Part 1 of 8, including Poll Diary & Epilogue.
This is the story of a diarist's journey into the outer reaches of the scrolled-off diaries.
For roughly a week I scanned every diary posted on dKos. I read the diaries that got at least 10 recommends and many that got less or none. I read diaries with and without comments.
For one day I tracked, by hand, the diaries by the hour. It's one thing when you generate these numbers using a program, it's quite another when names and hopes and dreams are attached to them. As a diarist, you tend to look at things differently than most in the halls of lost diaries.
More below the fold.
Why would anyone want to look at every single diary?
Last Monday I made a deal with jotter, diarist of the incredibly useful daily and weekend generated Most Recommended Diaries list.
The deal, as it started out, was me proving that one of his lists could be gamed. Why would anyone want to game a list? Well, I suppose you could also ask why anyone would write about how we all suck, would use Cheers & Jeers or any other mojo-generous diaries strictly for TU status.
Just an aside. Can we please once and for all make being a trusted user dependent on time served on the boards? Keep the ratings to get rid of trolls but for land's sake make being a trusted user more dependent on how long and active the Kossack has been. Three months should be enough and no trolls are going to stay around for that long just to super-troll rate. I mean, come on.
That way we can keep the ratings going for removing trolls and stop worrying about the how much mojo is being spent in what diaries.
Off Soap Box
Where was I? Oh, yeah. Why would anyone want to post a whiny GBCDK diary, or do any of the odd things that cycle through dKos from time to time.
To get the attention. To see their names in print. To be annoying.
Wherever you go there's always an assh*le. The Republicans don't have an exclusive market on that trait, just a majority share of it.
I wanted to prove my theory using what I knew of the system. But things didn't quite turn out the way I had intended. I could not knowingly game the system without experiencing guilt, so I became a reader. The experiment continued, but now with ethics (damn my Democrat blood!) and my own self-imposed rules.
Along my travels I found a few things that may be helpful, especially for those of you experiencing the wretchedness of suspecting you'll never land lay hands on that Holy Grail of Daily Kos: a coveted spot on the Recommended Diary list.
I am your brethren, although, truth be told, I would rather just have 10-15 recommends and a small, but demented, following. The R-D list ceased being a goal for me a long time ago.
Based on the increase of Goodbye Cruel Daily Kos diaries, I have to assume others have not given up on the potential fame and fortune and peaches and cream skin tone that come naturally with landing a spot on the Recommended Diaries list.
Some even seem to think it is their due after a mere few weeks of posting diaries. I must have missed the section of the Daily Kos FAQ that said after a mere three weeks the heavens will sing of my glory and hoards of worshippers shall heap many comments and recommends upon my great works.
Maybe it's in the small print.
I call them GBCdKos diaries because it's not the world they are biding adieu to, it's this cruel and unworthy site and you cruel and idiotic people who wouldn't know genius if it chomped your nose off. Shame on you. <snark>
We might sometimes think we are the world, but we're not. I've seen pictures of the real one and there's no orange font or links to click on. It's kind of boring, really.
There was an average of 250 diaries per day during the week I was reading. That's about 1500+ diaries I looked at. I learned to despise that orange font by the third day.
A diarist expecting to be read in that massive deluge of words is asking a lot from the reader. I only did it because I'm stubborn and obviously have a masochistic streak when it comes to words.
The experiment required me to scan the opening in the diary list, open the diary, check how many recommends, and either read it and recommend (or not) or close it.
What I found:
There are far more diaries sporting 0-5 recommends than there are 6+. Far, far more. It's not always a reflection of quality either. Luck, topic, timing, format, headline; any one of these things can effect how the diary is received. Not to mention personal choice.
IOW, there is no telling what will resonate in Daily Kos and when it will resonate. There is no magic posting time or posting method. Sorry. There is no magic formula.
Below is a chart for one 24 hour period. Each one of those numbers represents the work of an individual. Some of these diaries are one-liners, many are long and have a depth to them that is sometimes breathtaking. Some are personal. Some are annoying. Some are brilliant. Some are not. And some are simply pictures of a guy getting hit with a pie. Actually, quite a few of them are pictures of a guy getting hit with a pie. I think it may actually be the same guy.
Click to enlarge.
As you can see, if you are a diarist with 0-5 comments and 0-5 recommends you make up the majority of the diarists.
There is simply too much to take in at any one time on dKos, and, unfortunately, no way to gauge when someone has read your diary but simply did not post or comment.
Try not to take it personally; many people don't use those tools on here. They simply read and leave. It's all they have the time or inclination to do.
Because of my experience as a reader this week I finally realize I'm part of the majority of the writers here. I had always seen the numbers, but the reality of seeing all those diaries, and suspecting many of the diarists hoped, like I did, for a different outcome for their diaries humbled me. It humbled me like nothing else has. I was especially humbled to see the many diaries where the time and effort in crafting them was obvious and considerable and yet they still had no recommends or comments.
And with that humbling experience I obtained this wisdom: If a few souls venture in to my little world and approve it's enough.
If my voice resonates with just one person it's enough. Hell, it's more than enough.
If I make one person laugh, send one person a useful link, give someone having a bad day a reason to giggle, it is more than enough for me. I am grateful to anyone who ventures out in the diaries beyond the recommended list, beyond that golden glow. I will be one of those venturing in the boondocks from now on because of my experience reading the words of those hardy souls residing there.
What I found in my journey is that there are a lot of talented writers out there, many who are still working on their writing skills, and quite a few bad writers as well. I hope I reside in the second group, but that's always a matter of opinion.
There are sweethearts and assh*les out there. There's silliness and fun, laughter and pain, conflict and reconciliation, wisdom, stupidity, snark, generosity, nastiness, and kindness.
I also learned, finally, there are more important things to be concerned with than wringing your hands and raising your blood pressure over something as insignificant as 0,1,2,3,and 4's, number of recommends, and/or number of comments.
I also learned that it's not a good idea to tie up one's self-worth in the success or failure of a single diary. Or two. Or ten. Or any number. Too many variables to work against.
This diary is really a tip of the hat to the writer pouring heart and soul into words that may never be read, commented on or recommended; the writers who write because that's what writers do; the ones who write for the sheer love of writing regardless of what may come of it.
It's for the writers who would never even contemplate posting a GBCDK diary just because they average four recommends and ten comments a diary. That's not what they are here for and when I grow up I want to be just like them.
Those diarists plugging away consistently in oblivion are the ones I've come to respect the most; even more so than the ones who consistently make the recommended list. Don't get me wrong, I respect the popular diarists; talent, hard work and a unique voice is what got them that status in the first place.
Sure there are sometimes "lucky" hits on the recommended list, but the familiar names that show up consistently worked damn hard to get there. Now that they have their spot in the glow of the Holy Grail, they don't need my support to remain there. If they don't mind, I'll be spending a little more time searching for potential gems in the scrolled off diaries.
The popular diarists who also are readers and take the time to point Kossacks in the direction of good diaries they may have otherwise missed also have my utmost respect.
Why would you read something <insert popular diarist name> found interesting? I don't know, but I usually do click on those recommends from the top diarists and have found many times that it is a rewarding experience. I don't think it's an ego thing; it's more like recommending a good book or article to a friend whose tastes are similar to your own. It's a courtesy. I appreciate it.
For me, doing what I love to do is what I'll be doing until I no longer wish to do it. Got that? Maybe I'll attract my desired (demented) readers, maybe I won't. Que sera, sera.
When the time comes to hang it up I hope I have the wisdom to fade away into the ether silently. I want to pull a Keyser Söze. "Poof", (s)he's gone. And I limp away with what's left of my pride and then, when you least expect it... It doesn't get any classier than that.
Maybe I'll take a couple of fours before I go. You know, for the road.
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
--Cyril Connolly
I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.
--Mark Twain
If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.
--Kingsley Amis
Asking a writer what he thinks about criticism is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.
--John Osborne
OverKos - In Diaries - Part 3
Meta & Poll
(Blank) Sucks, But I'm Sticking Around Simply To Irritate You From Time To Time Until I Get Banned And Then I'll Sign Up Under A New Screen Name and Irritate You Yet Again Diaries.
aka You All Suck Diaries, for short. With subset I'm Calling You Out division.
aka You All Suck Diaries.
Help Me--Advice Seeking Diaries
Current Analysis & Historical Analysis Diaries
Drive-by Diarists
Hijacked Diaries
OverKos - In Diaries - Part 4
Bunny Diaries
Deleted Diaries-Pre-Meditated and Surprise! I'm outta here!
Miscellaneous Diaries
Diary Categories with chart
Diary Series FAQ
OverKos-Poll
OverKos - In Diaries - Part 5
Goodbye/Goodbye Cruel Daily Kos
A Writing in Oblivion Diarist's Sob Story
Leaving with Class
OverKos - Miscellany- Part A
Diary Promoting/Pimping
Diary Selling/Whoring
Link Leeches & Link Spam
Diary Police
OverKos - Miscellany - Part B
Miscellany
A Waste of Diary Space
Comments
On Categories
More on Breaking Links
Politician Bloggers
Daily Kos is not broken.
Additional FAQS
OverKos - Epilogue
Thanks
Wisdom & Virtual Snacks
A Love Letter To Daily Kos
Quotes for the Writers