Why I will never participate in Discussionist

[MohRokTah]

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]

1. I don't think I have the nerve to deal with that sort of mix

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]

4. It's just going to boil down to two groups screamin pejoratives at each other

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]

30. that doesn't happen here?

[Leme]

2. I might go there

I like the topics and "news" here, not so keen on a thread closing I saw though

[CurtEastPoint]

3. I'm glad you brought this up. As a fairly longtime DUer, what was/is the point of that site?

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]

6. The point is for Skinner to hopefully make some money

why do you think he started DU?

[Sunlei]

10. if the point of a political messageboard is to make money Rs would have a million of them.

[hack89]

13. How do you think Skinner makes his living?

I have no doubt that it started a labor of love but it clearly has moved beyond that now.

[Sunlei]

16. People are allowed to make a living off their work hours. Anyone can start a messageboard.

[hack89]

18. My point is that Skinner started Discussionist to make more money.

seems like a good idea to me.

[TeeYiYi]

28. It feels like a conflict of interest to me...

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]

33. Not if his interest is to make money

DU is a purely commercial enterprise and Skinner is under no obligation to favor one political side over the other.

[TeeYiYi]

39. I disagree...

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]

40. It is an economic calculation I am sure he has made.

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]

43. I support his decision...

...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]

45. He needs to attract more people - there is no point to another DU if it is the same people posting

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]

54. He's sending a mixed message...

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

[hack89]

55. ok nt

[Lex]

20. Yes, but not everyone has a built-in audience to steer

over to the new site to tangle with the tea-baggers.

[Jesus Malverde]

22. Anyone can start a messageboard

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]

26. Of course. I did not dismiss the genius or the new messageboard. The op & other poster did.

[MohRokTah]

27. I did not dismiss the potnetial for profits.

I suspect it will be incredibly profitable in our world of Crossfire political insult hurling.

I't just not for me.

[Sunlei]

32. I don't have the time either, but I think its good for the little rs to be schooled in public.

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]

19. Clicks = money.

The more crazy long hateful argumentative threads, the more clicks.

[Jesus Malverde]

24. Technically called page views but your on track...nt

[Sunlei]

35. paid media pays their messageboard posters by the word, so everyone can make some bank :P

[jambo101]

58. Message board posters getting paid to post?

As a new member over at Discussionist i'm not seeing any money for my posts.

[Sunlei]

5. whatever floats your boat, its a discussion messageboard and our world needs more of them.

[MohRokTah]

7. It's got no real rules

So long as pejoratives can be flung without repercussions, there can be no discussion.

So really, it's an insult hurling board.

[Sunlei]

9. that's cool! It's fun to war with the Hobbits! Their Kings have no clothes!

[Trajan]

12. We already had Yahoo Political Chat if you wanted battle

Discussionist would be a supreme waste of MY time ...

I want none of it ...

[Sunlei]

17. Yahoo and AOL chats, no thanks :)

[LordGlenconner]

41. You really think so?

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]

47. I love the internet, it is a great equalizer! I can see many of the RW? are "vile, angry & hateful"

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]

8. Meh,conservatives acting moronic is expected.

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]

11. I think many of these are du regulars

Who can now be more open with their true feelings.

[sufrommich]

14. I think you're right. nt

[Jesus Malverde]

25. and new users...nt

[malaise]

15. Years ago I made the decision to call them ReTHUGs until

they stop the 'Democrat ' insult.

[lpbk2713]

21. It's like I said on another GD OP.

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]

23. I won't sign up because I have a low tolerance for bootstrapper bullshit.

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]

29. The subreddit politics is much better anyways.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/

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]

36. reddit is cool, its just their tabs on main page "politics part" is hidden from view.

http://www.reddit.com/

[LittleBlue]

31. Times are changing, sites like Discussionist are the future

Rigid ideological boards like Freeperville and DU are on their way out.

Uncensored discussion, places like reddit, twitter and Discussionist, are the future.

[LordGlenconner]

57. That's good to know

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]

34. The DUers did a good job of jumping on the conservatives on that thread

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]

37. Agree.....

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]

38. I don't know about you...

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]

44. Who knows indeed

Maybe he will

[PotatoChip]

50. Hehe! I enjoy watching you go at it with them.

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]

53. It's like show business...

You have to keep them wanting more.

[War Horse]

42. To me, it's kind of like reading Yahoo comments

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]

46. Oh my god! They called it the the "Democrat party"!

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]

48. This is a Democatic board. "repukes" is allowed here.

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]

49. If this is where you draw the line in the sand on civility,

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]

51. Exactly.

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]

52. Look at this on MohRokTah

http://www.discussionist.com/10162266

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]

56. I took a look this morning

Here's my 3 word review: Free Republic Lite.