Democratic Underground is 25 years old today

[CC27]

EarlG (23,427 posts)

Democratic Underground is 25 years old today

Many of you already know the story of how this site got started: following the (s)election of George W. Bush in 2000, two twenty-something liberal web designers, angry at the outcome, and aghast that there didn't seem to be any competition to right-wing web communities like Free Republic at the time, threw together a site and promoted it by waving a hand-painted DEMOCRATICUNDERGROUND.COM banner at Bush's inauguration in DC on January 20th, 2001. The rest is now quite literally history.

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of what the site looked like on launch day, but this is pretty close -- below is a screenshot of the DU homepage from February 19, 2001, just under a month after we launched. If you want to know how times have changed, note that at the bottom of the page, we offered people the option to contact us by fax



At launch DU was intended to be more of an article-driven site than a web community. This was before the age of blogs, so one draw of the site was that we would publish articles by regular people who couldn't get published by mainstream media. It's hard to believe now, but at the time this was somewhat revolutionary.

The discussion forum was initially an afterthought. We tacked it on at the last minute, having never operated or even given much thought to running such a thing, and it quickly became apparent that it was going to take up more of our time than we realized -- mainly because the forum was immediately flooded with freepers and trolls, and at launch the forum software didn't even have the ability to ban people.

Over the years, as blogs and then social media became widespread, the need to provide a space for liberal authors to get published waned, and DU's discussion forum community essentially overtook the entire site.

I'm not sure how many websites there are out there that have been in continuous existence for 25 years, but I suspect the number is not enormous. I believe that DU is still here because after all this time, there still isn't anything exactly like it on the Internet. We wanted to create a place where people from the center to the left can have civil discussions, free from right-wing trolls and disruptors. And we still strive for that goal every day, thanks to the efforts of DUers serving on Juries and as Hosts, taking part in MIRT, and -- most importantly -- simply posting in a civil manner, with the intent of having a good conversation.

And really, that is why DU is still going strong after a quarter century -- because of all of you, and the community that you have created here. We built it, and you came -- and you keep coming back, after all these years.

DU would not exist without all of you. So thank you for being here, no matter how long you've been here.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220952486

Look at what a cesspool it turned out to be Earl. All because Bush 43 was elected and put all the loons in one place.

[enslaved1]

I was going to say that means their hive brain has reached maturity and is able to think logically, but apparently that brain age has been moved up to 32.  So seven more years I guess. 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/your-brain-has-five-ages-and-they-shape-how-you-think-for-life-48323

[FunkyZero]

Look at what a cesspool it turned out to be Earl. All because Bush 43 was elected and put all the loons in one place.

Sounds like Earl is proud of building a website that is basically a mirror image of the old storm front site... a daily overdose of hate a bile from unhinged lunatics

[CC27]

Sounds like Earl is proud of building a website that is basically a mirror image of the old storm front site... a daily overdose of hate a bile from unhinged lunatics

I miss the old days of the DUmp. Bouncy Ball, pam poop pants, and Will Pitt and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

[CollectivismMustDie]

I miss the old days of the DUmp. Bouncy Ball, pam poop pants, and Will Pitt and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

The good rig, and peanut butter between the toes.

 

[Muddling 2]

I miss the old days of the DUmp. Bouncy Ball, pam poop pants, and Will Pitt and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

I miss the lively experience that was the "Gungeon".  There were more than a few Donks that were very pro RKBA and made excellent arguments.  Sadly, groupthink has taken over and no one can put forward a pro-RKBA arguement without risking the 'granite pizza'.

[67 Rover]

I miss the old days of the DUmp. Bouncy Ball, pam poop pants, and Will Pitt and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

Will Pitt and Diseased American are on their knees taking turns servicing Satan.

I do miss the DUmmie historian and creator of Reporting San Diego though. 

[ADsOutburst]

25 years, aaaaaannnnnd...






...Donald Trump is now the President. Success!!

[CC27]

The good rig, and peanut butter between the toes.

 

HAHAHA

[CC27]

I recall a DUmmie passing away in front of their computer.

[SVPete]

Sounds like Earl is proud of building a website that is basically a mirror image of the old storm front site... a daily overdose of hate a bile from unhinged lunatics

 

Stormfront is no more? Good riddance. Can we hope for the same fate for DU's futility and hatefulness?

[67 Rover]

I recall a DUmmie passing away in front of their computer.

Kephra (sp?)  the body was still warm when the mother stepped over Mountain Dew bottles filled with urine and mildewed pizza boxes to post on DU that the DUmmie is dead.

[CC27]

Kephra (sp?)  the body was still warm when the mother stepped over Mountain Dew bottles filled with urine and mildewed pizza boxes to post on DU that the DUmmie is dead.

Could be

[Ralph Wiggum]

Only 25? It doesn't look a day over 95.

The Democrat Underground was a whining pathetic mess all those years ago. And it has only gotten progressively worse.

[Airwolf]

So, 25 years of nothing but hate and lies. No forward thinking or movement at all. In all that time they have learned nothing.

[DefiantSix]

I miss the old days of the DUmp. Bouncy Ball, pam poop pants, and Will Pitt and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

TomInTib, of course as well as the "hobo" Bobolink, who came out as a college snot nose who spent 3-4 years trolling the DUmp'Rats for her degree in Psychology _{(I think)}. Husb2Sparkly (now StinkyTheClown), the DUmbass Kaput.

Skinner's li'l online Insane Asylum has certainly been entertaining over the years. With all of the notoriety the DUmp has accumulated, it's a wonder to me that selling tranq guns over the counter hasn't become more popular than it has.

[FunkyZero]

Stormfront is no more? Good riddance. Can we hope for the same fate for DU's futility and hatefulness?

you know, your comment made me curious because I thought it was gone.
Quick look on wikipedia shows it is still online. However, I cannot figure out what the url is. So more searching shows that Network Solutions seized the domain back in 2017 and locked it so it couldn't be transferred. If it really is still online, im not sure what the target is or even the domain.
While it makes me smile knowing those guys are gone, at the same time, I'm not so sure I agree with doing it or with how it was done. DNS is not supposed to be used in such a manner and no central authority should be the decider of what is acceptable and what is not. It makes me nervous knowing that they are willing to do this to anything other than terrorist assholes... and even then, who decides what a terrorist is? Maybe the "people" at DU? President Obama? God help the commies of Trump is allowed to do that...
I'm not so sure I'm ok with that

[SVPete]

I miss the old days of the DUmp. ... pam poop pants, ... and all the other whack jobs that no longer post.

I see that demtemjeep, Pam, has not posted since "Wed Sep 14, 2022, 01:42 PM". Anybody know why?

[CC27]

I see that demtemjeep, Pam, has not posted since "Wed Sep 14, 2022, 01:42 PM". Anybody know why?

Banned no?

[CC27]

TomInTib, of course as well as the "hobo" Bobolink, who came out as a college snot nose who spent 3-4 years trolling the DUmp'Rats for her degree in Psychology _{(I think)}. Husb2Sparkly (now StinkyTheClown), the DUmbass Kaput.

Skinner's li'l online Insane Asylum has certainly been entertaining over the years. With all of the notoriety the DUmp has accumulated, it's a wonder to me that selling tranq guns over the counter hasn't become more popular than it has.

Nadine don't forget

[FunkyZero]

I see that demtemjeep, Pam, has not posted since "Wed Sep 14, 2022, 01:42 PM". Anybody know why?

yea she got banned... I think in part for reading the riot act to the MVD over his perpetual scam beg-a-thons. There may have been more behind it, but thats the incident I know of. She raked him over the coals pretty good one night

[SVPete]

Banned no?

Yeah, I missed it, but she is Ffr'ed. FZ probably called out why.

[DLR Pyro]

A letter to President Gore 

DU: 25 years of election denial and still going....

[CollectivismMustDie]

I miss the lively experience that was the "Gungeon".  There were more than a few Donks that were very pro RKBA and made excellent arguments.  Sadly, groupthink has taken over and no one can put forward a pro-RKBA arguement without risking the 'granite pizza'.

And there were a few utter asshats, too.

Iverglas, mrbenchley, billbuckhead, mr 'throw a can of beans' hoyt, coliberal, and a few other less noteworthy gun grabbers.