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highplainsdem

(52,128 posts)
Thu Oct 3, 2024, 10:09 AM Oct 3

20 years on DU, as of this morning. What a long, strange trip it's been! I'm so grateful for the wonderful company. [View all]

Last edited Fri Oct 4, 2024, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)

(EDIT: Please see reply 60 for my response. Apologies for not posting individual replies.)


I have never come close to staying with an online forum as long as I have with this one, but I suspect that's true of most of us oldtimers. There's no other forum like DU.

I was years late signing up. I couldn't even tell you when I started reading DU, exactly, after learning about it from one of the liberal websites I was reading during Dubya's first term. I very nearly didn't register, but not because I was usually a lurker and almost too shy to post. I'd found out running a forum on politics and tech back in the 1980s that I could get way too involved in online discussions. But 20 years ago, I finally signed up.

I've been so thankful for everyone I've met here, most of whom I got along with, but all of whom I learned from, even if we didn't get along. Thankful for the friendships. Thankful for the emotional support, whether on the board or in DU mail. (Which reminds me... Thankful for the friends who suffered through discovering my emails can be much longer than my board posts.)

Thankful for the admins who put up with me even when we disagreed, even when I was being a pain. My first online experience was two years moderating that '80s forum where I had much more autonomy than DU's mods ever had, and I've had about a dozen years' total experience as a mod or admin with my own forums, which in a way has been helpful, but has also left me too likely to offer suggestions. I need to apologize for the times I've made the admins' lives more difficult. Especially EarlG's. 40 years ago when there was a disagreement among mods on that old platform, the sys admin - a very nice, easy-going guy - told us he wished he had a go-to-your-room button. I'm sure DU's admins feel the same way at times. I'm thankful for their tolerance.

DU is extraordinary for the range of subjects it lets us talk about, while still keeping this a very caring community with a shared purpose.

I know some people consider message boards oldfashioned. I consider them classic, in the same way classic rock is classic.

What works very well and enhances individual expression should always be celebrated.

to all of you!




60 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
As a fellow twenty year veteran, PCIntern Oct 3 #1
Happy anniversary and glad you've stayed with us! Maeve Oct 3 #2
Congratulations Emile Oct 3 #3
Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! hlthe2b Oct 3 #4
I am glad you are still here. murielm99 Oct 3 #5
Happy anniversary, my friend UpInArms Oct 3 #6
I started lurking every day around the same time in 2004. Basso8vb Oct 3 #7
Thanks for being here. Hekate Oct 3 #8
Happy 20! Solly Mack Oct 3 #9
Congrats bdamomma Oct 3 #10
Congrats XanaDUer2 Oct 3 #11
I feel old. johnnyplankton Oct 3 #12
Not even sure how I found this place hibbing Oct 3 #13
Don't you dare 'Ramble on' Prairie_Seagull Oct 3 #14
Congrats! Just had my 20th anniversary last month Fiendish Thingy Oct 3 #15
Conrats from a other 20-year veteran of DU! Silver Gaia Oct 3 #16
So nice of you to write such things. Saw Led Zep fifty years ago or so. Peace. twodogsbarking Oct 3 #17
This has always been one of if not THE best forums on the internet. Elessar Zappa Oct 3 #18
Congratulations! Nevilledog Oct 3 #19
Congrats! ProfessorGAC Oct 3 #20
Do they give us a 20 year jacket like SNL does for 5 timers? Uncle Joe Oct 3 #21
Glad you're still here! H2O Man Oct 3 #22
Dang, you just made me realize I passed 20 years on Friday AllyCat Oct 3 #23
I also recently passed 20 years. A friend at a Democratic county central committee rurallib Oct 3 #24
Happy anniversary Highplainsdem. oasis Oct 3 #25
I found DU from Bill O'Reilly (Fox spews) LittleGirl Oct 3 #26
Congratulations! Never leave! ancianita Oct 3 #27
Congratulations to you! I'm glad you're here... I (both) enjoy AND trust your posts. liberalla Oct 3 #28
We're so glad you're here. Thank you and congratulations!! Great post! littlemissmartypants Oct 3 #29
Congratulations, always enjoy your posts KS Toronado Oct 3 #30
Congratulations, highplainsdem! Aristus Oct 3 #31
Congratulations! Stick around, I think you'll like it. dchill Oct 3 #32
Happy Anniversary! WestMichRad Oct 3 #33
Yes, this has been, and continues to be a great place for Democrats to come together on all types of topics. lark Oct 3 #34
I've been here 22 years Dave says Oct 3 #35
I appreciate your tireless work riding herd on the Music Appreciation forum Brother Buzz Oct 3 #36
I joined Nov 8, 2004--days after Bush-Cheney got reelected over Kerry. Liberty Belle Oct 3 #37
Congratulations! 2naSalit Oct 3 #38
Congrats, highplainsdem! calimary Oct 3 #39
Congrats! Renew Deal Oct 3 #40
CONGRATS!!!! BumRushDaShow Oct 3 #41
Congrats to YOU!!! Leghorn21 Oct 3 #42
Hard to believe it's been 20 years isn't it? PatSeg Oct 3 #43
Congratulations on 20 years LetMyPeopleVote Oct 3 #44
happy anniversary orleans Oct 3 #45
You speak for many! Thanks for a great post. Nt spooky3 Oct 3 #46
Congratulations on the first 20! Permanut Oct 3 #47
Happy 20 year anniversary senseandsensibility Oct 3 #48
welcome to the 20 club pfitz59 Oct 3 #49
Congrats, highplainsdem peggysue2 Oct 3 #50
Happy 20th, highplainsdem! blogslug Oct 3 #51
Glad you are here and I've always appreciated your kindness to me when I first came to this site. Deuxcents Oct 3 #52
As a relatively new timer, I want to thank all of you for helping us newbies w/ the numerous thoughtful posts, SWBTATTReg Oct 3 #53
Really Nice Testimony to what DU means Cha Oct 3 #54
Keep on rambin' on highplainsdem... Clouds Passing Oct 3 #55
It's a milestone for sure, hpd. Congratulations. yonder Oct 3 #56
Two decades canetoad Oct 4 #57
Congrats malaise Oct 4 #58
I don't exactly remember how Blue_Roses Oct 4 #59
THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR THE REPLIES AND RECS! ONCE AGAIN YOU GUYS GOT ME THROUGH A STRESSFUL TIME. highplainsdem Oct 4 #60
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