I have been on DU for almost nine years now.

[MineralMan]

81. For anyone who has strong opinions, only an ability to shrug off

attacks from people who don't share them lets you survive on a forum like DU. Most of the people who have tried to drive me off this site are no longer on this site. A few remain, but generally have ceased such activities. It doesn't matter, of course. I'm not going anywhere, nor am I going to stop sharing my opinion here.

I actually do know know a single person who posts on DU on any personal level at all. Mentioning this site, even in Democratic Party circles, generally gets a blank look. DU is important to DUers, but not really to anyone else, just like with most discussion sites. We're here, so we pay attention to DU. Nobody else does at all.

I'm not any sort of important person, nor is anyone I have encountered here, really. We're all just political junkies who can't resist talking about politics. Most news of any importance shows up here quickly, which makes DU a worthwhile news aggregation site. Discussions here are lively and always have a few knowledgeable people in them, which makes the site worthwhile as a place to learn about things I don't already know.

It also has conflicts, but so do all discussion forums, regardless of topic. It has detractors who post elsewhere about DU, as well. In that, it's just like most large discussion sites. None of that matters, really. It's a good place to hang out and talk politics. It's no more nor less than that. It's semi-anonymous, which is OK, too. I'm not particularly anonymous, although I've removed links in my signature line that lead to my meat-space identity.

DU's a good place in general, but can be a tough place to arrive at if you're even slightly sensitive to disagreement. It's not always a friendly place for casual participants. It's a rough and tumble discussion group, with some very rough edges, but there's enough knowledge, enough smart people who don't have an ax to grind and enough space within it to avoid those who do have such an ax.

I like DU. A lot. So, I'll be here for the duration.