The DU Presidential Primary Guide to Good Citizenship and Survival

Skinner ADMIN

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Thu Apr-10-08 12:52 PM
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The DU Presidential Primary Guide to Good Citizenship and Survival

The Democratic presidential primary is now well into its fourth month (or its 16th month, depending on your point of view), and it looks like it might continue for another four months. By now, primary fatigue has long-since set in, and you are starting to wonder if you can possibly make it through to the end without losing your mind.

Fret not! In our continuing efforts to... well... at least make you pause for a moment before you go off half-cocked and call your fellow DUer a "traitorous, kool-ade-drinking, party-wrecking, McCain-enabling, Clintobamabot," we present to you The DU Presidential Primary Guide to Good Citizenship and Survival...

DEALING WITH DISRUPTORS AND RULE-VIOLATIONS

If you see a rule violation, click alert.

If you see a suspicious member who you think is a troll, click alert.

If you do not alert on a rule violation, the moderators probably will not see it. Don't complain if it doesn't get deleted.

DEALING WITH THE MODERATORS AND/OR ADMINISTRATORS

Insulting the moderators -- either publicly, by private message, or in an alert -- is not a successful strategy for getting what you want.

If you send an email to admin claiming that your obvious rule violation was deleted because the moderators are biased against your favored candidate, your message will be ignored.

In fact, if you claim moderator bias for any reason, your message will likely be ignored.

I know you think I oppose your candidate. You're wrong.

COPING WITH STUPID CONTENT

People who say they won't vote for the Democratic presidential nominee in the general election are not to be taken seriously.

Remember that most people here don't actually believe the ridiculous spin they are posting.

Slicing someone's idiotic argument into tiny little ribbons without losing your cool or breaking the rules takes skill -- but it is incredibly satisfying if you can pull it off. Part of the fun is that dumb people (and dumb bystanders who are reading the exchange) won't realize that they lost the argument. But smart people -- no matter which candidate they support -- will know that you won.

Trolls like attention. They especially like being flamed. If you flame a troll, you lose. If you can expose their stupidity with a quick surgical strike -- without losing your cool or breaking the rules -- by all means go for it. But don't flame and don't let yourself get dragged into an extended back-and-forth, because then you lose.

If you think the problems in the GDP forum are caused primarily by the supporters of one candidate, or if you believe that the supporters of one candidate are better behaved or less disruptive or smarter or more patriotic than the supporters of another candidate, you haven't been paying very close attention.

People who claim they would vote for John McCain over either of the two remaining Democratic candidates are either not progressive or not thinking straight. If you post this, you are basically daring the mods to give you a tombstone.

TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DU EXPERIENCE

If you want to get away from the infighting about the primaries, we have given you the tools to do so. Read this thread for instructions on hiding the General Discussion: Primaries forum.

If someone sends you an unwanted message to your DU inbox, click the link that says "Block correspondence from {username}."

The ignore function is almost (but not quite) as good as a tombstone. It makes the annoying people disappear.

TAKING SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR

Look in the mirror. If your behavior makes you part of the problem, stop complaining! Or better yet, knock it off!

If you keep participating in the infighting about the primaries, then perhaps you are getting some utility from it.

"Everybody else does it" is not an excuse.

If your post gets deleted or your thread gets locked, suck it up.

BEING A GOOD DU CITIZEN

Remember that simply because something is not forbidden by the DU rules does not mean it is constructive, civil, or appropriate. If you are serious about improving the tone in the GDP forum, you should start by becoming the type of DU citizen you expect others to be. Here are a few ideas:

Read the DU rules and follow them.

Call the candidates by their appropriate names: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, or Senator Clinton and Senator Obama.

Do not refer to candidate supporters using derogatory names. Say "Clinton supporters" and "Obama supporters."

Do not make broad-brush statements about supporters of either candidate.

Remember that supporters of both candidates are good people who want what's best for this country, and for the world.

Don't just stick up for your own candidate. Defend BOTH candidates against unfair, misleading, bigoted, or otherwise inappropriate attacks.

Don't believe something simply because it is favorable to your candidate, or because it is unfavorable to the other.

Be extra sensitive when discussing issues related to race and gender.

Don't act like a jerk.

Don't be a hypocrite.

Use your brain.

MANAGING YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Out in the real world, this primary has become very ugly, with campaigns and their surrogates saying very ugly and divisive things. I appreciate the fact that you wish DU members would be better behaved than the campaigns they support. I do, too. But don't get your hopes up.

As a general rule, the administrators believe it is better to let the members of DU sort out your differences, rather than have us step in and resolve them for you.

I do not have the power to make you happy. Only you can make you happy.

If you feel you are getting upset, do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and step away from the computer.

Remember: It's just a message board.

AND FINALLY

If your reaction to reading this thread is something along the lines of, "All right! I am going to freak out and act like a complete jerk whenever I think someone has failed to live up to the standard set in Skinner's post," then you have completely missed the point.

Feel free to add your own items to this list...