Tips for Surviving Primary Season on Democratic Underground

[NanceGreggs]

15. In other words ...

Last edited Wed Sep 9, 2015, 11:41 PM - Edit history (1)

If you are a veteran DUer (or a newbie) and have come to DU to actually discuss and/or debate the issues facing us as voters in next November’s presidential election, abandon all hope ye who enter here. Instead of pretending to have the ability to discuss anything, simply acknowledge that no actual discussion is possible here and “trash” the forums where such discussion was once possible.

Despite DU’s former (and once rather famous) reputation for being a Democratic-supporting website, please make note of the fact that trashing Democrats is now not only permitted here, but doing so will garner RECs galore and will land your OP – no matter how vile, how misinformed, how full of RW talking points – on the Greatest Page and the Home Page, so that any doubt about what DU now stands for is rendered moot.

Trash the General Discussion: Primaries forum. If you are a Hillary supporter, be warned that you are in the minority here and, as such, juries will vote to hide any and all OPs/posts that can even remotely be perceived as being anti-Bernie. To their credit, jurors have been very up-front with their “unbiased decisions”, and will actually explain that they have left the most disgusting anti-Dem posts to stand if they disagree with the poster’s acknowledged support of HRC.

Trash candidate groups. By all means, use the “trash” option to remove any and all posters who disagree with your politics or candidate-of-choice. Why else would anyone come to a “political discussion board” other than to NOT discuss politics with those who disagree with their own positions? The alternative – actually discussing one’s political positions/opinions – was once the life’s blood of this site. Those days are gone, and creating an echo chamber within which any poster can create his/her own reality by blocking any and all posters of differing opinions is now encouraged.

Make use of the ignore function. Why be bothered by those who don’t agree with YOU 100% of the time, when you can simply “ignore” them? Nothing promotes productive dialogue between posters than the ability to stick your fingers in your ears and yell “I can’t HEAR you!” by simply accessing a handy-dandy button that removes said people from your “DU experience”.

A few caveats. As of now, threads from forums that you have trashed and threads by members you are ignoring will still appear on the homepage (we hope to fix this once we have upgraded our servers).

Well, thank God for small favours. We wouldn’t want anyone to have to see things they don’t want to see on a political message board. Delicate sensibilities could be irreparably damaged; the weak-of-heart could wind up in institutions where over-crowded fainting couches give rise to regular attacks of the vapours – a condition few I can’t abide differing opinions sufferers survive.

The bottom line is that these functions give you options, just be aware that they aren't completely perfect. But we do highly recommend their use, in whichever combination you prefer, if you feel you need to give your brain a reprieve from discussions of the Democratic primaries.

Well, EarlG, I’ve been around DU long enough to remember a time when the last thing on any DUer’s mind was a “need to give their brain a reprieve” from the primaries, or anything else that had to do with political discussion. I remember a time when DU was all about discussion and debate, and NOT about hiding out in safe havens where posters could express their views, or being relegated to a small corner of DU if they had the unmitigated gall to support the Party, it’s president, or its members.

I remember a time when Republicans were acknowledged as the enemy, rather than fellow Dems being ostracized for supporting their own party on what was once touted as “a sanctuary for Democrats” who were tired of the never-ending onslaught of the right-wing media.

Now the RW media is not only quoted, but revered. Now the Democrats who support the Party are told to keep to their own “groups” and not interfere with the anti-Democratic bashing that goes on here day-in/day-out. Now the Democrats on DemocraticUndergound are advised to sit down, shut up, and not bother the FOX-News-quoting RWers who post here on a daily basis.

When you are down to telling Democrats NOT to try and discuss Democratic issues on an alleged Democratic site, but to “trash” and/or “ignore” fellow posters, you have really tipped your hand.

REAL Democrats embrace the opportunity to discuss, debate, argue and explore everything they see as important and germane, particularly in the lead-up to an election that will decide who will lead our nation in the next four-to-eight years.

The fact that you, as a DU admin, are advising Democrats to “trash and/or ignore” those who they disagree with speaks for itself. If disregarding the opinions of those who think differently, those who express opinions that are not the majority opinion on your website, those who have something to say that has been deemed unacceptable by the highly-questionable “Democrats” who have taken over this site, so be it.

But promoting the pretence that true Democrats need to hide in their respective corners of a “Democratic” website so as to be safe from untoward comments, that true Democrats require “trashing and ignoring” those who hold differing opinions, that true Democrats need to be protected from engaging in honest discussion with other Democrats is beyond insulting.

Real Democrats don’t walk away from a fight. They don’t bow down or bow out. They don’t slink off to their designated corners on what purports to be a “Democratic” site. They don’t pretend that RW talking points should be ignored rather than challenged.

And they don’t hit the “ignore” or “trash” buttons in order to survive on a site that still holds itself out to be a sanctuary from RW bullshit, while allowing that bullshit to be posted 24/7 without interference or consequence – because, you know, juries.

But by all means, keep telling Democrats that they can “enhance their DU experience” simply by ignoring the fact that their alleged “fellow Democrats” aren’t the least bit interested in anything they have to say.

Who can argue with a Democratic “discussion board” that admonishes Democrats NOT to discuss anything with each other, when they can just as easily “ignore or trash” whatever it is they don’t want to hear?

Albeit inadvertently, EarlG, you have nonetheless epitomized everything that is wrong with DU. Don’t engage – ignore. Don’t discuss – trash. Don’t communicate – opt out.

I once predicted that DU would wind up with half of the posters here putting the other half on ignore. It was said in jest at the time. Little did I know that the Admins would not only suggest exactly that, but actually encourage it.

What is left to be said about a "Democratic website" that tells its members to ignore each other, or trash what each other have to say?

Not much. And what IS left to be said isn't pretty.