My how DU has changed...

[sfwriter]

I just posted on the "When did you join" thread and thought I'd share a few thoughts on how DU has changed and see what others have observed. I joined EARLY 2001.

Paranoia - way, WAY down
When I joined, Bush was declaring "free speech zones" at rallies and Ashcroft and company were going after states with Medicinal Marijuana laws. People were afraid to post ANY personal information. The first picnic here in the Bay Area was watched over by ProudPatriot like a hawk. Every newcomer was intercepted well away from the group and interrogated for Republican cooties before being allowed to approach.
Now, DU has a gallery!

Freeper incursions - way, WAY up
Back in the early days, freepers couldn't even tell we existed. Only rarely did they bother posting here. Now, deleted accounts and thread moderation are common. A freeper on the boards now just vanishes. Back in the old days, they could be a point of ridicule for days sometimes. Even so, they are OBSESSED with us. Of course looking at some of teh folks to come out of DU (Bev Harris, Will Pitt) we must have them freakin out in freeperville.

Disagreement - way, WAY up
Agreement - about the same
In the early days, it was simple. Bush was evil EOM. Now, with the election, and especially during the primary, there is a lot more divisiveness. I remember being shocked at some of the hateful anti-Gore posts I saw when he dropped out. I've seen pacifist Kucinich supporters driven to physical violence in arguments with Dean and Kerry campers. Luckily, we are all united by one simple belief. Bush is evil EOM.

So what have you noticed changing around here?

[arcane1]

1. long time no see!

since the original DU gethering, IIRC

:hi:

[sfwriter]

3. Been busy, baby on the way, making a movie, other stuff...

Hey there!

We have a little girl due June 22nd, I'm working on a film www.americanscary.com, and I've been working for many, MANY nonprofits...

How are you?

[arcane1]

4. same old same old here

nothing much changed, except the tinfoil is 2-ply now :)

June 23 is my birthday, so looks like your little girl has good timing :)

the movie sounds really cool!!! :toast:

[strategery blunder]

2. Paranoia DOWN?

I'm relatively new here (joined 22 Feb 2004), but it seems this place is plenty paranoid of trolls. After DUers noticed a site that shall not be named, there was mass hysteria.

[sfwriter]

5. Missed it....

Don't know about the "site which must not be named," but I remember when NOBODY would post a picture of themselves, and when the gatherings threads had warnings about infiltration and FBI watch lists in them.

That seems to have dwindled some.

Hell, people are posting their pictures to a gallery now!

[strategery blunder]

15. OK, here is MY paranoia post from the mass hysteria

Go here.

[sfwriter]

27. You belong here allright....

Especially with your Christain and Abortion views. There was a huge turnout of Evangelical PRO-CHOICE groups at the recent Women's march in Washington. Most of them would feel just like you do.

[Lizz612]

7. Different paranoia

People were genuinely afraid of the repercussions of posting here and going to rallies and protests. Warranted or not, in the beginning anonymity was valued not because some freeper might make fun of our photos, but for more physical real world fears.

[sfwriter]

9. No need to tell me...

I had a freeper arrested after he threatened my life and that of a San Francisco Newspaper editor...

It's a long story, but I'll let you know when I make a movie out of it.

[Lizz612]

14. I'll pay $8 to see that one! eom

[WilliamPitt]

6. Nader still sucks

or so I am told.

:evilgrin:

[sfwriter]

11. oh yeah...

Forgot that other point of concensus...

:-)

[RandomKoolzip]

8. Well, for one thing....

Different types of freeper incursions have gotten harder to detect, unless one has seen many of them before; usually someone with a low post count posing a a "concerned dem" pleading with all DUers to stop talking about certain subjects because it "makes us look bad." This has been happening A LOT over the last eight months or so, and smacks of some kind of orchestrated disruption. In any event, it's a lot more "stealthy" than your average "LIEbruls SUCK!!!!!" freeper posts we used to get, seeing as how lots of DUers take the bait and wind up getting into unproductive arguments with said "concerned dems."

I've only been here since late 2002, so I don't know what was happening in the halcyon days, but I'm guessing freepers were a lot more obvious back then.

Another thing is the breaking off into cliques we see a lot of these days. Certain people (like myself) find themselves sticking to a certain group of posters and talking about shared interests.

Going through the archives, the lounge in its infancy was a place where you could still have an intelligent, urbane convo about highbrow topics. Since 2002, though....well, It was getting really crazy for a while before they banned the sex threads.

And the GD2004 forum during the primaries was so so so unpleasant I didn't even go NEAR it for over a month. It's still kinda gnarly over there.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

21. Shut up

You are a naive fool....oh wait....never mind.

My bad!

[proud patriot]

10. Hey sfwriter .... good to see ya man

:hi:

[sfwriter]

12. Good seeing you...

I think of you and MzPip as the mother hens of our bay area brood.

[proud patriot]

25. LOL ...Yep that's us

:hi:

[matcom]

13. good to see ya again!

nothing has changed. i'm still an asshole. the only difference is i am now an asshole of 3 :D

:hi:

[sfwriter]

30. Good to be back EOM

[Dors Venabili]

16. As of today. I'm here and all is good.

:hi:

[matcom]

17. WELCOME ABOARD!!!!

:hi:

thanks for signing up!

[VelmaD]

19. Welcome to the loony bin...

that is the Lounge. :hi:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

24. welcome aboard

[freeminder]

18. Low post count posters paranoia UP

but that would go hand in hand with freeper incursions UP, so I can understand why.

Also explains why the number of low count stars is on the UP imho. You almost need to buy credibility.

[strategery blunder]

28. I bought me a star a couple of weeks after joining,

but it had NOTHING to do with credibility. I needed to find a post that I didn't bookmark, and only donors can do archive searches. At least when I needed to do one--don't know if that changed.

[DS1]

20. Gore was never in the race

and DU didn't exist before 43 Inaugeration.

:shrug:

[sfwriter]

26. He dropped out of consideration right after SNL...

There were LOTS of people around here pulling for him until that moment. The mood here was DARK that night. There was even a draft Gore movement for quite a whaile after.

There was a lot of independent money being raised for Gore as well. I'm pretty sure the Gore early adopters mostly moved on to Dean when he opposed the Iraq war.

I sorta feel like Gore wanted to clear the decks for whoever the Dems could field so this election wouldn't be a rehash of 2000. After he decided not to run, the nastyness I saw from the Anti-Gore people here drove me away. I ended up supporting Dean. That turned out great. ;-)

[wyldwolf]

22. been here since about 4 months after it began...

... much more infighting among different types of dems.

Selective memories on just why DU was established and by who.

[Pithlet]

23. I joined right after September 11, 2001

Had been lurking since almost the beginning. It has changed a lot. It's busier, for one thing. A lot of people who were regular, every day posters are no longer here. Anyone remember The Daily Thread in the lounge?

It's good to see you back. :hi: Congrats on the new baby on the way! KCR and I just had our second back in October.

[puerco-bellies]

29. Flames between greens and dems

Are way down. I used to have a different screen name and I was not a favorite of some of the greens around here. We seem to be a little more tolerant of our wayward brethren. A positive development.