Hi

[preventivePhD]

Seems like a pretty good website. Nice to be among other Democrats. I live in a Republican dominated community so I thought I'd try this place. Maybe, I'd feel more comfortable expressing my views here.

[hrmjustin]

1. Glad you cam aboard! DU can be a lifeline for people surrounded by republicans.

I hope you enjoy it.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Welcome to DU.

Use the search function and learn about how many groups there are here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forums

[Aristus]

3. Welcome to DU!

What is your PhD in?

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Welcome. I do hope you find this a sanctuary

from the right wingnuts around you. Express your views, see what others are saying, and learn a lot about issues that you will not hear about other places.

[preventivePhD]

5. You know I have to say that hasn't been by experience thus far

I've posted and commented a few times and some times the responses are very good. Other times people just say they disagree without giving any rationale. It that typical of your experiences. I don't mind if people disagree but I think they should give some sort of logical rationale or explanation for their opinions.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. I think that you will find mixed experiences.

Some suggestions I would give....

You have a low post count, and since there are so many people who sign up just to stir up unrest, DUers are wary of newbies. That doesn't mean you should give up, but it will take patience and getting the posting count up.

If you feel you have a valid point, and just get a one-liner disagreement with no rationale, you have two options. You can ask that poster for the reason and rationale, or you can ignore it. You risk pissing someone off if you ask, but many of us who read posts can see who the sane one is. I think it will not take you long to figure out who is a waste of your time to bother with, and you will just shake your head and smile at their comments. Whatever you do, just don't get too defensive or too belligerent or your time here will be short.

Look at how many people have "viewed" a post, and how many have "replied", and you will realize that there are a tremendous number of people who read but do not comment. If you remember that, you will have better luck at deciding whether it is worth going further. If your comment has worth, and the reply has no value, why waste more time engaging that poster....many people will have seen what you had to say.

Find a few groups that you would be interested in, and post in them, at least for the short-term until you get post count up. You will find the groups friendly and you will "meet" people who you will begin to know and will recognize elsewhere. One group you should subscribe to is your state's group. Take some time to look at the groups and subscribe to your interests. Most of them do not have a lot of activity, so it isn't overwhelming to keep up with what is new.

Places to stay away from until you have your feet wet and begin to know the players are the ones with the most activity or the most controversy. You will find that posts in General Discussion move fast and have a larger number of posters. Meta-discussion is a free-for-all. Religion and the Gungeon are often heated, but those are places were you can see just how much diversity there is here. The Lounge is cliquey and usually silly, but the people there are not looking for debate and are just trying to relax and they are usually friendly (but you won't find a lot of value and serious discussion there, but some of those people are hilarious).

Whew, I got carried away. I hope that you get the point though. Low count posters kinda have to prove that they are not trolls...guilty until proven innocent. A shame, but if you hang around long enough, you will learn to understand why. And, as in life, there are intelligent people, not so much intelligent people, ones who just want to be argumentative, and people who will not agree with you. So your attitude toward some of them should just be "meh".

[preventivePhD]

7. I haven't had any problems but I've observed some

Thanks for your post. I love the idea of a jury system but my sense is its only partially working and your comments certainly confirm what I expected was the case.

I wish I could remember an article I read about why most forums have problems. The basic theme was that moderation or juries focus on the positiveness of the comments and not on the content or lack therefore. Intelligence, honesty or factual accuracy are not a criteria for posters or judges so it degrades the whole forum in a multitude of ways but this forum does seems to be better than most.

Of course, the other common problem is bullying cliques. Moderators & juries either don't know how to or are not interested in reigning them in even though it's extremely easy to do so IMO.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Ha! You are observant.

The jury system is a newer experiment here, it has only been a year that it has been used and Meta-discussion will show you just how much people like and don't like it. But it seems to me that it is a crap-shoot with the jury....you have no idea who the judges are, and some people have strong opinions about the rules. We have anarchists here who want to allow everything, and we have easily offended people who want everything removed. Most people are somewhere in the middle.....bullies are usually not allowed to push people around, although they may get away with it once or twice because of a jury. For the most part, the jury system does work.

I have seen several bullies who were here for a long time "tombstoned" because they finally just went too far. When you figure out who the trouble makers are, you will be smart to just avoid getting drawn in. My personal code is to unengage after two posts. Life is too short to get bent out of shape over some idiot who is provoking me.

As to positiveness in posts opposed to content, it is always in your best interest to just be (at least a tad) respectful in debates. You will be more respected by the majority as well as not going against the rules. And if someone is really disrespectful, do use the alert to bring it to a jury. Few people here allow it.

[Aristus]

9. We Loungers DO have some culture, at any rate.

Check out my weekly feature, William Shakespeare's Thought For The Day, posted every Saturday. I try to make it hilarious, so there's that...

Previous editions of WSTFTD are in my journal.

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Well, shit.

The one person who posts a little intellect in the Lounge finds my post! What are the odds?????

[Aristus]

11. Ow! Ow! Ow!

...




...





...do that again...

[Curmudgeoness]

12. I thought that I was the one who needed a spanking,

but if you insist.

[Aristus]

13. Well, I'm glad to reciprocate...

[Curmudgeoness]

14. Oh, stop, stop, stop.

I am supposed to fight, right?

Actually, I can't believe that anyone (even the OP) got that far in my dissertation. I think I was going for a catharsis remembering my first few months here....it was often not pretty, but I didn't give up. I now at least check in almost every day and it is just part of me. I want others to find what I found after I got over the bumps.....well, that, and learning not to jump in the middle of a mosh pit.

[Aristus]

15. Stop? Really?

You can't mean that...



I know what you mean, actually. At first, back in 2001, I came here for the escape from B*sh's America. Somehow, some time, DU became almost a reflex. I don't know when I've ever spent time on-line, and not checked in to see what was going on here.

[Curmudgeoness]

16. And I didn't find DU for years after you.....

I went through the dark years alone! It was not an easy time. So by the time I got here, there were too many established and jaded DUers who gave us all a hard time----or put us through the wringer by watching and testing, I suppose.

[Aristus]

17. Well, we're here now.

Barack Obama is President of the United States.

And all is well...

[Curmudgeoness]

21. Life is good, Aristus. Life is good. nt

[cherrycheers]

18. Huh, what do ya want to express here?

Huh, what do ya want to express here?

[Aristus]

19. Welcome to DU, cherrycheers.

No need to repeat your reply title in the text field. Other than that, welcome and enjoy!

[hrmjustin]

20. Welcome to DU!

[Curmudgeoness]

22. Well, hello. Welcome to DU.

What do you want to express here?

[vixen]

23. Hi

I want to say Hi to everyone as well.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. Welcome to DU, vixen!

That's a cool username!

[hrmjustin]

25. Welcome to DU!

[Aristus]

28. Welcome to DU, vixen!

[dondondonjaun1964]

26. Seems like a pretty good website. Nice to be among other Democrats. I live in a Repub

Hello preventivePHD. I'm new to this forum. Live in the same type of Repub. neighborhood as you do.
Was one of few that voted for Obama. Have Mormon neighbors who of course voted for Willard. The
husband of another Mormon neighbor voted for Obama.

BTW they are going to put a Wal-mart in my town. Anybody have any ideas how I can fight this?

[redqueen]

27. Welcome to DU!

Nice username