Sunday, February 20, 2005
Welcome! If you're hanging out at the Democracy for America blog, you've found one of the strongholds of DFA! The posts are great, and the comments -- well, on a good day, anyway -- are thought-provoking (you know about clicking on "comments" below each post to read the comments, right?). You can "lurk" for a while before you post, or submit a comment the first time you read the weblog. Either way, you're likely to find it habit-forming. (REMINDER: Democracy for America is a grassroots organization that depends on us actually leaving our computers periodically and TAKING ACTION. Temper your blog time with work in the world, please. Start from wherever you are and take your next step to support political engagement and change in this great country. Then report back here and let us know how it's going.)
You may find that folks are not responding directly to your posts unless you ask for specific information (and sometimes not even then), but please don't feel neglected. It's par for the course -- there are a lot of voices in the "room" -- conversation of any sort takes some doing. If you have a question, e.g. "How can I get absentee ballot applications to distribute at my voter registration table on Saturday?" go ahead and ask it, even if you're a little nervous it might be a dumb question. People here are incredibly generous, and lots of questions and problems have been successfully resolved via dedicated blog responders. Meanwhile, to get up to speed, read as many of the blogforamerica entries as you have time for, and see also this stuff:
If you want to quote something at length, the best strategy is to post an excerpt and then give folks the link, either by including it in your post, or by creating a clickable link to it by entering the web address or url in the box provided in the "post comment" section of the blog. This is how folks turn their names into links to their recommended sites.
Questions about this blog (like, what is it, how does it work?): What Is a Blog (Thanks for listening, campaign staff!)
Wondering what to do about posts from nonsensical naysayers or people who seem to be trying to pick a fight (termed "trolls," as distinguished from people with genuine questions)? Conventional wisdom here (as stated succinctly by ET in KC back in November of 2003) is first, "ignore them if you don't think they are interested in true conversation. Second, respond to their post WITHOUT MENTIONING THEM BY NAME, but with the facts and no emotion." Third, if they're really driving you to distraction, surf on over and make a contribution to a worthy cause, say, Democracy for America? Or something else you think will drive that particular troll crazy. Then c'mon back to the blog and let people know that your money is where your heart is, still WITHOUT mentioning the troll by name.
I've tried to include some of the most commonly referenced sites in the sidebar at left; please let me know (see suggestion box at top left) if you have suggestions for additions or other questions you think I should address here for the benefit of other blog citizens.
There is a lot of work to be done, and we could use your help! Have you attended a Meetup yet? Have you gotten some of your friends to tag along?
SOME BLOG LINGO TRANSLATIONS:
W00T! is an exclamation of excitement, popular w/ bloggers, origin uncertain
BTW = by the way
IMO = in my opinion
A,AA,IISVGTBHAF = David A. Stevenson's DFA sign-off... "And, as always, it is so very good to be here among friends."
Freeper = a denizen of The Free Republic (click at your own risk; pretty nasty stuff)
IMNSHO = in my not so humble opinion
LOL = laughing out loud
POTUS = President of the United States
RIF = Resistance Is Futile (ask a Trekkie for more details)
ROFLMAO = Rolling on the floor, laughing my a** off
WTF? = What the *@#~?
You may find that folks are not responding directly to your posts unless you ask for specific information (and sometimes not even then), but please don't feel neglected. It's par for the course -- there are a lot of voices in the "room" -- conversation of any sort takes some doing. If you have a question, e.g. "How can I get absentee ballot applications to distribute at my voter registration table on Saturday?" go ahead and ask it, even if you're a little nervous it might be a dumb question. People here are incredibly generous, and lots of questions and problems have been successfully resolved via dedicated blog responders. Meanwhile, to get up to speed, read as many of the blogforamerica entries as you have time for, and see also this stuff:
If you want to quote something at length, the best strategy is to post an excerpt and then give folks the link, either by including it in your post, or by creating a clickable link to it by entering the web address or url in the box provided in the "post comment" section of the blog. This is how folks turn their names into links to their recommended sites.
Questions about this blog (like, what is it, how does it work?): What Is a Blog (Thanks for listening, campaign staff!)
Wondering what to do about posts from nonsensical naysayers or people who seem to be trying to pick a fight (termed "trolls," as distinguished from people with genuine questions)? Conventional wisdom here (as stated succinctly by ET in KC back in November of 2003) is first, "ignore them if you don't think they are interested in true conversation. Second, respond to their post WITHOUT MENTIONING THEM BY NAME, but with the facts and no emotion." Third, if they're really driving you to distraction, surf on over and make a contribution to a worthy cause, say, Democracy for America? Or something else you think will drive that particular troll crazy. Then c'mon back to the blog and let people know that your money is where your heart is, still WITHOUT mentioning the troll by name.
I've tried to include some of the most commonly referenced sites in the sidebar at left; please let me know (see suggestion box at top left) if you have suggestions for additions or other questions you think I should address here for the benefit of other blog citizens.
There is a lot of work to be done, and we could use your help! Have you attended a Meetup yet? Have you gotten some of your friends to tag along?
SOME BLOG LINGO TRANSLATIONS:
W00T! is an exclamation of excitement, popular w/ bloggers, origin uncertain
BTW = by the way
IMO = in my opinion
A,AA,IISVGTBHAF = David A. Stevenson's DFA sign-off... "And, as always, it is so very good to be here among friends."
Freeper = a denizen of The Free Republic (click at your own risk; pretty nasty stuff)
IMNSHO = in my not so humble opinion
LOL = laughing out loud
POTUS = President of the United States
RIF = Resistance Is Futile (ask a Trekkie for more details)
ROFLMAO = Rolling on the floor, laughing my a** off
WTF? = What the *@#~?
