June 10, 2005
Five things I love about DailyKos ... with an addedum
by Liza Sabater
4 June 2005 : The praise
I, like probably every single progressive on the net has to have a daily dose of Daily Kos for little bit of inspiration, a good dose of wisdom and a lot of insanity.
Micah Sifry, your goddess du jour and Kos.
But, no, Kos is not one of them because he won't give The Daily Gotham or culturekitchen a heads up. Blurrrpthhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The kosmopolis is still a daily necessity. Here's 5 of my favorite things about it :
(1) Two names : Lorraine (aka: Lorraine Berry) and MAJeff (aka: Jeff Langstraat). Enough said.
(2) The phenomenon that became the Gannon/Guckert expose and the is now ePluribus Media; and the wonderful honor of witnessing this citizen journalism revolutions happen with just one question asked by SusanG.
(3) Bill in Portland's daily Cheers and Jeers. How does he do it? Day in and day out (only weekdays, though), C&J's is the paragon of long-form snarkiness. He's awesome.
(4) The weekned WYFP? from Pastordan. A pastor that curses? Awesome for this atheist who at least believes in the power of people, the power of connections and the power of community. To have a place to vent my fucking problems --that's beautiful man, just beautiful.
(5) New York City Kossaks; because nothing beats f2f and knowing that there are other rabidly committed people like you right in your own neighborhood.
10 June 2005 : The addendum
This has got to be one of the most oddly-timed posts I have ever put together; given how the pie hit the fan over at DailyKos. Just so y'all know, I wrote this post on the 4th June. The pie-fight broke out on Monday.
The addendum ... where do I start? I was looking at this lis t with a re-freshed set of eyes and what has popped out for me know is how through all these "faves" I have found my communities.
With Jeff and Lorraine as blogmates. With Cheers and Jeers and Pastordan as my trips to the online watercooler chat. With the New York kossacks meetups (and even better, the kossack diarist now full blown bloggers at The Daily Gotham), as my city peeps to rant and rave with in a brick-and-mortar bar or cafe over a icy cold bottle of real beer. From my musings about building social networks to my incursions into blog publishing, community building has been the fire behind my blogging.
You can read my not-so suave rant at Armando at Daily Kos :: Comments Everything to everyone. To sum it up : Even though I can understand completely Kos' desire for not being "the" leader, he cannot escape from the fact that people do perceive him as such. It is an abdication of his responsibility and his alleged commitment to helping the Democratic party build a big tent where everybody is included.
The good news is that he, through Armando, of course, has asked people for comments and help. That's what I will be working on today. DailyKos is not only important but necessary. And here is a real, true opportunity to grow the netroots strategically, keeping in mind that the sprouts can only grow your influence and support your cause. Splinters can only bring you down.
I was all day yesterday with Henry Copeland of BlogAds, by the way. The way we discussed the kerkeffufle was in terms of growing pains. The movement is growing and getting too big for one place. DailyKos needs not to splinter. It needs to sprout elsewhere; to become rhizomatic --a true netroots.
Posted by Liza Sabater in Activism, Advertising, Blogs, Censorship, Feminism, Free Speech, Grassroots, Identity Politics, Memes, Political Parties, Politics, Social Networks
Permalink |
Comments (4)
| TrackBack (1) | Technorati Cosmos
Trackbacks
Trackback for this post:http://www.culturekitchen.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/2990
The following blogs make reference to this post :
» DailyKos模式 from 只说
-只说 [More...]
Found inJune 26, 2005 09:31 PM
Say it loud, say it proud!
Great closing point, Liza. One of the things I've been thinking about through this whole episode is the opportunity that this explosion has presented. BooMan Tribune has experienced an amazing surge in membership...some folks migrating from dKos completely, some, like myself, shifting some of our focus there while retaining a presence (if reduced) at dKos. If I may say so, some really good writers are doing so.
One of the reasons this creates an opportunity is that it creates another large discussion-based blog on the left. Those sites, and the others that spring up, will be embedded in a network that is both virtual and real. I think that a proliferation of power points within dense networks is a good thing
It's been painful, though. It struck me as I was chatting with Michael (musing85) over at dKos. It was touching and difficult exchange, and change in the relationship we've developed. That's what's been hardest for me in all this...the relationships, seeing people I care for in pain, "seeing" each other less, finding something ugly in someone you respected (face it, we're all human and have those ugly parts...all of our shit stinks).
It's also been interesting for me to think about what role I play....I haven't conceptualized it previously. I write...I use it as practice (I don't enjoy writing, so this keeps me doing it, structures it into my day....); I use it to play with ideas; I use it as a diversion to avoid my dissertation; I use it in any number of ways, but I've thought of it more as an adjunct to my academic work, even if I bring my academic work into it. I'm rethinking some of that, but I'm not sure exactly where that thinking is taking me. This episode has forced me to think about it as part of my work...I'm still not sure how it fits in with everything, though. I'm an academic--particularly a teacher--first. It's just who I am. I'm a shitty organizer (my shyness can be debilitating, and there have been times as an organizer when it's sent me into a panic attack...plus, I have an incredibly short attention span when it comes to detail work.) I'm a great teacher...I'm a so-so writer.
Sorry, now, I'm rambling. That's what happens after a day of moving papers from file to file, and files from cabinet to cabinet. I really don't need these issues circulating in my head right now.....dissertation, dissertation, dissertation.....
Thanks for the kind words. And thanks for the opportunity to ply some of my trade in the kitchen. And, despite the untimeliness of all this, thanks for getting me to think even more about these issues.
2
Comment by: Tam at June 10, 2005 07:47 PM
"I, like probably every single progressive on the net has to have a daily dose of DAILY KOS..."
See, statements like these validate my hunch that blogging networks are - by nature, and in function - self-important, closed, divisive and narcissistic.
I'd call myself a "progressive" if I thought others hadn't already ruined the term, and loudly so. I read lots of blogs daily, and I never, ever heard of "Kos" before the 7/8 post on this site. After visiting, I see his blog requires registration for some things, it's full of ads and distracting crap, and since I read the news, I'm not going to bother with the often twisted and angry regurgitation of it.
I'm kind of annoyed that self-defined "Progressive Blogs" fill themselves with trashy language, boorish humor, relentless anger, casual dismissal of convention and rebellion for rebellion's sake. I probably vote along the same lines as the people who write this blog, but I'm unwilling to have my convictions associated with this scene. There's a difference between going Howard Dean and going to Hell with ourselves.
3
Comment by: wanderindiana at October 7, 2005 09:40 AM
ePluribus Media made #2 on your list of the things you like about Daily Kos? And it took me four months to discover this? I"m so ashamed...but you've just gained a regular reader.
BTW, we just launched our Journal site, and have a growing Community site. Come take a look and see if you still like us!
4
Comment by: liza at October 7, 2005 04:22 PM
Good to hear from you wanderindiana. Yes, y'all should be ashamed of yourselves for not dropping by more often ;-)
I can see Epluribus Media's site is up and humming --and glad the community site is organized using CivicSpace (don't think I did not notice). It's important because we will be able to network it with the new culturekitchen site.
I'll give you a heads up soon!
1
Comment by: Jeff at June 10, 2005 06:10 PM