am i irrelevant?

[SwampG8r]

i keep replying to posts
so my count keeps rising,but,invariably when i post a pro obama reply i get a curious response.
im debased for the crime of......
being new

omg
a new guy saying something
i read waaaaay more than i post so i kinda feel im not the only new person hearing this

so i have to ask to all the "you need a bigger post count to say anything people"
ever hear of the phrase catch 22?
in general i just ignore the replies stating such views
anyone using this as a defense to a comment or a reply to one
must be about as dumb as a bag of wet hair
and now lately i get to hear about donations
i would like to point out to anyone who uses the "ive donated" as an attack
that it is possible to donate anonomously through amazon
everyone dont want their business known

i have actually had decent conversations and rancorous ones here in several different discussions and have found DU to be insightful and interesting
im very happy to have found the place

for the record im a 52 yr old white middle class floridian who is voting obama in november
and im bringing as many with me as i can


P>S> i know everyone will say yes to the title question
i laughed first
so na na na na na na

[ClassWarrior]

1. Hang in there. Most of us are glad to have new members of the community.

Welcome to DU. :toast:

NGU.

[babylonsister]

2. No, you're not.

And the point of donating here is to allow you to go into other forums and do searches. Once you donate, you get a star next to your name. I guess people think that if you're a donating member, you have more of a stake in staying on DU and supporting the site.

Just keep on plugging along. Nerves are frayed around here. Don't let the naysayers get you down.

[leftofcool]

3. Ignore being ignored or better yet

go to GDP and post something really nasty about Hillary. We Hillary supporters will be right on it.

[femmedem]

4. I hate it when long-time DU'ers pick on new posters.

We were all new once. And nobody tried to smack me down when I was new. Your experience is emblematic of the level of vitriol here these days.

That said, there are a couple of people who started posting here during the primary season, and they seem to make it their life's work to dish snark and dig up dirt on one candidate or another. I think those disrupters are making it harder for new posters like yourself.

[SwampG8r]

6. you mean like reply 3?

[azmouse]

9. Not everyone on DU is like that.

I welcome you here. :hi:

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. Thin skin?

[SwampG8r]

52. not thin at all

its like leather
im wondering why my time as a poster here and looooooong time lurker is such a sore subject for people
this is a forum of ideas isnt it?
so bitchsmack me for my ideas
not my length of post record

[Midlodemocrat]

5. Don't let it bother you.

You have to remember that a lot of trolls sign up during these tumultuous times and people tend to think that all n00bs are trolls.

You'll be fine. :hug:

[durrrty libby]

7. "am i irrelevant?" Only if your name is Florida or Michigan

[Hope And Change]

8. Of course not....

I`m pretty new here too.I have to admit I didn`t felt exactly welcomed when I started to post here on DU.If some people are pissing you off just add them to your ignore list.That will save you a lot of headache.


And welcome to DU!


:toast:

[azmouse]

10. A belated welcome to you too.

This should be an interesting year to be here on DU and talking politics.

[Hope And Change]

11. Thanks azmouse!

:toast:

[SwampG8r]

13. dont ignore

it keeps u from actually hearing what they say
i myself have no one on ignore at all and hope that when hillary finally sees the handwriting on the wall i can still exchange ideas with these (extreme hillary supporters)people
i believe we will have to have them and most are in fact very loyal dems come election time
but ignore ?never
in fact ive gotten some pms from some of these folks on subjects unrelated to the primaries and almost made friends
after the convention i think we need all of our friends to beat mc cain

[PylesMalfunction]

12. I have a low post count

and I once was told that I was troll because of it. I told them to fuck off because I've been here at DU since 2001. :D The nice thing about having a low post count is that I'm constantly being welcomed to DU. :D I think it's really sweet and most DU members are nice like that. Some people are assholes. Don't worry about them.

[SwampG8r]

14. hmmmm

i heard they have special underwear for your condition
lol thanks and welcome to DU pyles
i can tell your new because you have a low post count
:toast:

[PylesMalfunction]

15. Why thank you!

I think I'll fit in nicely here. :D

[Voice for Peace]

41. welcome to DU! LOL

[PylesMalfunction]

51. Hee!

Thanks oldtimer! :D

[blondie58]

16. I'm sorry- did you say something?

just kidding, swampg8r!

Hang in there- and hey- go check out the lounge and places like the pets, home improvement, gardening, etc.

They are friendlier at this time and I have learned so much. It seems like in the GD, there is always someone that wants to pick a fight. It took me about forty years, but I finally learned that some people thrive on that. Hard for me, the peace loving Libran to understand.

And I suspect that those bashing you for posting pro Obama posts while being new are the Hillary lovers. There is so much discord on the board at this time, I hope that it passes soon.

[Bonobo]

17. Not to me after that post.

[SwampG8r]

18. thanks i think

love the name i call a guy at work that
he has no clue what a bonobo is

[Bonobo]

19. I'm a huge Zappa fan too. Not many more into FZ than me.

But no, all I meant by my post was that now that you have introduced yourself, you are more than just a name to me.

Speaking of your screen name, by the way, I think some might distrust the name because it is in all lowercase AND you have a low post count. I know that is stupid, but... well, it's possible that that is a contributing factor.

[SwampG8r]

21. wtf?

lower case discrimination on DU?
om fing g

my wife is class of 96 at univ of fla
stadium is the swamp
i kinda thought it was a cool name lol

[Bonobo]

23. But "SwampG8r" is different than "swampg8r" -subtle, but I think it feels different.

[SwampG8r]

25. yeah okay

but will they let me change it?if not im keeping it
to hell with what people think

[Bonobo]

28. Send an email to the Admins. Who knows?

Man, I know how stupid it sounds, but...

[SwampG8r]

29. sorry but

i hate to admit it i dont know how to pm here yet lol
what a dumbass noobie
to the point i have a good friend in town who collects vinyl records
he has a omg big early zappa stash
if you lack a particular piece of zappa u cant find let me know ill have an answer for you in 24 or less

[Bonobo]

33. I know one person who is a bigger FZ freak than me.

My brother. He sounds like this person you describe.

But there are lots of hardcore FZ fans and it is all out there now on the "internets"

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[Buzz Clik]

20. You're a victim of the current insanity here at DU.

We are knee deep in spammers. We have dozens and dozens of newbs who play hit-and-run with stupid posts and attempt to disrupt at every turn.

Not much you can do but carry on.

[GOTV]

22. Well, yes, that's the way it goes here. Consider it hazing. All of us went through it. n/t

[2rth2pwr]

24. Typical white person.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

27. Did you forget the :sarcasm: tag?

[2rth2pwr]

30. Did Obama?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

37. You are what one would call a typical hypocritical asshole.

The poster was looking for dialog, and you reply with a smear. Welcome to ignore, fuck-head.

[2rth2pwr]

39. Wait! wait..hang on a second....

[SwampG8r]

53. he didnt mean anything

he was trying to be funny
god knows we could ALL use a laugh

[grantcart]

26. welcome

(I think the remarks about low counts has to do with suspecting somebody is coming back with a false id rather than an actual new member)

[LWolf]

32. No.

I don't care how many posts you have.

I disagree with you about Obama. I'm not voting for him in my primary, and I'm not voting for him in November.

I'm not supporting HRC, either.

I don't need to flame you because I think you are wrong about Obama. Take courage; if you were a newbie and a supporter of HRC, it would be worse. ;)

[DevonRex]

34. I've had a few of those comments too.

It didn't really get to me because they were usually supporters of the other candidate. And at first I tried really hard not to ignore people who had lots and lots of posts, thinking that somehow I owed them the respect of listening to them. Then I realized that it didn't matter how many posts other people had. They could be nasty with only 10 posts to their names and they could be equally nasty with over 1000.

Like you, I've been reading stuff here for years. I even posted a bit but lost all my passwords and stuff when my hard drive blew up a few years ago. Just never signed back up again. And really, there wasn't much to say for a long time - at least that wasn't already being said by everyone else.

I'm not irrelevant and neither are you. I'm an Obama precinct captain and I worked my ass of getting the vote out here in Colorado. I'm a poll watcher and I'll be at our convention, too. I think some folks need a reality check on that relevancy thing.

[progressoid]

35. 117,797 registered users. It's pretty crowded in here.

It's easy to get lost or ignored or assailed or...

Hang in there!

[Coexist]

36. lol! when I was a newbie

I took to calling myself the Thread Anchor - as soon as I responded on a thread, it sunk to page two!

It takes time for people to get to know you.

What part of the Florida are you from? Tampa area here - Go Gators! Go Obama!

[SwampG8r]

54. dead east near cocoa

[lumberjack_jeff]

38. You're catching us at a bad time

1) many of the "new" posters are demonstrably old posters who were either banned or who just find being having an agreeable entourage, even if only sock puppets, appealing.
2) by "donor" most people are referring to a DU donor. Posters who have donated money to the site to keep it going have a star next to their name.
3) if you appreciate decent conversations and can tolerate the occasional rancorous ones, we're happy to have you and you are not irrelevant.

Please take this in the spirit in which it is intended: discussion boards are unlike other text media (IM, IRC, chatting) in that punctuation, formatting and capitalization are appreciated.

Oh, I'm a 46 year old white guy who will vote for the nominee in november. Until then, I prefer Clinton's policy goals.

A belated welcome to du. :hi:

[SwampG8r]

56. thanks

very much
and thanks for the grammar advice.
:toast:

[BigDaddy44]

40. Happens all the time

Post something that someone doesn't like, and they immediately look up when you first registered, and remind you of it. "Someone who's only been here a month should be lecturing us on blah blah blah blah." Like a bunch of nattering old ladies not liking the new people who moved in the neighborhood.

[Voice for Peace]

42. It's lowpostism and newbieism, and it's unfair. Many people get their posts into the hundred-

thousands by posting posts that say basically nothing as often as possible. I know, since I just made it to my thousandth post last week, and it took a lot of determination. Hated the utter shame and humiliation of having fewer than 1000+ posts. Finally validated my existence, it was a great day. You'll get there sooner than you expect (if you care). and.. welcome!

[beandoc]

44. If it makes you feel better

I have a lower post count, and therefore am less relevant. And if it doesn't make you feel better, I'm just trying to get my post count up.

And I replied to the wrong post...

[Voice for Peace]

46. that's ok, it's your lucky day because you get a response from me.

[SwampG8r]

61. hey newbie?

who in hell do you think you are with 7 freakin posts to even talk to me
try again when you have a few more than that
sheesh
:toast: :yourock:


and as i said earlier they do have special underwear to help with that low count

[Voice for Peace]

63. LOL that's the spirit nt

[SwampG8r]

59. oh my god

a 1000 post guy replied.
im so proud.
lol
seriously congrats for hitting the high water mark.
and thank you much for the welcome.
i myself dont care.
i mean who do i think i am ive only been here a month?
i can believe im allowing myself to post at all!!!
heres to you for 1000 and me for finding DU
:toast:

[lumberjack_jeff]

62. Cha!

.oO (5832)

[cottonseed]

43. That's actually against DU rules.

If someone is being an obvious jerk off and unfairly attacks you for being a newbie, then feel free to alert their comment. It will be deleted.

[DeadElephant_ORG]

45. it's part of a pattern of age-ism. All Obama supporters must be wet behind the ears in some way.

See the post "The Secret Ingredient in Kool-aid":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=5168771

[Voice for Peace]

47. that's funny, I was under the impression everybody here was young, including me.

and I thought the secret ingredient came from the fountain of youth.

[tammywammy]

48. I don't comment on people with low post counts

I had a low post count at one point too. :)

As long as a newbie isn't posting crap like "Obama's a secret Muslim" or "Hillary's a lesbian that killed Vince Foster" then they're okay with me. :)

[JFN1]

49. Welcome!

And don't sweat it - it is a tough time to be new here - I've been on this board for about three years now, but don't comment or post much (thus my low post number) and consequently receive similar treatment on occassion. In time, you'll carve yourself out a nice little niche here.

[Indenturedebtor]

50. I still don't have a niche haha

Need to donate myself but we're having some "economic inverted upturn" issues :P

Welcome aboard! I don't ignore people either. Stupidity is funny hah.

[crankychatter]

55. What would Zappa say about DU?

"I enjoy offending people, that enjoy BEING offended." FZ

[crankychatter]

57. jeez now i have to change my signature line

yep

[Maddy McCall]

67. Fitting, for a guy who cries 'racism!' everytime he sees the word "brown."

[quakerboy]

58. Hi,

[AZBlue]

60. Welcome to DU! And here's a piece of advice:

:hi:

Hit the alert button! Pointing out a new member's low post count is against DU rules. It's one of the rudest things I see on here and so I alert whenever I see someone do it to someone else. But, you can hit that little button even if it's you that they are calling out and I wish you would, it's rotten! :)

[Laelth]

64. Keep ignoring those responses.

DU will become a lot more pleasant after the convention, as others have noted.

And, if I haven't said so before, welcome to DU!

:patriot:

:dem:

-Laelth

[FlyingSquirrel]

65. Ignore them and

just keep in mind, there are some snarky ones who will check out your profile and if you have, say, 1000+ posts in only a short time they'll still attack you by saying you obviously have no life to have posted so much in so little time.

[Swamp Rat]

66. Welcome to DU!

:hi: