Having posted both at Discussionist and DU for some time now... [View all]

[sibelian]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by LostOne4Ever (a host of the General Discussion forum).

... on and off on BOTH sites...

I can tell you that I was frankly appalled, though not at all surprised, at the admittedly rather small number of self-interested Norma Desmonds from here who flounced in at Discussionist and instantly declared the entire board to be beneath them with their noses a mile in the air rather than engage directly with the individuals who had expressed sentiments not to their liking. Pretty much everyone else on Discussionist was revolted as well, and rightly so.

Discussionist itself isn't really anything like DU, and it isnt supposed to be.

Very interestingly, there are now threads on Discussionist posted by CONSERVATIVES announcing an almost protective respect for DI liberals and their contributions as opposed to the attitudes displayed by the "average DUer".

http://www.discussionist.com/1015661267

I can't say I'm particularly surprised by that, either, although I do think there's a tendency among some DI conservatives to tar the entirety of DU with the same brush.

This isn't really how it's supposed to happen, is it, DU? They're supposed to be the Bad Guys.

They can be a rowdy bunch over there, but there's a whole pile of playground rules in that sand pit that don't apply here.

1. Rudeness is just rudeness and no-one's expected to think it's anything else.
2. If you don't make your case, you haven't made it. It's nobody's responsibility but yours.
3. Emoting about someone else's opinions means you've had emotions about it. That's it. Nobody cares.
4. If you actually DO make your case, generally speaking, people will respect you for it and stick to the subject.
5. People will actually concede points if you play straight and tell the truth.
6. Sometimes people change their minds. Really.
7. If you go away and come back....

... people are pleased to see you. Genuinely!

I've always found it an excellent forum for forcing me to present my case. I don't really get to post lazy tribalism.

There's not really any way of getting around this, DU isn't the way it used to be. There have always been people here who are here for the flamewars and spend their entire time here posting roffley smilies and expressing disdain. We all know who they are. It's no use for anything. They are no use for anything, either. There's been comments here regarding the nastiness of the conservatives at DI, well, as far as I'm concerned there are people posting on this site considerably more twisted, snobby, bad-mannered and unpleasant than the rudest conservative on DI. That's not something I expected to find out.

I'm VERY glad that I DID find it out. My "tribe" is not what I thought it was. I hope that at least some of the folk using this site as a lightning conductor for pent-up agggression rather than as a place to discuss politics have forgiveable reasons for doing so.... but in the end I'm not that bothered any more.

I'm very attached to the people on DU that inspire me and make me think, and there are very many of them... but the site itself? Not so much, not these days. Sorry. There's really just too much mess. The good members, which make up the vast majority, are constantly drowned out by the snotmongers.

There are no status games on Discussionist. If you like the idea of actually talking to people and listening to them, Discussionist will accomodate you. You won't get agreed with all the time, but you won't get kicked off for saying the wrong fucking WORD. All you have to do is take responsibility for yourself. Abandoning responsibility for your emotions and pretending it's other people's fault doesn't work there.

A considerable number of hghly active and extrmely well-informed and productive posters have left DU over the past year. Perhaps its time to think about why.