Is Daily Kos overrated?

[Ramulux]

I just saw this article on Time's website about the 5 most overrated blogs on the internet and Daily Kos is one of them.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2000196,00.html

This is kind of surprising, I frequent Daily Kos on a pretty regular basis and while its not the greatest site ever, I think it does a good job of bringing together different news stories and allowing the members to write their own diaries. This really kind of bothers me, does the rest of the country really see the Kos as a joke and a direct arm of the DNC?

Obviously its time magazine so who really gives a shit, but still to put Daily Kos in the same category as that Perez Hilton dude kind of pisses me off.

[Oregone]

1. Sure, along with the rest of the internet

[bigwillq]

2. Don't know

I never visit there. Never visit Perez, either.

[hlthe2b]

3. I don't think so.. but then again I've always found that site difficult

to navigate... so I rarely get past the main page unless someone links to a diary. :shrug:

[JBoy]

5. The layout of that site drives me nuts too.

[democraticinsurgent]

4. Markos is an egomaniac imho

One large difference between DU and Kos is that Skinner and the other admins don't seek to be demigods. I almost always agree with Markos politically, but I find him to be unpalatable both as a writer and a talking head.

I also agree that the site is poorly organized. But the Time article focuses on their perception that Kos is not as relevant as it once was. That may be merely a function of Obama being in the White House instead of Boosh.

[gratuitous]

6. Ah, but Drudge still rules their world

Drudge Report Motto: I broke a story once. A story that was spoon-fed to him in easily digestible chunks so he wouldn't fuck it up. And yet even knowing this, all these years later, the Villagers at Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, New York Times, the major networks and other so-called reputable outlets hang on Drudge's every post and developing flashing light. Never overrated, always wrong, and constantly consulted.

[KharmaTrain]

7. All He Did Was Link...

So it was even easier for him not to screw up. I honestly can't remember the last time Sludge had a real scoop. For a while he'd put on his siren but it was almost always a red herring. The corporate media are creatures of habit...and old ones at that. It takes them a while to catch up with the times...they're still fascinated with Twitter while most tech savvy people are starting to avoid it like the plague.

Regarding Kos...that site along with others have lost focus as a result of the successes of the Democrats in the past two election cycles. It's one thing to win elections, it's another thing having to govern and this is where the friction is hitting. There are those on the left who are angry that their causes aren't being addressed or critics that everything is a sell out...it's causing a lot of angst on this side of the sandbox and hurting the effectivness of the netroots to be as effective as they once were.

Of course the corporate media loves to beat down on the internet as they feel the competition and its easier to ridicule it than to compete with it. Last time I checked most "dead tree" media were losing money and on the verge of bankruptcy.

[gratuitous]

14. On the other hand, as far as Daily Kos is concerned

I'm not sure why it was touted to highly in the past, or what caused it to falter in the eyes of Time magazine. Most of what I check in on Kos for are the polls, and their Orange to Blue reports on local races. Now, while it's true they backed Bill Halter in a losing campaign against Blanche Lincoln in the Arkansas Senate race, the Halter challenge definitely caused Lincoln to tack left during the primary and act almost like a Democrat for a change. She's going to get stomped in November, and the Democrats will lose a seat in the Senate that they coulda shoulda held onto.

Kos is also one of the founding/driving/guided forces behind Netroots Nation, which is having its get-together in July, and brings together all kinds of activists, union big shots, progressive voices, and so forth. If Kos is losing its heft with the likes of Time, it still seems to be holding its own with people who care about something besides who's up and who's down inside the Beltway. And I'd guess that Moulitsas is fine with that.

[KharmaTrain]

15. I Was At Yearly Kos...

2007...ALL the major Democratic candidates showed and it was definitely a very happening event and time. You had a lot of networking and activisim going on...something the teabaggers could only dream of. I give the netroots, not just Kos but many other sites...C & L, TPM, Atrios, Americablog and even FDL for organizing and energizing many people that helped in the '06 and '08 elections.

We've seen a fallout in recent months (and if you haven't seen it, best not to look, it hasn't been pretty)...a defacto battle between Kos and FDL as well as agendas aren't being satisfied and egos and impatience has taken its toll. I've been a regular reader and member of Kos almost since it started up and find it still a very useful resource in keeping track of races and other issues and there are many good diarists. However I've seen a lot of the energy sap out of the movement since President Obama took office...but then I guess it was to be expected as the battles now went to control of the power rather than the attaining it.

The netroots can only go as far as a ground game allows it. Flying in money doesn't always assure victory...Halter was a long shot who came close but in the final analysis went up against a far better organized operation and in the end, that's what wins elections. Will Lincoln survive? We'll see...it's still a long way to November and I honestly have no care or feeling if she does or not.

[Hannah Bell]

20. i swear the media corps have stock in twitter. there was a definite promo job going on when it

first came out.

[H2O Man]

8. By who?

[bemildred]

9. Never heard of him. nt

[Jennicut]

10. I started out reading Daily Kos back in 2002. But then I found DU and found it more user friendly.

Easier to read, easier to post. I prefer DU but there are great posts on Daily Kos too.

[mdmc]

12. I found du through kos too

I hear good things about kos, but I have never been able to surf the site with much success. I will see a link and read it, but I would have a hard time finding the same OP without the link from du..
From what I read kos seems like a grood dem party website.
I had found kos through the dean grassroots..

[Uzybone]

11. Time magazine is still very overrated

and most people think they are shit already.

[enough]

13. No. (nt)

[Robeson]

16. I found it hard to navigate...

...haven't been there in a long time, so I don't know if it's different.

[gvstn]

17. Considering the others on the list

I think Time magazine doesn't like all the words on DKos. I mean TheFAILblog and PerezHilton? What are they 14 year olds looking to kill time instead of studying?

Their list of essential blogs doesn't fair much better. Sh*tMyKidsRuined and TheDailyKitten? http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1999770,00.html

DKos is fine by me. You can learn some things there from diarists that have first hand knowledge of a particular subject. I also like the Week in Science wrap up. I'll admit I rarely get past the recommended diaries and the front page. It may not "catapult" much into the mainstream media but which progressive blog does? None stands out in my mind. The major networks only credit blogs when a story has gotten so big it can't be ignored and then picks and chooses which one to mention. I only hear Politico mentioned with regularity and their stories are often proven to be gossip rather than substantial but they make a good sound byte for a day.

[bermudat]

18. Is Daily Kos overrated? Yes.

The rightwing media portrays this site as the premier site for liberals. I've never been

on it. Have visited Huffington Post more frequently, as well as Bartcop.com

[KonaKane]

19. I sort of lost interest in them long ago.

O'Reilly was obsessed with them for awhile, but he saw a shiny thing and moved on.

Me? I liked them for awhile. But they really arent all that and a bag of chips.

[Robert DAH Bruce]

21. Yes!

Not a popular view, I know, but the whole "diary" setup is fucked!

[Prometheus Bound]

22. I didn't even know it was rated, let alone overrated.

[Ganja Ninja]

23. Who cares?

I didn't know they were being rated and I doubt if anybody cares at KOS or here what some dying form of media thinks of the media that's replacing them.

[DailyGrind51]

24. Some of the contributors to DK seem too impressed with themselves.