Skinner IS the GrovelBot

[dandi]

Things are getting tight for the Admins. $kimmer has been reduced to vacationing at Six Flags Over Hoboken rather than the usual Aruba.

Skinner ADMIN Donating Member (1000+ posts)    Wed Nov-17-10 02:55 PM
Original message
You've been seeing the DU Admins around a lot lately. And we're not letting you off the hook today.   Updated at 2:55 PM
   
You may have noticed that the DU Administrators are around a lot more these days. That's because we've got a lot of things to do around here. It's no secret that having a Democratic President -- and losing the common enemy in the form of George W. Bush -- has changed the dynamic here on Democratic Underground. All too often, we seem to find ourselves caught in a circular firing squad, with no way to get out. It has taken a while, but the DU Administrators are now at the point where we feel like we understand the problems facing this community, and we know what we need to do to fix them. We have already made a number of important changes, but there is still a lot remaining for us to do.

This week we have our usual fourth quarter fund drive, and frankly we don't feel like we're ready for it yet. Holding a referendum on the state of Democratic Underground NOW -- when we've only just started to turn things around -- would be kind of like holding a referendum on a Presidency when we're only two years into the full eight-year term. LOL

We would never do that, would we? (Kidding.)

So what have the DU Administrators been doing? Well, for one thing, EarlG and I are back in the office together for the first time in three years. (The third DU Admin, Elad, is out on the West Coast, and not with us.) We've been much more visible, posting numerous OPs about DU and about other topics, and participating in discussions on a regular basis. We're seeing the problems on DU first hand, and we are also experiencing all the many positive things about this community.

We've been much more hands-on in the moderator forum, working closely with the moderators to help get everyone working together on the same page, to make enforcement easier, fairer, and more consistent.

With help from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, we are aggressively defending our rights (and your rights, too) in a closely watched copyright trolling suit.

We posted our first-ever Democratic Underground Member Attitudes Survey. The results of that survey are available here. The survey has given us a much clearer picture of how members feel about DU, and what changes we need to make in order to give you the community you want. Perhaps the most important thing we learned is that incivility is a major concern for a large number of DUers. And so we are focusing almost all of our efforts on improving the tone, encouraging civility, and taking decisive action to deal with problems.

We re-opened the Ask The Administrators forum, so members can ask questions and get a public response from a DU Administrator. This has been an incredibly important change that opened a vital line of communication between members and administrators. We believe that many of the problems we face here on DU, including a lot of the incivility and disrespect, are the result of misunderstandings. Giving members a place where you can ask questions -- or read questions other DUers have asked -- helps make it less likely that small misunderstandings will blow up into big problems.

We had an election which... sadly... didn't turn out how we'd hoped. But at least the DU web servers performed beautifully! We got our asses handed to us. But hey, at least we provided a padded room for you all to lose your shit! We had a large spike in traffic, but service was never interrupted and DUers had full access to the site.

We've been working with the moderators to update the DU rules and how they are enforced. This is an ongoing project, and we will continue to make whatever changes we feel are necessary and appropriate. Our primary goal is making the rules simpler and shorter,so even you assholes can understand them and instructing the moderators to focus on the spirit of the rules just as much as the letter. After all, the message board rules should have one simple, overarching purpose: to facilitate good discussion. This re-write also represents something of a trade-off: You are going to see more active moderation of civility (personal attacks and deliberate disruption), paired with less active moderation of content (especially posts that criticize or defend Democrats).

We've updated the page that members see when you click "Alert" on any post, to help educate members about the DU rules, and to make rule enforcement easier for the moderators.

We've been much more aggressive and decisive in our efforts to identify disruptive people in the community, and (if necessary) to remove them so they will no longer poison the atmosphere for everyone else. Gone are the days when we gave problem people multiple warnings and second, third, and fourth chances that only served to delay the inevitable. We know that people don't like seeing DUers banned, especially DUers who have been here for a long time. But we have decided that we can no longer afford to let disruptive friends stick around forever, as they have made it impossible for everyone else to participate in a good-faith way. If we have to make DU smaller in order to make DU friendlier, so be it.

Yesterday we proposed an exciting new idea to enforce the DU rules, by giving members the opportunity to make a good-faith effort to fix their own mistakes. Cuz we really don't want to lose those donations We hope that giving members the ability to edit their rule violations will help educate everyone about the DU rules, while encouraging everyone to take responsibility for the things they post here.

And that's just the beginning. We have a number of other ideas to help make this community even better. The DU Administrators are fully committed to DU, and we are committed to "bold persistent experimentation" to make this community the best it can be.

And with this in mind, we are asking for your help. Please take a moment to donate to Democratic Underground. It only takes a moment. And you'll feel good knowing you're supporting this amazing community of progressives. Tell me he wasn't laughing when he typed that.

Thank you for your help.

David Allen
DU Administrator

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9577228

I guess revenues have really fallen off when the HMFIC has to come out with his hat in hand.

CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts)  Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Donate to DU!    Wed Nov-17-10 03:03 PM
Response to Original message
4. I did donate, my dear Skinner, as you know...
   
I always do. I believe in DU so much!

Recommended.

Oh please, it's the only place in the known Universe where you can post that awful "poetry" without causing a mass exodus. It's worse than the Vogon poetry in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

RockaFowler Donating Member (1000+ posts)  Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list    Wed Nov-17-10 03:07 PM
Response to Original message
6. I wish I could donate
   
Hopefully the next time around. I really love it here. It's a little bit of sanity in an otherwise insane world. I do live in Florida

You poor soul, you.

[franksolich]

So what have the DU Administrators been doing? Well, for one thing, EarlG and I are back in the office together for the first time in three years. (The third DU Admin, Elad, is out on the West Coast, and not with us.)

Well, everybody and his uncle knew that the elusive enigmatic Elad lives and works out of Oregon.

But one's wondering why Skins and Lord Marblehead haven't been together in the corporate executive offices for three years.

One suspects that when it was Lord Marblehead holding down the fort, my fellow alum absent, the cleaning lady every night had a mountain of empty snack-bags, empty doughnut boxes, empty cardboard pizza trays, empty soda bottles, and a whole lot of cockroaches and mice to clear out of there.  Not to mention wiping off the sugary stickiness of the telephone receiver, and the executive bathroom must have looked like something out of the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants.

One can't understand why my fellow alum puts up with such a slob.

[JohnnyReb]

They are busy making out "form" rants and raves. You want to blame Bush for something, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with when, what and why. The hard work is done. Want to praise Obama, same thing, just fill in the blanks and add your DU name to the post. No more independent thought needed or allowed... it's going to be wonderfully peaceful in DUmmieland. They're all going to be on the same page....well....because... they'll all be using the same fill in the blanks pages.

[Thor]

I'm kind of glad that CC has not stooped to that level. We are appreciative of what little we do receive as far as donations, etc.

[Revolution]

The DU Administrators are fully committed to DU

That's how it should read.

It's getting so a toddler could read/understand DUmmie Land now. I still would not allow him/her to do so, but still.

[littlelamb]

If I wanted to waste money I would buy lottery tickets not donate to the DUmp

[Revolution]

Hey now. At least you may win a dollar back for your purchase. With a DUmp membership, you get NOTHING out of it. No gain...no satisfaction. Predictably...nothing.

[Karin]

No revolution, you're wrong!  You get this:

you'll feel good knowing you're supporting this amazing community of progressives.

It's all about feeeeeeeeling good, you know.

As for the ATA:

This has been an incredibly important change that opened a vital line of communication

  I cannot stand that sort of pablum-puking liberal-speak.  It's so self-important, among other things. 

[Chris_]

This week we have our usual fourth quarter fund drive, and frankly we don't feel like we're ready for it yet. Holding a referendum on the state of Democratic Underground NOW -- when we've only just started to turn things around -- would be kind of like holding a referendum on a Presidency when we're only two years into the full eight-year term.

I want to know if he actually typed this with a straight face. 

[Revolution]

It's all about feeeeeeeeling good, you know.

Oh, I get a feeling all right, Karin. Every time I visit the Island. In my mind, sirens are screaming, bubblegum machines are lighting up the skies, and gurneys are hauling off DUmors in mass quantities.