate comments. This is my opinion and you don't have to agree.
4---Hand out 4's for posts that make you laugh, think, change an opinion, are insightful, are creative.
3---A three means the post had some qualities of a 4 but was just missing that certain something.
2---A great way to let someone know that their post is repetetive or unwanted.
1 or 0---Use only for trolls. Do not use for retaliation or disagreement. If you disagree with a post but the post isn't troll worthy (ie not posted by a known troll) engage the poster in a debate on his/her opinion that you might be able to either: 1) Change their mind or 2) Change your mind. No one in dKos is perfect or infallible. Opinions are just that, opinions, and should not be troll rated out of hand just because you don't agree with someone else's train of thought.
On dKos:
dKos is a place where a variety of people get to discuss a variety of issues. It gives us a place to rant and rave about the GOP and anything else we can bring to mind. dKos doesn't have the authoritarian feel of sites like Tacitus (a site I was introduced to yesterday and decidely despise), so keep that in mind when you are wasting space, posting repetetive diaries, and starting fights in the open threads. We don't want dKos to have a page of rules so police yourselves and keep dKos a place where open discourse is the rule not the exception. Keep dKos a growing community, a growing political force.
On me:
I am smartass. I am sarcastic. I like to yap. All of my political friends have moved away and this place gives me a forum where I can still chat with likeminded people about politics, the media, and other current events. I am not an internet expert like so many of you seem to be. I don't know how to compress files, post pictures, write html. If I come across as rude, crass, or uninformed make your point in an intelligent way and bring me around. I have apologized for things as little as mixing up a name. If you are right and I am wrong I like to think I'm big enough to admit as much. However, everyone in here has the right to defend themselves and their opinions. If you start a fight prepare to back it up with facts not rhetoric (and as mentioned above, if you can't be constructive in your criticism or back up your claim, don't pick the fight and save the space for relevant comments.)
Finally, nobody is forcing any of us to be here. We are all here of our own volition and as such should be responsible for ourselves, our comments, and for following the few rules Kos has laid out.
Will update my profile with name and email address so I can't be accused of "hiding" behind anonymity.
W.A.R. Kos, dKos, and all the Kossacks.