Size isn't everything, but we're BIGGER than KOS -- 70,000 to 60,000

[autorank]

:woohoo::woohoo:CONGRATULATIONS DU!!!:woohoo::woohoo:

KOS is, well sorta OK, but DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND:yourock:

:applause::toast::toast::toast::toast::applause:

Way to go Skinner, earlg, & elad, mods, and DU USERS

[AuntiBush]

1. I think the size here is "not bad" and seems to be growing daily!

LOL

:woohoo::woohoo::bounce::bounce::woohoo::woohoo:

Congrats to Skinner, earlg, elad, mods and all DU'ers, too!

Don't know where I'd be today had I not found this site. Probably where the Koran ended-up: :hurts:

[henslee]

2. yeah boiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiii.

[Mnemosyne]

3. Does this mean size DOES matter?! lol n/t

[autorank]

4. Well, it's all a matter of physics...but in this case, YES!!!! We're #!

We're #1:toast:We're#1:toast:We're #1:toast:We're#1:toast:

We're #1:toast:We're#1:toast:We're #1:toast:We're#1:toast:

In addition to GD, GD Politics, Elections, we've got The Lounge, who can match us!!!

[Mnemosyne]

11. Bravo!!

:toast: :toast: :toast: :smoke:

[expatriot]

5. I've never thought of DU and DKos as in the same category.....

DU is an online community of pretty much equals, whereas at DKos, sure users keep diaries and comment on articles, but there is definitely a hierarchical editorial process... it is presented as a "publication" where users contibute to the process, but they are not THE process like on DU.

[autorank]

8. Hey, you see any "Battle of the Sexes" on KOS. Now thats "process"

:rofl:

THE DU Process.."an online community of pretty much equals..."

I like that, very DEMOCRATIC

:dem:

:hi:

[expatriot]

12. thanks.... good night nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Yes, DU has more of a community feel with active discussions - BUT

it is also unparalleled as a site for latest news updates and also many substantive, insightful, valuable posts.

I have seen some posts at dKos which diss DU as not being a reliable source for anything. Such snobbery is very counterproductive in addition to being mistaken.

We are all one community, and we need to coordinate more effectively than we do now. I would like to see more cross-posting of the most important threads. it happens now, but I think it could be improved. There also needs to be some education about what DU really is like - too many people buy the freeper line that we are a pack of raving lunatics and fools who post undocumuneted and unreliable information and are best avoided.

[Up2Late]

6. But does that 70,000 include any of the Trolls that have been Tomb-stoned?

Do those get subtracted out of the total?

[autorank]

9. Or those who haven't (haha)

[DeAngel]

18. I'm really...

curious about that. Every time someone discusses the 70,000 number, I can never see where they're coming from. Doesn't that number include EVERYONE that's ever signed up? Whether they're here or not?

[autorank]

22. Welcome to DU. Here's where it comes from...

"70,724 user registrations and 15,698,958 posts since January 2001
Sun Jun 05th 2005, 03:58 AM (USA/Eastern) | Logged in as autorank"

from the front page of "Latest"

Who knows how many active users...online services generally don't release that level of detail. I think you can assume that the 70K is currently registered users.

:hi:

[AMD_CPU]

25. My count is 56,203...

If you want to do your own count, click on the head next to any user's name. There's a square on the left hand side that lists the actual number of registered users by letter at any given time. Add all of them up, and you get the current number of VALID registrations. Please note: AFAIK, if you register and never post, or register and stop posting and don't come back, you never get kicked out of the system. The 56,203 number is the number of accounts that MAY post, not the number of posters that ARE posting.

[Kolesar]

30. & How many clock cycles did that take to calculate?

I was PC shopping last year and the salesman presented to me the meaning of the "3 GHz equivalent" AMD chip. A little nerd humor on a Sunday.

[wisteria]

7. I'll take DU over daily Kos anyday! n/t

[autorank]

31. And today's a great day to make that choice.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wisteria:yourock:

[LynnTheDem]

10. Whoever told you size wasn't everything was just being polite.

We women aren't supposed to say "HELL YEAH size is everything!".

It's considered unlady-like.

:D :D :D

[anarchy1999]

13. Lynn, you are just too much fun!

ROTFLMAO!

:rofl: :bounce: :woohoo:

Cheers to you, babe!

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. ...unless you're keeping company with the biggest! Then it's okay.

:evilgrin:

[EFerrari]

16. There you go, giving away industrial secrets AGAIN

:rofl:

[LynnTheDem]

19. Oops.

I forgot we're not allowed to give away our secrets to them.

:banghead:

Never again will I give away secrets...like what we really mean when we say "that's ok, honey, it happens to everyone".

:D

[autorank]

21. LynnTheDem....umm..."thanks for sharing"

:evilgrin:

[Swamp Rat]

26. HAHA!

I love the DU family! :D

[LynnTheDem]

28. SHHHH! Pretend I didn't tell you that!

:D

[Up2Late]

32. O.K. but what IS the Correct answer to the most hated question...

...Does this ______ make me look Fat?

Or is that question simply a trap, with NO correct answer?:shrug:

[EST]

17. Although a poster at both DU and DKos,

I've never been entirely comfortable with the automatic ability to, unbidden, jump into what appears to be a private conversation. I find the Kos format considerably more difficult to navigate and less convenient to do a wide ranging tour of the current discussions.
DU, on the other hand, although generally less involved in the progress of any one single thread, has such a plethora of scintillating conversations and conversationalists active all the time that I am almost afraid I'm going to miss something if I don't bounce around and stay open.
Shortly after I managed to screw up the courage to start posting, someone (paranoid pat, I think) took the time to welcome me thoroughly and to patiently dilate my brain about practical politics (bfee style) and pointed me toward some areas of enlightenment.
I was floored. What a wonderful, intellectually alive community! I had finally, delightfully, come home.
I had previously haunted the internet for bright, stimulating, and active minds and had encountered some whom I judged particularly valuable. Imagine my pleasant surprise to meet some of those very contributors (plaid adder comes immediately to mind) whom I had grown to respect elsewhere, firmly ensconced right here and shining their lights so passionately for all to enjoy! Long live DU!

[autorank]

20. Excellent. We need to have "new user" sponsors here, like AA/NA

You're experience was excellent. I just came on board and learned how to operate here (still learning) like a teen ager learns how to use software, trial and error. The assistance I received was helpful and welcoming but incremental. Frankly, I enjoyed learning that way but would have appreciated a helping hand.

Why not "sponsors" -- or systematically reaching out to new users with a little missive on what's what according to how you see it. I had that op today, probably ruined her career here (said just stay on Elections all day, it rocks--just kidding).

I'm still trying to figure out how "LBN" works, damn it! But I'll persist.

This is some joint!

[EST]

24. Kind of like the fellow who stayed up all night, wondering where

the sun went -- it finally dawned on him.
I like your idea. When I started here there was, as I recall, the remains of a "terms" dictionary - pretty ragged, but actually of considerable value.
As the elements of a successful democracy continue to erode, more and more refugees will show up on our doorstep. The format here is attractive and useful, but let's face it, a new recruit who either missed his daily dose of road rage kool-aid or whose hypnosis slipped a bit and the awakening has begun to startle the dreamer is going to need a lot of petting and stroking for the first few days. The seeker will likely still be fingernails-on-the-chalkboard sensitive and an effort will be needed to acclimatize and soothe...
To that end, I think we need a special mini forum, a place where there is a glossary with emphasis on terms that are unique to DU and a FAQ that is alive. This could be as simple as a few "old hands" checking in occasionally and answering posted questions.
People, as a rule, must hate to read and will scan something (if even that) and assume they have a full, working knowledge of the subject, only to later assail their associates with uninformed questions, demands, and attitudes.Witness the highly useful rules lists that Skinner and the gang have so generously provided, which almost nobody reads.

The rude awakening that accompanies the change from freeper-ghraib to democratic underground must be quite unnerving.

[ima_sinnic]

27. I so agree! KOS is confusing to navigate

and feels cliquish. I SO prefer DU!

[Up2Late]

33. Me to, I cant even begin to tell you how many times I've hit the Back...

...button, and lost every thing I had written, before figuring out you just keep hitting preview. They need a spell checker too, the DU spell checker is Awesome. If it checked Grammar or at least correct word version/usage, it would be perfect. (Like to, too, or two)

[ima_sinnic]

34. LOL--I;ve never even tried to post on there (n/t)

[oasis]

23. We're DUin' just fine.

:loveya: :grouphug: :applause: :smoke:

[JNelson6563]

29. Oy!

Where to begin?

Um, did you know that the registered posters number includes countless freepers that have been tombstoned? Many a good Dem got railroaded outta here during the primaries. There was a night of long knives long before that too. Then there are those who signed up and apparently got turned off by swooning posts, suck up to admin posts (like this one) and petty nonsense that sometimes run rampant.

I'd put the real number of active posters 3-4,000. This is the one thing I take serious issue with the admins about, their dishonest numbers. It's just so Bush-like.

I also find the our-board-is-so-much-better-thant-(insert other) to be a bit alarming. If our "activists" consist of those who hold a lousy DB so near and dear as to get into pissing contests, I feel certain we are doomed to perpetual loser-dom.

Julie--the wet blanket realist