Do you view DU as a community?

[G_j]

I used to, for the most part, though not so much these days.
There appear to be distinct factions that may never reconcile now that Bush and Cheney are gone.



(I hope I have presented this discussion in an acceptable way)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Bar room brawl at times.... at others a fleet of monarch butterflies

lilting on a pasture of green grass.

[QC]

2. I used to think of it as a community, as well as a place to get an education.

When I first joined, DU was those things and a lot more.

Now, not so much.

[blondeatlast]

3. No, more like a rather rowdy but friendly neighborhood bar.

Fights break out and the employees break 'em up and everyone has good fun and relaxes.

[Fumesucker]

4. Back in the dark days of the Bushie hegemony yeah, I pretty much did..

That went out the window when Obama was elected.

[MineralMan]

5. Sure. It's a community. An active one, too.

And like all communities, some people move out and some move in. Any discussion site as large as DU is a community by definition. I'm not really sure what your question is.

[WillyT]

6. Apparently, We Are A Lot More Of A Communty When The Republicans Are In Power...

Ironic, no???

:shrug:

[JohnnyLib2]

10. +1

[HughMoran]

12. Common enemy

Just like the Republicans after the Soviet Union dissolved, finding a new common enemy/cause is difficult.

[pnorman]

31. "Miss Me Yet?"

[HughMoran]

32. HA!

...little did we know!

[WillyT]

38. LOL !!!

You bad...

:spank:

:rofl:

:evilgrin:

[JohnnyLib2]

46. Good one!

[demtenjeep]

7. I used to

not any more

[William Z. Foster]

8. no

It is s sweat shop.

[yella_dawg]

9. Virtual Armed Madhouse

[rucky]

11. Not until we get in a softball league. n/t

[LeftyMom]

13. Anymore no.

Which is a damned shame. I met the love of my life here, and made a lot of great friends.

But movements fracture over small differences, and without care those differences can become greatly magnified. I've seen it happen over much smaller ideological divides than those separating (watch, I'm going to have somebody jump my shit about the labels, oh well) liberals and leftists from the center-right Obama loyalists.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. A (sometimes) nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

[HuckleB]

15. Not anymore.

[polichick]

16. It's a message board community that serves some good purposes...

...not a Kumbaya campfire community.

[xchrom]

17. Family -- we love like family -- bicker like family --

Ignore each other like family -- yell at each other like family --
close ranks like family -- diss each other behind backs like family --
storm off and never speak again like family.

[Mojeoux]

18. We think DU is a community so therefore it am.

The old dark days of Bush Cheney were unifying. Now we have a POTUS that is a Democrat.

We expect the moon and stars from these new people and so what if we argue?

If I'm Pissed at Obama, it's a left wing anger and no teabag a-hole can co-opt the way I feel.

I'll argue with DU folks but the racist/facist right wing has only chalk board doodles for validation, their arguments are like mashed potatoes.
The fact that "journalists" give them air-time is "bag of hammers" dumb.

[Posteritatis]

19. I'm thinking more "collection of warring city-states." (nt)

[marylanddem]

20. A community of more or less kindred spirits?

It certainly helped me through the ungodly Bush regime & I appreciate the diversity of opinion & outspoken-ness.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hlthe2b]

22. more like a dysfunctional family...

but, even the most dysfunctional families can come together against a common threat, as we did against Bush*-Cheney.

Now that Obama is in the WH, we are in the uncomfortable position of having to learn how to deal with support turning to disappointment, which can range from mild for some and very extreme for others.

[tekisui]

23. It used to feel like a community.

It feels less like that now.

[Laelth]

24. DU is a community, regardless of how we view it.

And, like all communities, it is subject to periods of unity and division. Now that the Democratic Party is in charge of things, we are less united than we were when our party had little or no power. This is not surprising.

:dem:

-Laelth

[avaistheone1]

27. Yes.

Communities are typically defined by certain core values and beliefs that are held in unison. Yet being a community does not mean we all have to think alike either.


Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural com•mu•ni•ties
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English comunete, from Anglo-French communité, from Latin communitat-, communitas, from communis
Date: 14th century
1 : a unified body of individuals: as a : state, commonwealth b : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself <the problems of a large community> c : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location d : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society <a community of retired persons> e : a group linked by a common policy f : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests <the international community> g : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society <the academic community>
2 : society at large
3 a : joint ownership or participation <community of goods> b : common character : likeness <community of interests> c : social activity : fellowship d : a social state or condition

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community

[bitchkitty]

25. In a way it is.

But you seem to think community means that everyone has the same viewpoint on everything?

[Starry Messenger]

26. No.

More like a computer game with boundaries applied in a highly random fashion.

[scarletwoman]

28. It's more like a giant office building, lots of floors and departments, heirarchies, cliques.

There are a small number of DUers I consider good friends, several more whose thoughts I genuinely enjoy coming across, a vast majority who are mainly just background noise, and another few that I'd prefer to having nothing to with ever.

You, of course, are a member of that first group. :)

sw

[etherealtruth]

29. Sadly, its not as informative or interesting as I once found it

Admittedly, from my own perspective it seems the same tired faction post the same tired thoughts over and over again.

Flame wars devolved from strong assertions reflecting differing perspectives and ideas (that could and did rage out of control)to the "cut and paste" posters that rely heavily on personal attacks if their view points aren't parroted.

In the truest sense it is a "community" ... the type or effectiveness of the community is a different discussion.

[ZombieHorde]

30. I view DU as a community.

I neither love nor hate President Obama. Politically speaking, I am more interested in ideas and policy than individual politicians.

Those who share this view with me will find themselves arguing against a poster in one thread while agreeing with the same poster in a different thread. DU is a community which debates ideas and facts, and shares perspectives.

Those who do not share this view with me may find themselves on a team, they may defend their own team while attacking the other team(s). DU is group of factions which distorts truths and pushes propaganda.

If you don't like the factions, just leave yours behind, and the factions will no longer be a problem.

If you like the factions, hold on tight and have fun.

[KonaKane]

33. A collection of smaller communities.

I came here sort of late, but the friend who hooked me up had been here for many years and said that some time ago it was very unified (2004).

From what I see, it is the interplay of several smaller communities of people brought together by opinion, location or career.

[Missy Vixen]

34. "Community" is more easily achieved in the smaller forums

I love those people.

It's best not to discuss my feelings about other larger forums.

[Igel]

35. Sure.

It's "a" community, but like all communities composed of sub-communities. It's easier to define any community wrt to some outside force or group, and even easier when the outside force is a threat--so when dems are the opposition party it's easier to draw the boundaries and for people to note commonalities more than differences. When they are the party in power the sub-groups become more prominent.

Of course, some people are in the large DU group only by virtue of being in a sub-group narrowly defined. Even when dems are the minority party, then those people don't so much find common cause as shelter at DU. Some of those "some people" may not even recognize it when they join, but draw and consolidate the sub-group boundaries later. Schisms are hardly a new thing.

[City Lights]

36. I did in its earlier years.

Not so much anymore.

I'll refrain from saying what I think it's become.

[Better Today]

37. Depends on your definition of community. Clearly you envision a homogeneous one,

which is extremely pie-in-sky and resembles the desired community of those we rage against.

[Solly Mack]

40. More like an ongoing family reunion.

[flyarm]

41. I used to..now I think it is a tool for proganda! Truth is hard to find many days..

or deleted and unrec'ed.

and thruth tellers are called "haters"

[snagglepuss]

42. It depends what you mean by community and whether complete harmony

is required to have a sense of community.

DU groups and the Lounge are harmonious and cozy but DU is largely a political forum and politics is abrasive, people have very strong feelings and are trying to influence others. In everday life many consider it impolite to discuss either politcs or religion because these emotional topics can destroy a sense of community, destroy any illusion of harmony.

[H2O Man]

43. Good question.

It reminds me of the old Black Bear commune. It started out well, with members who had good intentions. It was soon invaded by unstable people.

I think that there are sub-communities on DU.

[jody]

44. Will Rogers said it best "I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat." n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. No, not since a whole group of new people showed up bearing the message--

"Everything's peachy now that Obama's elected, and if you don't think so, it means you wish McCain would have won."

[G_j]

47. Sorry, I wasn't able to respond sooner

I appreciate the replies. I asked the question. I mentioned that it doesn't feel as much of a community since Bush/Cheney stepped out of the spotlight. I wasn't a 'Bush hater' They offended every principle of justice and humanity I have believed in my whole life. It's not about hating someone. When Fox news called us Bush haters, it was obviously a way to avoid talking about any issues at all.
It was principles that people shared in their outrage. It was sound progressive-humanitarian-egalitarian-ecological-etc. principles that created somewhat of a community. There was an "enemy", but the core was strongly held progressive-liberal principles.

The Obama "hater/basher" label is not productive for the very same reasons. The principles/issues many on DU used to rally around in the noble struggle to offer resistance and education to counteract Bush/Cheney, are still in serious play. Does DU becomes a place where those foundations of what we expressed in our resistance to Bush now become a focus of bickering as opposed to action? Some may remember the "vitual march" the phone-ins, the flowers and lobbying efforts done right here. That was the sense of community I was referring to. I guess having Democrats in power has narrowed the parameters of discussion and action, I don't know...