One Question: Who Reads DU?

[H2O Man]

Who reads the Democratic Underground?



Some days, there are a variety of opinions expressed on this forum: from "DU is important and has the potential to influence viewpoints/activities beyond the forum," to "DU is simply a political chat-site, to be enjoyed by participants, but of no significance beyond the forum."

So I wonder …..who do you think reads DU? Not necessarily participates here, or reads it daily, or reads every post on every thread.

A few years ago, DU was mentioned in an article in TIME magazine. Do journalists who are employed in the corporate media read DU? Why would or wouldn’t they? A few weeks back, the DU Breakfast Club "lobbied" MSNBC’s Mourning Show. Mika Mouse said that their show had more e-mails that day than any other. Did DU play a role?

How about politicians? Does anyone in Washington, DC, read DU? Politicians? Aides? Top staff people, or maybe bored lower-level staff ? Is there more of a chance that during elections, including primaries, that politicians or those close to them read DU? Have three or more relatives of Democratic candidates in 2004 contribute to DU?

Certainly, from time to time, there have been "freepers" who tend to have their membership terminated by the moderators. But do intelligent republicans ever read DU? Why, or why not?

I’m curious what you think.

Thank you.
H2O Man

[mdmc]

1. I think that the internets carry a lot of weight on the world

so if something that interests a reader has a spot on DU, the reader and DU may cross paths.

So if Helen Thomas receiving roses is of interest to you, you may stumble across DU.

If "freeping" a poll is of interest to you, you may stumble across DU.

To answer the other questions, those that read kos read du.

[H2O Man]

26. Good points.

Thank you.

[eleny]

2. My very first thought was "voters"

And specifically, it would have to be Dem voters. Maybe from there we'd come to conclusions about who might want to know what Dem voters are thinking.

[H2O Man]

27. Right.

People might want to know what democratic voters are thinking, and they might want to influence what those democrats are thinking.

[eleny]

31. I always keep your conclusion in mind

Recently, I've walked away from DU more than post. But I'm also just a little wiped out along with still being elated. Not ready to give up the glow. And I do feel like I'm being tugged this way and that.

A good time to curl up and read books. Not that they don't try to influence, either!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

[MindMatter]

53. Comedy Central writers

How many times have we watched The Daily Show and seen that the opening 10 minutes were basically a rundown on all the stuff that had been posted here earlier in the day? Clearly those guys use the netroots for a bountiful supply of material, and that's great.

They may not look at DU specifically, but they are definitely looking at some of the related sites.

[tekisui]

3. That's a good question, one I have always wondered, myself.

I would think that journalists would check it periodically.

To me, it is a news wire, an opinion/editorial page, a political strategy site, and a tabloid all at once.

Looking at how many times a thread is viewed, it appears that a couple to a few thousand people check in here on a semi-regular basis. Really, I have no idea who they all are.

[H2O Man]

41. A couple of years ago,

several paragraphs of an essay that I posted on DU "ran away" like a teen-ager in the 1960s. They ended up on the west coast, in an article in a newspaper. But they had another author's name. I found out about it, because a relative worked at that newspaper.

[proud2BlibKansan]

72. Thom Hartman read one of my posts on his show

But I had not written it. I included a link in my post but he gave me credit on air.

I was kind of embarrassed and proud at the same time.

[EFerrari]

4. I don't think even thoughtful Republicans are as venturesome as we tend to be.

If Republicans come here, it's more likely that they are tracking down a political point to counter, as Bill O'Reilly's people did over the Coit Tower remark.

[H2O Man]

42. I agree.

I think that people like O'Reilly are selective. A while back, his show had a thing where they asked their viewing audience to write in, and they picked a few people to have on the show. Bill was willing to go toe-to-toe with anyone, on tough issues. Right.

A friend got a number of people to contact O'Reilly's show, asking him to have me on to discuss the Plame scandal. I wrote to him as well. I said that my question would be simple: why did he have Newt Gingrich on, allowing him to discredit the people who supported Wilson and Plame, without revealing that Gingrich was in the first meeting in Cheney's office, where the decision was made to "destroy" Wilson?

I did not expect that I had any chance at all of being selected. But I was fully prepared, if by chance I had been.

[Buzz Clik]

5. I think the readership is limited.

Some righties with no life like to haunt DU to make themselves feel better. They post their "favorite" threads on knuckledragger sites and send the most outrageous comments to the mainstream media.

Beyond that, DU readership is very limited.

[OregonBlue]

51. I disagree. So often our discussion topics make their way onto Keith, Rachael, Mathews, etc.

I don't believe it's a coincidence. I can't even count the number of times that I have read lengthy, insightful discussions, especially those on "Greatest" only to find those very discussions show up in the next day or so on mainstream political shows. I believe that, especially during this campaign there were lots of mainstream media types that were reading our blogs.

When I have written letters to Ron Wyden, I have often included links to DU discussions and pointed out how many members we have. I cannot believe that he did not have someone on his staff follow those link and continue to read others.

I believe that by reading the "greatest" page, any politician can get a quick rundown on what is the buzz among the netroots community on any given day and I'm sure politicians know it too. I assume many pols have people on their staff that read DU, DKOS, Huffington, Firedoglake, etc. on a daily basis to get an overview of what's being discussed.

I suspect that DU is widely read in D.C.

[annabanana]

6. Who responds to this question (and how)

is interesting...

[crispini]

7. Politically liberal internet junkies are likely to stumble across DU.

We know for a fact, for example, that Elizabeth Edwards has read and posted here. We also have a pretty strong hypothesis that Keith Olbermann or his staff have read here.

I think DU is very user friendly -- more so than Kos -- and so I think that it is likely to attract anyone who is interested in news, the internet, and liberal / progressive viewpoints. I would not be surprised at all to find elected officials who read here, or influential bloggers.

[tekisui]

8. Stephanie Miller and Bill Maher have stolen our jokes before.

[crispini]

14. It's funny, how the internet now is about 2 weeks to 2 months

(to more!) ahead of "real life." There are some very smart people here (the internet, in general) and they do a LOT of thinking about a lot of things.

Also, DU is very handy for the lazy. You don't have to go trawling around every corner of the internet (mostly). People have a tendency to pick things up other places and bring them here. Very useful for tapping into "the gestalt." :D

[kentuck]

34. Good post crispini..

I have noticed that the Internet, at least some of it, is about 2 or 3 three ahead of the M$M.

"Also, DU is very handy for the lazy." :-)

[EFerrari]

10. DU is an excellent way to stay on top of the news.

And I find DU much easier to navigate than any of the other liberal sites. :thumbsup:

[tbyg52]

12. Much easier to navigate than any other site, period.

I'm so spoiled. I've looked at other message boards, or more general sites like HuffPo and TPM, but I just can't stand to use them on a regular basis, like DU.

Good thing DU is liberal, or I'd *really* be conflicted!

Edited for the apparently inevitable stupid typo.

[Stump]

22. Agreed...

Kudos to Skinner, DU is the easiest and best web site period IMO.

[Kat45]

59. I remember Elizabeth Edwards here. Wes Clark Jr. also posted here a bit.

This was back in 2004.

[Bucky]

9. Karl Rove reads DU, but only to pleasure himself

You notice that he left the White House about the same time the mods killed the Kudzu thread in the Lounge. That can't be a coinkydink.

[SoCalDem]

11. Probably , all of the above...(at one time or another)

If one is an "interested party", and wanted to check out what democrats are thinking, they might well type in "democrat or democratic" into Google...or any topic du jour....any of those entries would lead to something written aat DU or by a DUer..

I can't help but think that the inate wit and wisdom found here, would hold the attention of most who found the place:)

The intelligent (most of the time) discourse, and the diversity of the place would have to interest people enough to at least read, if not to sign up and post themselves:)

[fascisthunter]

13. I Do Think DU has an influence

I can't imagine how it couldn't. This site visited by so many, and do not forget, not all lurkers are even members of the site, just readers. Why wouldn't folks in the media occasionally read DU? Why wouldn't those working for politicians read DU?

And yes, I'm sure republicans, libertarians, socialists, independents all read DU. For whatever reason, whether it be professional or personal, not all post on DU.

[LeftHander]

15. Somebody reads it....

I see things here....the filter into the mainstream in one form or another.

Once upon a time there were many insightful posters here doing all kinds of research.

That is until the paid GOP trolls came with advanced Rovian FUD Training.

[leftofthedial]

16. I just look at the pictures

[Lilith Velkor]

17. "Does anyone in Washington, DC read DU?"

That would be me! :hi:

[wryter2000]

18. Liberal talk show hosts occasionally mention DU

Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartman have mentioned things they see here.

Also, that sleazoid behind "American Deserves Better" PAC mentioned us as one of the hateful sites that's so mean to poor widdle Caribou Barbie.

[ismnotwasm]

19. I suppose

Since, It's a discussion board, one of many and one that's endured, those who use the power of the internet might cruise by from time to time. Political strategists and even politicians maybe look to see what prevailing attitudes are. Who is saying what. What they're linking to. What the gossip is. What the ability to separate fact from fiction is, and how that's used. (Palin for example. I despise her. The truth was bad enough--really bad enough, but the truth about her was augmented with a lot of internet nonsense)

To gather information, at this point from discussion boards and blogs would seem to be more art than science. The anonymity of the internet seems allow a little more aggression from people who might otherwise poll less accurately in phone conversations.

So the short guess is more Pols from either side than we might think.


As far as your average "Intelligent Republicans" I doubt they pay much attention. My experience with them is that the intelligence part usually from a fiscally conservative and socially a bit more liberal position. In other words they want to make money, get tax cuts, cut social spending, give to charitable organizations and volunteer at soup kitchens once a year at Christmas.

[aikoaiko]

20. Obama called me about my sigline.

He said don't sweat it.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

21. Here's an interesting one:

My website hosting company, Dreamhost, has a Website and RSS feed that announces ALL system problems as they happen. One of their tech heads, Leon, posted that the webserver "moran" had gone down and was being swapped out for new hardware.

And what was the title of that post?

Yup, just as you knew it would be: "Get a brain, moran!"

Me? I 'bout wet myself laughing. DU'ers, we're everywhere.

[hfojvt]

23. I once wrote that 90% of DU didn't read 90% of DU.

Meaning, of the 2,000 or so posts here every day, the average DUer is probably not gonna read more than 200 of them. Who can say about the rest of the world, much of which has not even heard of DU?

I did get a kick out of this.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/65

I posted that to my journal and in a debate that happened a few days later, Obama hit Clinton on those very points - for exxagerating the size of the tax increase and for calling the top 6% "the middle class".

Probably just a coincidence.

You have mentioned google before too. If somebody is researching a topic, they are likely to use google. So I find it gratifying that my journal entry is one of the top google results for "UnFairTax" - a term which is gaining wider circulation. Unfortunately, people are more likely to google "Fairtax" and the results are all propaganda sites for such a tax, at least the first couple pages.

edit: except I was way off on the numbers. DU averages over 14,000 posts per day. How many regular DUers read over 2,000 of them? So several things follow - 1) OPs will have many more readers than "replies of OP" posts will. 2) recommended threads and favorite thread authors are likely to get more readers too.

[exman]

24. I'm a newbee...

:toast: You guys are great, far away the easiest to use and entertaining and informative place I've found. I just read "I inherited a mixed animal" I'm hooked. I think there is a sense of community,wisdom and whimsy that is unparalled anywhere. I would assume that left wing liberal radical socialist conspiracy theory types are monitored by the guys who tap our phones and such. We are a threat to the status quo.We discuss things that msm ignores. God bless,(and thanks for the free education)

[madokie]

28. Well Exman I welcome you to DU

[Hekate]

36. Welcome to DU. I believe you are referring to the entity ...

... known around these parts as Agent Mike. ;-)

:hi:

Hekate

[Swamp Rat]

43. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[uppityperson]

66. Was that the Oscar thread?

That animal? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=624815&mesg_id=624815

[Time for change]

25. That's a great question

that I've often thought about.

Unfortunately I don't know the answer. But I have had three occasions (less than 1% of my total) when someone responded to one of my OPs that very much surprised me:

I once wrote an OP about Craig Murray, British ambassador to Uzbekistan, and he was the first person to respond to the post, with his first and only DU post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x935942

I wrote an OP titled "Why I intend to vote for Dennis Kucinich", and I received this comment from someone close to Dennis:
"I'm sure it won't surprise you (being the savvy folks you are) that Dennis has been reading this thread. He is grateful for the support you all are expressing here."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x988702#999006

And lastly, I did an OP centered around a book called "Political Ponerology", in which I extensively quoted the editor. She responded to the OP (under the screen name laurel700, and so did her enemies, and together they got into one of the most malicious flame wars I've ever seen on DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x200546

All of which makes me believe that quite a few people read DU.

[Kaleko]

37. You and H2O Man are two reasons to read DU.

Researchers can find what they're looking for in your posts and incorporate it in their own writings. This stuff gets passed on, no doubt about it, but not necessarily with proper attribution.

So thanks to all the great contributors here. You know who you are, right?

[crispini]

64. Your post reminds me that DU threads show up high on google alerts and searches.

Anyone who has a Google alert on their name (as I'm sure many public figures do) is likely to be alerted and thus might find (and post) in threads like this. Probably I would guess they are not always regular readers of DU, but come over here when they find they are being discussed.

[defendandprotect]

29. Judging from those ....

interested in contesting especially JFK conspiracy theories with false info

I'd say we occasionally worry someone out there ...

Politically, however, I think they wouldn't feel threatened with amount of $$$ raised

here for Dems, and lack of search for a Plan B vs Pelosi/Reid in two years --

and overall fear or disinterest in strengthening third parties and lack of interest

in working for IRV voting --

[spanone]

30. i've always thought he media checks in here occasionally...

it's a good question and it's hard to know

[rucky]

32. If I thought about who was reading, do you think I'd post the things I do?

[RagAss]

33. I wonder how many DUers read DU?

[Octafish]

35. Ripples around the world.

Like the pebble dropped in the center of a pond,
the wave generated by an idea can spread around the entire planet.
Robert Kennedy helped make that idea famous.

That's why DU is so important; it's a truth machine.
One person at another forum reads a post and forwards it to the members of that group.
Other members, in turn, spread it to other forums.
The word gets spread around pretty fast.

Over the past seven years, many are the times I've recognized DUers' posts re-posted around the web.
Sometimes for ill, but usually for the best of reasons -- to spread the truth.
That beautiful photo of Yours shows what this is all about.

[RandomThoughts]

38. Everyone might read it

If you post something where 100 people will read it, and it is one of the few post a person might post that also has 2% of the readers believe it is worth reposting elsewhere (and then they post it where 100 people will read it).

The entire world will read your post!

[old mark]

39. Never occurred that someone from "reality" would read this,

until someone here brought it up.
I found DU when I googled something like "Democratic Gun Owners", looking for more folks like me, pro-gun Dems. (There are A LOT here.)
I get a lot of enjoyment here, and occasionally a laugh at how seriously some people take themselves, but there are generally some pretty good folks here.

I don't care who reads it - I still hate fucking republicans and want them in camps.


mark

[PatSeg]

40. I read DU long before I participated

It has been in my bookmarks forever.

I think MSNBC and CNN cruise the blogs and most likely they check out DU on a regular basis.

I can't even remember how I stumbled across DU in the first place!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

48. I read DU for a couple of years before I joined. It was a great place to do political and 9/11

research for me and right after the 2004 election I joined. I was among others who knew that Ohio was stolen and didn't feel alone.

[PatSeg]

56. According to my profile,

I joined in January 2004 and I recall wanting to comment on a certain post. I know I had been lurking for quite some time before that. My favorite sites were Crooks and Liars, BuzzFlash, Democrats.com, Truthout, and DU, but like you I was only information gathering, not contributing.

With this election, DU has been my primary watering hole. It seems to serve most of my needs. I drop the other places now and then, but not often.

[Swamp Rat]

44. Curious monkeys?

Prolly not. :D :hi:

[cornermouse]

45. At one time I think it was possible that it is

possible that professionals and/or politicians might have come here to read what was written. But lately? I doubt it.

[Hissyspit]

46. Been trying to figure it out for five years now and...

I have no freaking idea.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

47. If you recall, Elizabeth Edwards read DU and even became a member.

[cornermouse]

57. And do you recall all the personal attacks on

Elizabeth when John didn't endorse Obama immediately? Still think she comes here after that? I don't.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

60. My thoughts are as yours and that's why I used past tense in my post.

[MinneapolisMatt]

49. I help run

a gymnastics message board, and since it's private, we have to personally register each member.

I am continually floored by the famous gymnasts, officials, media members, other athletes and Olympians etc. who register and lurk since we're sort of like the DU of the gymnastics world.

So relating to DU, I'm sure even Darth Cheney has read here before. I'm sure EVERYONE reads here...at least the ones that can read hahahaha! Especially since you don't even have to register to view TEH DU!!!!!1111111!!


Matt :)

[mmonk]

50. Yes, freepers, journalists, congressional aides, political candidates,

prominent bloggers, figures currently in the news, etc. read DU. I wish we had more influence on actual decision making in the Democratic party though. We might have saved checks and balances and the Bill of Rights.

[rosesaylavee]

52. I think anyone interested in politics and

specifically those who are concerned/appalled at what the * administration has been doing the past 8 years reads and probably post here.

As other posters have mentioned above, our forum is easier to navigate than other forums. There are serious and not-so-serious OPs that I feel are both important and serve the dual purpose of understanding and coping with the atrocities perpetrated on the American people and the world these last long years under this administration. What we laugh at has been mirrored a few days later in surprising ways. The recent MSNBC interview with the scam artist/zealot/radio show creature who was collecting money for his Palin ads, apparently thought we had done some kind of damage to Governor Palin... of which we were so utterly proud that there was an immediate response to this calling out by our very own ichingcarpenter ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4526438 )

I am not surprised that some of your prose has been lifted - you and a few others here always have something provokingly thoughtful to share. It saddens me though that others would have so little personal integrity that they would steal your words and use them as their own. Too much a sign of the times.

One thing I think DU does best is calling and writing Congress and others who have perhaps not understood what We the People may think needs to happen for the common good. When DU has united to get the message out, I think we have been very helpful to the country.

Project X was hugely successful too. :P

[Ravachol]

54. There is a lot of lurkers.

Some of them with a low post count, like me. Others, without any account, just reading. I've been reading DU since 2001 and registered somewhere in 2005, I think.

[bobthedrummer]

55. Politicians, their staff, policy-makers, intelligence community , law enforcement, researchers-DU is

quite a wonderful OPEN SOURCE for a lot of people and groups, especially our archives.

But you already know that, my friend-peace to your house from mine.

Bob

[donco]

58. {Who reads the Democratic Underground?} The...

“professional journalist” they would be negligent it they didn’t. Where else would they get a clue.

[bleever]

61. RFK Jr.'s election fraud article in Rolling Stone

was dismissed by the leading critic as being full of stuff familiar to DU readers.

Mark Crispin Miller includes a couple of DUers in his latest book (you know who you are).

And aside from all the other examples, any journalist who wants to know what the "netroots" are thinking would be hard pressed to have a complete understanding without looking at DU. The discussion here is unparalleled.

[Hissyspit]

62. Is the photo the "voice crying out in the wilderness?"

I think I just got it.

[knixphan]

63. I post linx to DU every day on my Facebook page -

Everyone friend me and see :)

They always trigger DU-style threads on my wall.

[earth mom]

65. If the powers that be are reading DU-they certainly are NOT listening to us.

So far we have No Impeachment of the criminals in Washington DC and a 700 Billion Dollar Bailout for the criminals on Wall Street.

Fuck them. :grr:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

67. Apparently...

Very, very pure folks. So pure, in fact, I wonder why I, an ex-roadie of the "Barbarian/Rabid Simian" subset of the craft, wonder why I am even allowed here.

I would have thought that the callouses on the tops of my fingers, from my days of not walking upright, would have surely given me away to the goodmen and goodwomen that assemble here.

[BlooInBloo]

68. No-one of any importance - at least not for any serious reason.

[Fearless]

69. That assumes that inteligence and Republicanism can coexist...

Hmm... :rofl: :rofl:

[dailykoff]

70. Birds read it, bees read it

Even educated fleas read it..

[Kaleva]

71. We DU

[H2O Man]

73. Interesting answers.

I think that many people would be surprised at the variety of people who actually read DU.

[H2O Man]

74. I have spoken

about DU with people from the offices of four of the democratic candidates from the 2008 primary contest, as well as the staff of several members of the House.

[Marrah_G]

75. Good question

Since I cannot begin to form an answer that would be any more then a guess, I am looking forward to others responses.