General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why is DU's popularity waning? (Title edited, explanation within.) [View all]Nay
(12,051 posts)back-and-forth discussion. I've been here since about 2002-03, and there used to only be quite intelligent, rational posts and replies that actually addressed the posts. Now I see much more irrational, RWer-style arguments and replies. I also see what seems to be RW infiltrators. They don't get tombstoned.
The level of discourse has plunged -- you see everything from irrational arguments and knee-jerk talking points to indecipherable grammar and hideous spelling. It may be elitist, but if you can't write and spell, you probably shouldn't be on this board. Those who have trouble formulating ideas and expressing them in written form are wasting their time here.
It's also disheartening to lay out the facts, give links to things, and then still get the same specious argument back when you have just blown that argument out of the water. This is a trollish way to 'discuss' -- to keep repeating your incorrect talking points until the poster gives up.
I do read here a few times a week, but I'm not posting much, and when it gets so that one topic is being beaten to death, I bow out for a week or so. I feel better already.