How did you first hear about DU?

[Kber]

I was referred to DU during the primaries when a fellow Clark supporter directed us to an interesting post on DU. I signed up and it has kept me sane for the past 2 years (I lurk more than I post as a general rule.)

Anyway, got me to wondering, how did you first hear about DU and when did you start lurking and posting?

Just curious.

Kber

[B Calm]

1. I heard about it on a MSN community board..

Called: The Democrats Won

[NoBushSpokenHere]

2. Started lurking sometime between the first theft of the Presidency

and the second. Started posting just before the second theft. I am surprised I am almost to 1,000 posts.....

I think I stumbled upon the site. Glad I did.

[lisa58]

3. Buzzflash

[catmother]

4. my sister nancy greggs wrote 8 articles for DU

and each time she would send me an e-mail. i finally decided to check out the rest of the site. that was 4 weeks ago and i'm addicted.

[coffeenap]

5. Proud to say--"invited" by Andy Stephenson.

O8)

[tigersumtin]

45. Yea Andy Invited me too,

in an off the wall sort of way.

[hopein08]

6. Lurking in summer of '04; posting in winter of '04

I have no idea where I first heard of it! And now it's going to totally bug me until I remember!

[napi21]

7. I heard about it at a Dean meetup from a fellow Deaniac.

I checked it out, signed up that night, and have been spending WAY too much time here ever since!

[mod mom]

8. Colorado activists referred me while organizing a post election rally.

I must admit there should be a "HIGHLY ADDICTIVE" Warning posted upon entering the forums.

[Tesla]

10. I heard about it from Above Top Secret

[Kagemusha]

9. I heard Freepers whining about it

when they still supported a minimum of sanity on that board, quite some time ago.

[sweettater]

11. I'll spill the beans

freakrepublic. I was over there for several years. They really blasted DU. When I finally saw the light DU was the natural place to hang out. I've been around a year, maybe more. Great place to be! :woohoo:

[babylonsister]

12. The site "All Hat No Cattle" got me here. nt

[Ezlivin]

13. Free Republic

Yes. Believe it or not.

I went there and started "chatting". After a chilly reception, I was told I would be better off at DU.

"What's DU?" I asked. (I really did not know.)

They didn't believe that! They acted very hostile and said I was a "liar" and "bullshitting" them.

Boy was I glad I found out what DU is!

[SharonRB]

14. A link from some election-related site right after the '04 election

I joined on November 9 and have been here ever since. DU has helped me keep my sanity (sort of) and always makes me feel informed and like I belong to a huge community.

[Maggie_May]

15. I don't remember but

all I can say is I am glad to be here. Its great to talk with people with actual good ideas. Who think for themselves its something our party should be proud of. I know I am.

[Metta]

16. from my wife.

What a sweetie.

[Swamp Rat]

17. buzzflash.com

The humor section at buzzflash.com directed me to DU's "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" and other great artists like Mark Fiore and Tom Tomorrow.

I started lurking here the Summer of 2001, and on a daily basis by the Fall. Instead of registering here and spending so much time posting and surfing, like I do now, I became a local activist, attending meetings and participating in anti-war/pro-peace marches. When I moved back to the USA at the end of 2003, though I continue to march, I have since diversified. ;)

[Maven]

18. I was doing research on issue framing

It came up on google, and I cited one of the messages in a thesis.

From there, I got curious and started reading all the boards, and I was hooked.

:grouphug:

[Cha]

19. In "The Nation" magazine as

"alternative news sources" back in 2001..first I had to get a computer and I did in 2002 and looked up DU right away in time for the 2002 election cycle.

I was never a good "lurker" cause that's the kinda site I wanted so I could add my little two cents. :)

[cmd]

20. C-Span

Twas a looooog time ago.

[Lost-in-FL]

21. Looking for the DNC web site...

Saw the words UNDERGROUND... and that was it... I love controversy...

[vogonity]

22. The H20 Man papers linked via SmirkingChimp.com

I lurked for a long time, and still don't post too often.

[immoderate]

23. Saw Skinner on C-SPAN!

Yes, I am one of the earliest members. Brian Lamb was doing a spot on how the internet was affecting politics. He had Skinner and some right winger on to describe their web sites. I signed up that day.

--IMM

[Nite Owl]

24. Buzzflash n/t

[mshasta]

25. back in september 2004..

During elections I was searching for a democratic sites on google then I click on DU and became really impress to find people who think the same as me...I became a reader since and finally got my ass to sign in.. :think:

[no_hypocrisy]

26. On Alan Colmes' website on the links page, believe it or not.

We're not longer listed. Something we said?

[CelticWinter]

27. vickiss told me about it

she was really into it and so i started lurking and joined a little over a year ago before the second election theft.

[wysi]

28. Linky from People For the American Way

I often check the PFAW website to keep tabs on what the Reich Wing is up to. I joined sometime in 2003 IIRC...

[Rick Myers]

29. Buzzflash

long, long ago (it seems)

[NewHampshireDem]

30. It was either Buzzflash or Hated

www.buzzflash.com

www.hated.com

[PassingFair]

79. Buzzflash for me, as well n/t

[Kali]

31. Was having "conversations" with a wingnut

on a small locl bbs and was looking for dirt on Ann Coulter. Stumbled onto Top 10 Conservative Idiots. That hooked me in. The small board closed down - sometimes I kinda miss that guy - he was fun to torment. Bet he is at FR, but I can't stay there long enough to look for him. One at a time is ok to deal with but whole flocks is too repulsive.

[wryter2000]

32. From a friend in Canada

He forwarded me something from DU and added, "This might be a good place for you to hang out." Now, I forward him stuff from DU.

[Lerkfish]

33. I was arguing with a rightwing nutjob who said I belonged here.

turns out he was right :)

[KoKo]

34. Salon. com.....I'm one of the "Legacy" DU'ers. n/t

[salin]

35. 2001 link from buzz flash

DUers refers to * as Captain Bunny Pants and got a visit from the FBI.

I don't even recall who the DUer was - just the thread that got me reading DU.

[Luna_Chick]

36. From my rabble-rousin' mum

Thanks, Havocmom! :loveya:

[jandrok]

37. I linked into here from a website called "lies.com"

Been here ever since.

[nickyt]

38. A friend turned me on, Sept. 10 of this year. I was slowly going insane

over Katrina, with no one around who really understood my reaction, and Rex said hey, check out DU. Lurked all of one day? Addicted. Learning a lot. Grateful to all here for understanding me! -

[Hissyspit]

56. Well, welcome!

:toast:

[nickyt]

57. Thanky, Hissy!

[struggle4progress]

39. Got really pissed. Googled: conservative idiot. Met the top ten!

[Mist]

40. Buzzflash--back in 2001. Couldn't do more than lurk for a long time

as I didn't have my own computer.

[BewilderedCitizen]

41. Election night 2004

I was up late on election night watching the results on the news. I couldn't believe what was happening with the exit polls vs the reported results.

I figured there must be other people in disbelief like I was, talking about it on the "internets". So, I hit google using search terms like election, results, exit polls, fraud, etc. and the only site that came up was DU.

Now, hundreds or thousands of sites would be returned by those search terms, but at the time DU was ahead of the game, as usual. I've been a DU addict every since.

[MojoXN]

51. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I think that you'll enjoy your time here! I sure as hell have!

Oh, and yes, on this side of the "internets", you're always welcome!

MojoXN

[senegal1]

87. Hey my experience too. The day after the election 2004 I was

sooo bummed that I just got on the computer on google and typed in election fraud for the hell of it and up came DU and blackbox.org and blackbox.com. Took a while to figure out what was going on. Read and read and read checked out lots of other sites then started to post. Bless you all DU.

[TheFarseer]

42. I think I typed "Bill O'Reilly sucks" into a search engine

or one of those talking head ass-clowns and found the top 10 conservative idiots.

[MojoXN]

43. www.whatreallyhappened.com

Mike Rivero links to stuff from here occasionally. If you've never been to WRH, I highly recommend it. Excellent compendium of alternative media resources.

MojoXN

[HeeBGBz]

44. There used to be a forum over at Democratic Singles.com

Someone over there was discussing something posted over here. I showed up and never left.

[Hissyspit]

46. google search on an issue brought up "Top Ten Conservative Idiots" link

and then I looked at the home page, etc.

[Botany]

47. this person

[Christa]

48. On an expat forum in Holland

http://www.expatforums.org/forums_plus/index.php

[New Earth]

49. God spoke to me one night

and told me to come here or I'd go to hell :(

actually, i found a link to here on the bbv.org forums looking for other people who believed the election was stolen...

[TheCentepedeShoes]

50. IIRC, a link

from Smirking Chimp or Buzzflash. Read a "front page" article by Plaid Adder that really impressed me. Think it was called "They Drive It Like They Stole It" or something like that. (Thanks, Plaid! :hi: ). I was, and still am, really impressed by the amount of effort and research that go into so many of the posts. Plus, it moves fast, there's something new all the time. I get on first thing every morning. Just know something happened while I was ZZZZ-ing.

[lady raven]

52. I don't remember!

But I am definitely glad that I did!

[Midnight Rambler]

53. Buzzflash, I believe

For years I used to just read the articles, and Top 10 Conservative Idiots immediately became part of my weekly routine. It took me a while to realize that the forums were the main part though.

[Cats Against Frist]

54. While trolling Freak Republic

They seem to be pretty good PR guys for DU!!

[TNMOM]

55. buzzflash or bartcop. eom.

[Rich Hunt]

58. anti-Bush protest

I went to an anti-Bush protest in early 2002, and some DUers were there. I didn't realize that Democrats were that active at that point - this was not long after 9/11. I was relieved because it was a better fit for me than the things I'd been involved in, I felt like I found my group. For one thing, most of the groups I'd been in were nearly all white, and I am more interested in civil rights issues. DU had a significant number of black posters which made me feel more at home.

[Individualist]

59. Found it while searching for facts about 9/11,

and I found the facts here.

[ebayfool]

60. Believe it or not ... MSNBC (in a round-a-bout kinda way LOL!)

During primaries reading election materials on MSNBC site - saw dKos & Kerry site links & followed them. I believe I found the reference to DU on the Kerry site. Lurked & devoured constantly till election day ... when my heart was broken by the announcement of *ush round 2, I wrote Skinner & begged to sign up (TY Skinner!:yourock: ). Since then, it's been my homepage!

[Lindsay]

61. Buzzflash.

I was googling for info on Karl Rove. Saw Buzzflash's link and knew a place called Democratic Underground was just the place for me, perpetual hippie that I am.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

62. The "Top Ten Conservative Idiots" radio spots....

they used to run in IE America radio back in the day.

[cdb]

63. God told me to come here... n/t

[fed-up]

64. From a post/link on forums.therandirhodesshow.com/ message board n/t

[koopie57]

65. I found it at bushwatch.com

[EnfantTerrible]

66. Mark Crispin Miller

At his theatre piece here in NYC, "Patriot Act". He handed out a list of forums worth visiting.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

67. Google in early 2002

My visits became more & more regular over the year & I eventually stopped lurking & started posting mid-2003.

[ellenfl]

68. i was slowly losing my sanity so i went googling.

i was looking for progressive websites and eventually found the link to du. i started lurking 2/26/2005 and posting shortly thereafter. i found this info in my profile and just noticed that i have hit 1000 posts!

thanks to everyone here for all of the information, guidance and commiseration.

ellen fl

[mark11727]

69. Salon.com ---> Tbogg's blog ---> DemocraticUnderground

I don't remember how I got to Salon, though. :)

[Quixote1818]

70. My story is EXACTLY like yours. A fellow Clark supporter directed me

to a post on DU.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

71. They had a banner ad for it on free republic..... a nice big floating

banner.... just kidding don't you know.

[shayes51]

72. my son

[kansasblue]

73. democrats.com said DU was reporting 2004 election fraud

[leeroysphitz]

74. A little BIRDY told me... n/t

[ThatsMyBarack]

75. My sister

She has some kind of link on her blog....

[smomfr]

78. The one good thing dumbya did for me

while searching bush bashing there you were.

[bud E. holly]

76. After Abu Ghraib story broke, I was surfing around

looking for info and followed a link here. Been an off an on lurker ever since. Great source of info and some top notch research. Finally joined after getting caught up in the excitement of the Fitzgerald Investigation. Have learned a lot.....and been entertained as well.... some very funny posters here.

[caledesi]

77. I have been here so long I don't remember! LOL! nt

[erinlough]

80. Smirkingchimp links n/t

[proud patriot]

81. Jan.2001 I watched the inauguration on cspan

I saw Skinner and EarlG hold the big Banner
and it branded in my mind . After a 2 sleepless
months of agony, I searched the web for that
banner I saw . It was my first time sitting
down to the computer and hopping on the Internet .

Got here in March 2001 I haven't left since :D

[GreenPoet64]

82. Buzzflash n/t

[elfin]

83. From a site called

Bushwatch in 2000 - maybe early 2001.

[cry baby]

84. Randi Rhodes message board. nt

[pitohui]

85. bartcop

prob one of the reasons i'm such an oddball

[Crunchy Frog]

86. I found DU just before the invasion of Iraq.

I was lurking at a couple of other sites that were mixed politically, and was getting really disgusted with all the pro-war attitudes that seemed to overwhelm every place that I saw. I floundered around for awhile looking for a liberal message board. I picked up a link to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots at some point, but didn't realize at first that it was connected to a board.

I eventually managed to figure it out, and became an obsessive lurker. It was really refreshing to find so many other people who felt the same way I did, plus I learned alot of new stuff. I had never heard of PNAC before finding this site.

I was very shy and ended up lurking for about 6 months before finally getting up the courage to register and begin posting.

I don't know if it's kept me sane, but it does keep me occupied.;-)

Edit: I think I found the original link to this place at the Straight Dope message board. I found that board while lurking on a Tolkien message board. I had been kind of apolitical and the Iraq invasion is what woke me up.

[LittleClarkie]

88. Republicans for Kerry, I think

Yahoo group.