Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Questions — I have questions!

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It’s no secret there’s been a big influx of new members in the last few months. I’ve read some introductory material, diaries as well as posting guidelines. A few of them are here

Posting Guidelines

FAQ

Welcome Mat: Q&A Continued

Welcome Mat: Q&A Edition

Insider’s Guide to Motley Moose

And still I have questions. Maybe you have answers. Or maybe you have more questions.  

Here we go:

Who is in charge? Is there someone behind the curtain? Is it ONE person or multiple people?

Who are front-pagers? Who has rights to republish to front page? What standards are used for choosing front page posts?

What’s the goal or mission of the site? Is it meeting that goal? If not, why not? If not, is it the goal that needs to be changed, or how it is achieved?

There are 3,800+ members, I believe. Seems like there is a core of fewer than 50 members that is visible. So where’d they all go? Why? How can we entice them back into participation?

When excluding the morning check-in, a large proportion of diaries seem to be reposts from elsewhere. Is that what we want? If not, how do we encourage more original writing, as well?

How can we encourage more interaction in comments? Many comment “threads” are single comments with no response. Are there questions we need to be asking each other to dig more deeply?

Why are weekends particularly slow for use? Has it always been this way?

Is participation generally higher pre-election? Or is this typical regardless of the political cycle?

What is the Lounge — does it still exist and where does one find it, and what would one do when there?

These questions aren’t intended to provoke. They’re just a reflection of my curiosity, and my hopes to be productively involved here.

What questions do YOU have? What answers do you have?


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 135 Comments

135 comments

  2. JanF

    I first joined the Moose back in 2011 to vary my blog participation. One should not have all their eggs in a single online basket because if the editorial policy on your primary blog changes to one that you can’t support any longer, it is good to have a place to shift to.

    I will take a crack at some of your questions:

    – An off election year on a political blog is going to be quieter because there is less going on. I expect things will pick up here as we get closer to the midterms. There are few places now that welcome Democratic party activists and the Moose is one of them (notice the little White House icon in the upper right-hand corner).

    – Weekends are always quiet when the weather gets nice. I have been an avid consumer of site stats for a long time and it is just the nature of the blogging beast.

    I will let the Moose Elders answer the questions about the site itself and its goals. I think the FAQ still reflects their ideals. Keep in mind that number of members reflects number of signups, not number of real humans or, probably more what you are interested in, active participants.

    And yes, I would like to see more original content. But I am grateful for a place to interact on the crossposts  where the default position is that we assume the best of each other and when that doesn’t happen, that there are moderators to, you know, moderate.

  3. HappyinVT

    are those that I’ve been trying desperately to write about in a way that wouldn’t offend anyone.

    The elder Moose are a small number; technically I’m not an elder as I wasn’t here at the beginning but came along in very late 2008 (during the Rick Warren kerfuffle at that other place).

    The Moose has almost always been a bit slower because, for whatever reason, we don’t do a lot of “breaking” diaries or frantic posts with the latest OMG!  Not sure why that is but it has always been that way.  I guess like real Moose we like to meander and slowly chew our cud.  🙂

    Front pagers are generally long-standing Moose who somehow earn the ability to post to the front page.  I “earned” that right as someone who hangs around here constantly without causing trouble.  Anyone’s post, however, can be promoted to the front page if someone with that power deems it appropriate.

    **This next part might get me into trouble**

    We have had two influxes from that certain other site.  Once in year or two ago and again more recently.  But times people were upset about the goings-on at that other site and were directed here.  And we have been glad to have the new people.  After awhile, however, people began to drift away for whatever reason and I’d be very glad to hear why.

    Behind the scenes I have expressed concern over the nature of many of the posts here.  I like fluff; I have a fluffy cat.  But it seems that the posts that garner the most comments are of the fluffier variety while many of the more serious are ignored.  I am certainly not just talking about mine; I don’t usually write posts because it is not my strong suit and I fully recognize that.

    But frankly we have had some long-standing Moose stop posting because they, rightly or wrongly, aren’t sure why they should.  Which reminds me of a discussion that other site had a number of years ago that addressed whether one wanted to write to be read or write to write.  I think most of us would agree that we’d like to write something that others want to read and to respond to.  We may not always be successful but we have egos.

    My other pet peeve are those people who post but never engage in the posts of others.  To be completely honest I generally ignore the posts by those people.  You don’t have to read mine but it would be nice to read someone else’s.  (I mean “you” in the universal sense not “you” as in Melanie.)

    Thank you for giving me an excuse to say what’s been working on me for weeks.  My intention is not to offend anyone or to hurt anyone’s feelings.  We are a very inclusive group and anyone is free to post anything they want as long as they meet the guidelines which isn’t hard to do.  But it has been a concern of mine that we’ve lost our “progress through politics” nature in favor of less political posts.

    Lastly, these opinions are my own and do not in any way reflect those opinions of the Moose as an entity.

  4. Kysen

    Q: Who is in charge? Is there someone behind the curtain? Is it ONE person or multiple people?

    A: The Moose ‘Elders’ are essentially ‘in charge’…there is no ‘owner’ of the site. Motley Moose began as a collaborative effort…and has remained as such.

    Q: Who are front-pagers? Who has rights to republish to front page? What standards are used for choosing front page posts?

    A: The front-pagers are a mix of original Moose and long time Moose. We strive to have enough with FP rights so that there is usually someone around to promote diaries, but, not so many that the FP get ‘crowded’ or begins to move faster than the usual Moose pace (which is admittedly slower than most places)

    Q: What’s the goal or mission of the site? Is it meeting that goal? If not, why not? If not, is it the goal that needs to be changed, or how it is achieved?

    A: The initial goal was to provide a ‘safe’ place to discuss politics and current events without the vitriol that was so rampant elsewhere at the time. A place where reasoned discourse and civility were the foundations upon which the blog was built. IMO, we have met…and continue to meet, those early goals. I don’t think that those goals ever need to be changed…however, new ones can (and should) always be striven for. The Moose community, ultimately, decides the direction the site goes in based upon the material posted/commented upon/rated.

    Q: There are 3,800+ members, I believe. Seems like there is a core of fewer than 50 members that is visible. So where’d they all go? Why? How can we entice them back into participation?

    A: Right off the bat, that number is VERY deceptive. Soapblox as a platform had a problem for long while with being a target for bots and spammers. There were days when HUNDREDS of spam/bot registrations were cleared. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that half or more of the registrations on Moose were from spam/bots. There are now settings in place that have pretty much halted that annoyance. As for the REAL registered users and where they are? Well, they are all over. Some may have registered just to comment in a particular diary. Some have dropped blogs altogether. Some have migrated back to other blogs (dKos, Balloon-Juice, LGF, etc). Some decided we were too liberal, or not liberal enough, or too pro-Obama, or not pro-Obama enough (or any other of a myriad ‘you are not like me’ reasons). As far as enticing them back…Moose has always been more interested in the quality of our members and the conversation than in the numbers (though, admittedly, the slow times get realllly slow).

    Q: When excluding the morning check-in, a large proportion of diaries seem to be reposts from elsewhere. Is that what we want? If not, how do we encourage more original writing, as well?

    A: We have always encouraged cross-posting both to and from other sites. Moose has been in a bit of  slump last few months…largely in part to the mid-term doldrums…but, also due to the RL commitments of many of our ‘regular’ writers. I am guilty of having been absent…’rl’ has had me by the tight and curlies but I do hope to be back regular soon. Activity on the Moose has always waxed and waned…we just seem to have been waning for a stretch.

    Q: How can we encourage more interaction in comments? Many comment “threads” are single comments with no response. Are there questions we need to be asking each other to dig more deeply?

    A: I’ve never really understood what draws comments to one particular thread over another. It is an organic sort of thing that is hard to predict.

    Q: Why are weekends particularly slow for use? Has it always been this way?

    A: I think most ‘adult’ blogs deal with this…I think it is in part due to the fact that so many blog from work! Weekends tend to be the time to get outside and run errands and do those things that get us out from behind the screen. And, yes, it has always been as such on the Moose.

    Q: Is participation generally higher pre-election? Or is this typical regardless of the political cycle?

    A: Participation tends to pick up when there is something ‘big’ going on. Mid-term doldrums affect all political blogs, but, with ones as small/slow paced as the Moose, it can be more pronounced/obvious.

    Q: What is the Lounge — does it still exist and where does one find it, and what would one do when there?

    A: The Lounge was initially a concept devised in our planning stages. It was to be a separate part of the Moose…but still part of the Moose. Unfortunately Soapblox configurations did not allow for the concept to work. So, The Lounge became a Title line…to be used when the content within was of a particularly snarky/lighthearted slant. Use of The Lounge in a diary title came to denote something outside of the serious and more of a relaxed tone. With so many of the oldtimer Moose on ‘hiatus’, you don’t see it used that often. Hopefully it will make a resurgence…I, for one, have always loved The Lounge diaries.

    I hope that helps some…all of it is MY opinion…MY view of things…not anything official or whatnot.

    /grin

  5. Jim in IA

    It is an important characteristic that sets us apart from other animals. We write, draw, paint, act, and any number of avenues to say who we are. We want to be acknowledged and have our core being validated. It is more urgent for some than others. Some could apparently care less what others think.

    I think we all have the need to converse and commune with those near. It is like the standard bell curve. Few at the tailings. Most of us near the center where we like a medium amount. Having been a teacher for my career, I put myself on the curve where I get a lot of opportunity for expression and reaction.

    You posed a lot of thoughtful questions we have both discussed. I appreciate the comments and answers to many of them today.  

  6. wordsinthewind

    I like that any moderation here is done openly with explanations. That keeps it honest, people have the opportunity to have their opinions heard. When the playing field is tilted it only appeals to true believers, not those interested in learning something new.

  9. DeniseVelez

    have been busy with a bunch of r-l stuff and haven’t even been able to drop in for a bit.

    I see that Kysen and Happy have responded – so no point repeating what they said.  

    I am not an elder moose, but am a long timer, and do have the right to promote to the FP – I don’t attached a “promoted by” tag to them when I do it.

    In the past few weeks I promoted diaries by newcomers, and those who have been here a bit longer, to Moose, including:

    So You Want to Impeach the President

    by: Mets102

    Earth’s Labored Breathing

    by: Jim in IA

    Stamp Out Hunger

    by: Melanie in IA

    Texas Matters: Game On

    by: nomandates

    Structurally Deficient Bridges Near You

    by: Jim in IA

    as well as Jan’s weekly addresses from the President – though I may have missed a few of them.

    I sometimes look for a graphic to add to the diary when I promote.

    Black Kos was encouraged to cross-post here by Moose Elders, especially because we spent a period of time under siege elsewhere.

    As was I.

    My first post here was at the suggestion of Moose founders over at MyDD, back in Oct of 2008

    http://www.motleymoose.com/sho…

    I’ve never really thought about the recommended list here, in the same way the Wreck list is regarded at Orange, simply because the pace of Moose is very slow.

    It’s easy to find and read pieces that may or may not ever get there.

    Just my seven cents 🙂

    Dee

  10. Portlaw

    been paying as much attention to the Moose in all its motley aspects as I should. As I’ve already said, I am more of a reader than a writer and have neither the skills nor the grit to do diaries but I sometimes have a query about some current event or a comment about said event and wonder if other Meese have thoughts about it. It’s never anything that raises to diary status. It could be something along the lines of what people think of Samantha Power. Maybe others have similar short attention spans queries. Can such queries or comments be part of the check-in? Is there another part of the Moose that deals with such things?

  11. canadian gal

    It looks like everything has been answered.

    Thoughout the years this blog (and seemingly others) have ebbs and flows as real life and other concerns often play a part in the mix. I myself have had various reasons through the years to have my attention be directed elsewhere offline, etc.

    I’ve had an inkling recently to do a diary (or more!) on the whole Rob Ford debacle but really haven’t been able to string together the time to do it justice.

    Good provocation Melanie, my first comment here in some time : )

  12. Melanie in IA

    according to the wikipedia:

    The site has a number of regular and guest bloggers from the US and overseas. Some still blog anonymously, but among those who have chosen to write under their own names are:

       Former speechwriter for Prime Minister Gordon Brown and author Peter Jukes

       Long-time American Democratic campaign worker and consultant Joe Trippi

       American-born British columnist Sarah Churchwell of The Guardian

       Bulgarian intellectual Ivan Krastev

       Former federal prosecutor and law Professor Tania Tetlow

       American anthropologist Denise Oliver-Velez

       Huffington Post writers Michelle Gross (AKA ‘Michelle Marshall) and Dawn Teo[19]

       Indian born environmental activist Malini Mehra

       Linda Hansen, author of the book “Yes, We Did: the Southern Argument for Progressive Change”

    I know I haven’t been here for long, but aside from Denise, and a comment or 2 from Peter, I haven’t see any of these people.  

  13. PadreJM

    Unless I’m clicking in the wrong place, it appears that the public profile feature of the soapblox software is not implemented on the Great Moose.  Does anyone know why?  (I can think of several valid arguments both pro and con.)

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