Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch paper
Democracy for NH
Granite State Progress
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Pickup Patriots
Re-BlueNH
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
New Hampshire Labor News
Chaz Proulx: Right Wing Watch
Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Landrigan
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Campaigns, Et Alia.
NH-Gov
- Maggie Hassan
NH-01
- Andrew Hosmer
- Carol Shea-Porter
- Joanne Dowdell
NH-02
- Ann McLane Kuster
ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC
National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
You may want to hold off on new comments/diaries this AM as I need to make a switch based on a software upgrade last night... sit tight for a an hour or so.
I think we are all set... technical upgrade from the software/hosing provider in order to get all Soapblox blogs running on the same version of the software. This should lead to improvements and better overall support.
On this thread, there was a lively discussion about whether people who post diaries on a community blog should also be commenting on that blog. I mentioned that I enjoy engaging in comments on my own diaries because they're proof somebody read what I wrote.
I was remiss in not mentioning lurkers. A lot of people read BlueHampshire, including the comments, who never post here. Most of the people who read what we post do not participate in the conversation. Not every informed voter is an activist--which is good, because activists are a small minority. Similarly, not every reader of a community blog is a contributor. And that's encouraging too. It means the reach and value of our writing is greater than we immediately notice.
Many times, I've met people for the first time, introduced myself, and been told "I read you on BlueHampshire." It continues to surprise me, especially because I'm not on the masthead and seldom post diaries.
Life is short, and there's more free content on the web than one could consume in a thousand lifetimes. So I just want to say thank you to those people I don't know who think that reading my opinion is worth their time. If you're ever so inclined, I'd like to hear or read yours.
Not sure what is going on, some of the changes that Soapblox put into effect yesterday seem to have been rolled back, and some how have taking some data with it.
I posted a note to the company last night when I noticed it but have not heard yet heard back. At least one other Soapblox site is complaining about the same thing.
I think we will refrain from promoting anything new to the home page till we know what is going on...
(Jim doesn't like it but, what say you? - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
I don't like it.
Why the change? The old one was perfect. I've been spent several futile comments telling Blue Mass Group it should simplify, a la Blue Hampshire.
Just saying ...
UPDATE: With the refinements to what the categories mean, now I do like it. And 3 out of 4 doesn't annoy me much as 5 out of 6 did on BMG. BMG had four ratings: 0, 3, 5, and 6. ??????
As Blue Hampshire was originally concieved it had a simple, binary even, rating system for user comments. A "4" meant"Thumbs Up! I enjoyed and/or agree with the sentiment" of your comment. Whereas a "0" meant"This comment is trollish and should be hidden!".
The "0" rating is a way for the BH community to manage itself and protect it from truly trollish* or spammy behavior. If enough "0s" pile up, the comment is hidden from the general public and the admins can ban/delete the comments/user later.
You have the ability to rate the comments of others. If you read something particularly useful or insightful, you may give the author a 4 or Excellent rating. On the other hand, if you feel that a comment was written whose sole purpose is to degrade the conversation or be intentionally abusive, you may choose to give it a 0 or Troll rating, a substantial number of which will cause the comment to be hidden. A significant number of troll ratings may also result in the account being banned. Note: Troll rating a comment simply because you disagree with it is considered ratings abuse and is grounds for banning the user.
Despite pleas to the contrary, folks often use the "0" to mean "I disagree" or "I find your comment to be rude or unbecoming." Other than writing it out as a reply to the offending comment which, while it has merits often only goes to further hijack the thread, We have no way of saying" Mike we know you are not a troll but I think your comment was out of line"
The "1" rating could open up a whole new can of worms, hurt feelings, etc. This is what the site founders were afraid of when choosing the current approach to comment rating. But introducing the "1" might also be a way for the community to define the acceptable tenor and style of the comments on the site, or, at minimum, publicly distance themselves from a comment, without having to use the "Troll Rating"
What do you think? Should we introduce a "1" to our comment rating system? We will take all comments in consideration as we mull over the pros and cons. Regardless of the decision I think discussion on the topic will be helpful for the community.
*Neat! Wikipedia Definition of Troll references "IndyNH" vis-a-vis BH as an example of concern troll
An example of this occurred in 2006 when Tad Furtado, a top staffer for then-Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH), was caught posing as a "concerned" supporter of Bass's opponent, Democrat Paul Hodes, on several liberal New Hampshire blogs, using the pseudonyms "IndieNH" or "IndyNH". "IndyNH" expressed concern that Democrats might just be wasting their time or money on Hodes, because Bass was unbeatable.[17][18]
Has registered 3810 users (Granted two of those users have been banned for being Republican sockpuppets; RockinNH, and our latest BlueManGroup. (The number is three if you count proto-sockpuppet and Charlie Bass Staffer IndyNH AKA Tad Furtado who was caught by our founders prior to the creation of BH. He's so famous he made it all the way to Wikipedia!
Founders have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, and are regularly contacted for comments by the State press.
Has had nearly 500k Unique Vistors and 4.6 million Pageviews
Over the past 4 months the NH GOP has:
Focused like a Laser on the Budget and EconomyGuns and Mike Brunelle
Been caught playing footsie with Cornerstone, Bitherism and Nullification
Made NH the laughing stock of the nation
I'll take our record over Majority Leader's Bettencourt's anyday.
So, this blogging thing ... I've been struggling with it lately. What purpose does it serve?
For example, should we engage in all-out message war with the likes of the Koch brothers? (Those guys make no bones about it -- they are at war with us. But does that, should that, mean we are at war with them?) If so, I have trouble accepting that. I thought the goal of all the electoral wars I fought in was peace.
Should we referee every comment made by every politician?
There are many different definitions of the purpose ("More and better Democrats") and many different approaches. Some state blogs are virtually captive arms of their state parties. Some blogs are barely read at all. Some are vibrant, but conveniently ignored by elected officials, because the participants will claw at each other, looking inward and not outward. It's ironic, I think, that politicians have learned to fear amateur camera operators in their face, but can pretty much disregard the writing of thousands of activists, voluntarily chronicling the actions of said officials on issues they care about.
I have a proposal. I don't expect it to be acted on immediately, but I want to put it out there.
A bit late in compiling our 2010 year in review data, but without further ado here is the is the 2010 edition of the diary I also did in 2009 and 2008.
In the blogosphere, four years is a near eternity. Since Blue Hampshire began in November 2006, this place has grown tremendously to comprise viewpoints from across the political left, written by the most established members of the New Hampshire political establishment to the least known and the unknown. From presidential candidates to state representatives and everyone in-between, and especially everyday Granite Staters, the digital walls of this place have heard a multitude of progressive voices. We have challenged the traditional media. We have pushed our values. We have effected real change.
It will always be an honor for me, having no credentials other than a love of this state and an internet connection, to have been part of Blue Hampshire's formative years. But with the new year, it's time for me to try something new. Effective immediately, I am stepping down from managing this place.
It's not that I have nothing left to write - quite the opposite. It's that I believe I can be more focused and effective on a canvas that is mine alone rather than concurrently managing an online community. Plus, I have a few issues I want to explore that will require a single-mindedness that would be harder to do here, where I am often wrapped up in the news of the day.
Added to these factors is that in many ways, Blue Hampshire is a victim of its own success. Because it is the go-to place on the New Hampshire digital left, we have a paucity of progressive voices online distinct from this site. That needs to change, and I want to be part of expanding that playing field.
My new home is named after one of my favorite New Hampshire things - birch paper. Please come check it out!
A couple of logistical items:
• If any pundits or folks on the right claim I'm doing this because of the election or some other dopey reason, understand that they are lying. Those that know me know that this has been in the works since last June.
• While leaving aside the administrative duties, I still plan on being a regular user of this site. Since we began the rotation of weekly "hosts" I have been thrilled to see this place grow and get more interesting. I am really looking forward to seeing it through the eyes of a reader and occasional diarist/commenter.
• I'll be keeping my email addy (dean.bluehampshire AT gmail DOT com) for a while, but birch paper will be using my non-BH one, (dean.t.barker AT gmail DOT com), just as an FYI if you are one of my normal contacts.
• And speaking of those of you who prefer email to posting, as well as those who work in political press release land, please stay in touch. Aside from the change of url, I'm not actually "going" anywhere, and I appreciate the tips and leads thrown my way now and then.
Finally: thank you for all you do to make this short time we have together here in the best state in the union a better place for the rest of us.
So Pindell and Mr. Snitch missed it, but all the admins and front pagers of this half-acre of blogworld real estate were in the same meatspace at the same time yesterday. I think that's a first!
The reason? We've got some exciting changes to BH on the horizon, and we needed to spend some time mapping them out all together.
The big gifts will be unwrapped at a later date, but here's one small difference: starting tomorrow, we are going to be rotating front page sentry duty. Just one change that will make this a more vibrant place on the one hand, and on the other help me from becoming Parker Posey at the BH Library:
Four years ago we turned the lights on here. Some stats as of this morning:
5,118 Registered Users
11,484 - Diaries
101,970 - Comments
1,190,255 - Site Visits
4,436,497 - Page Views
2 - Characters in our Twitter handle
0 - Paywalls
$0.00 - Cost to join
$0.00 - Subsidies from Eagle Publishing, Inc.
Adding: I got my start blogging in the height of Republican control of everything, when the excellence of George Bush and his great and glorious War in Iraq were not to be questioned. Unchecked radical right-wingerism sure has a way of getting folks' attention. It's going to be an interesting two years in Concord.
So we're going to be spending some time before the New Year looking under the BH's hood to design and implement ways - some small, some big - on making this place better than ever for the 2012 cycle.
We'd love to have your input as well. No suggestion is too small or too big or "out of the box," so long as it's respectful of the community here, and mindful of the fact that BH is more or less a volunteer effort.
Oh, and: thanks for coming and being a part of this community. I don't say that nearly enough.
I don't know how else to put it - the Carroll County Democrats rock. I am ready to move up there. Those are some tough, unapologetic people of principle they have in office and running for office I met at their annual Grover Cleveland dinner. And if you haven't been to the Wright Museum, you owe it to yourself to stop by the next time you are in Wolfeboro. It's a really interesting place.
Plus, I got to hear truly inspiring speeches by Mike Brunelle, Terie Norelli, Peggo Hodes, our own Susanthe and Carol Shea-Porter.
My own remarks at the event are below the fold, and I hope to get a couple more things from the event online soon I know you will enjoy.
While it's not quite the "verb" that Google has become, I have been asked "How do you Blue Hampshire"?
For the "Good of the Order" I have recorded a couple of short (less than 5 min each) "Screencasts" that cover the basics:
Creating a Blue Hampshire Acct and Password
Lurking and Commenting
Creating and Formatting a Diary
Hopefully these will be helpful to folks and we can continue to add more voices to our community. (I will try try to find a permanent home for these on the site as well)
To be serious for once, I am really looking forward to meeting all the totally awesome Carroll county Dems who have been flexing some serious electoral muscle in recent cycles. I am honored they invited me over. Plus, Grover and a WWII museum?
Best of all, Peggo Hodes will be singing, and Speaker Norelli will be, um, speaking.
Learn more here. And they even have their own ActBlue page for it if you want to sign up online.
Your influence as a user, on a healthy site, is a function of to what extent your activity supports those group-defined social goods. In other words, to quote Shirky, the user of social software is the group, not the individual. If you are consistently acting in a way that hurts the interests of the group, the group has to defend itself. If it doesn't, the group slowly becomes its own enemy.
I'm a little reluctant posting this, because part of it is about me, and it feels like self-aggrandizement.
That said, co-founder Mike Caulfield's post contains an anecdote very relevant to the news of the past couple of days, and, much more than that, is perhaps the single best expression of what we are about here.
From the latest strain of the one-note campaign, in part:
Blogger Acknowledges Kuster's Lobbying
"Lobbyists give money to both parties? This is shocking."
-- Dean Barker, Managing Editor of www.BlueHampshire.com, sarcastically defending Kuster's contributions to Republican state senate candidates. www.BlueHampshire.com has endorsed Kuster and has been actively promoting her candidacy.
Well, it wouldn't be the first press release about me, but it's the one that gave me the biggest chuckle.
In other news, I took a different way home than usual an hour ago and found four new Kuster signs on lawns. Still looking for my first Swett sign sighting.
(NB: SOTD = "Shrill of the Day," a new series I've started.)
Anyone want to start up a non right-wing statewide paper? Pindell:
The Union Leader remains the state's largest newspaper, but a 6 month look into their circulation shows Monday through Friday circulation at 49,357. The study was conducted by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the industry standard organization that compiles these numbers for advertisers.
...In 1990 the paper celebrated the fact they had a circulation of 100,000.
Also, while BH is obviously nowhere near the big boy nat'l blogs or the readership of a UL (even in decline), this week we passed four million page views.
