All right, as always, I get to be the bad guy. But since I'm not actually eligible for the contest, I guess I dont feel as bad being the one to say this. Here is the thing. There are a lot of posts that I have seen on here that are well-written by bloggers who have quickly and easily won my respect. BUT no matter how eloquently put some of these posts are, they in no way fall into Progressive U topics. Why is it so important to stay within the topics? For one, many of Progressive U users' posts are picked up by google etc and its important to me, as I am sure it is to all of you, to be taken seriously by others so that our membership increases and we continue to build a stong political community.
I know that sometimes we just want to have a little fun, but we can still have fun with each other and keep the content of our posts within the Progressive U principles and categories. The topic choices are very wide, but not all encompassing. In other words, they are wide enough as is to include entertainment and sports, which are not really politics, as to allow flexibility, but purposely defined to encourage posts that somehow have to do with news and media. This may seem like I am taking the site a bit too seriously, but I feel that we have to take the site seriously if we want our opinions to be taken seriously by non-users. No business or political leader is going to take our ideas seriously if we dont limit the amont of non media and news realted information on the site. We as a group cant do anything about non news/media related posts except for to control ourselves.
Last semester whenever I sat down to write a post, once I got the hang on the site, I developed a set of rules for my posts. Is this media or news related? If the answer is news, then I knew I was in the clear. If the answer was media, I asked myself is what I am talking about timely? Is it interesting? After answering yes to once of the above questions I would ask myself, can I make a good argument? If a post does not contain an arguement or a point of some type then it probably belongs on MySpace bullitens rather than on PU.
Again, I love everyone on here, but I truly want to be taken seriously, and we have begun to be, and I dont want to lose that. Thanks all for at least taking my opinion into consideration.
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If being "progressive" is about trying to make the society a better place, then the topics don't necessarily have to revolve around politics. I agree that blogs that tell you why it's good to be single and say something about hair are myspace materials and are entirely useless, but aside from a couple anomalies, I say we're doing pretty good so far.
No they dont always have to revolve around politics- thats not what I said. I believe I said news and media. Media and news do not always equal politics. But other than that, I agree with the rest of your comment entirely! Thanks for the feedback! (and yes so far its been pretty good, but I dont want anyone to think its okay becasue no one said something about it. Its just better to make a point of it now before it gets out of hand).
Francesca Chambers
Thanks for being the bad guy. While I think you can be progressive without directly relating to the news or media, an important part of this site is the serious issues behind the posts. I hate to say or imply the some people shouldn't be writing on here, but if we as experienced users can't or won't tell people when they seem to be missing the point of the site, PU will lose it's purpose.
Yes, there is a difference between "news and media" and some of the stuff on here. I also believe there should be a section in your argument for "serious, thoughtful, or somewhat philosophical beliefs" provided that they are RELEVANT or in a way considered PROGRESSIVE or helpful.
Topics need to be taken seriously. If it's something like "top 10 reasons why girls rule" or whatever, it's not a serious topic and has nothing to do with progress. However, if it's about the way we think or how we think, then I believe it is important.
And last year, when I did not have an ID but could still comment on other people's works (I found out about the site in June and could not register), I constantly would ask "How is this progressive?" But I think I may join you in this quest for progress in posts. It can be ridiculous.
~Piano-Fighter~
I totally agree with this blog. Not only is it a problem with getting noticed in the political world, but some of these people going for the scholarships are actually getting points for writing posts such as "do big butts matter?". It's a sad thing actually. Good job :-D
Curtis F. http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/conphlikt
Word.
I was going to say something about this very thing, but I thought "you know, it's not really progressive to limit people", but our goal as bloggers here should be to inform others, and to discuss progressive ideas. However, a certain amount of people on here are not in it for the progressive discussion, but rather only for the scholarship money. Those, by and large, are the people treating ProgU like Myspace.
I know! and I dont want to accuse anyone of being on this site soley to win the scholarship but I mean who are we kidding? The scholarship is very motivational . . . but hey, if thats what we have to do to get kids our age to get interested in politics, then its worth it.
Francesca Chambers
You recently left a mesage on my forum, which I very much appreciated but I just wanted to say for all those high school students out there: WE NEED SCHOLARSHIP MONEY and this was one way to get it. I apologize for the unimportant issues that you may find in some forums but some can be interesting. This website is to discuss opinions whether it is about politics, world issues, or interests. This is different from MySpace because we are discussing things that interest us, not "are you going to the dance this weekend?" type of stuff. I don't use MySpace or any websites like that because that is where all the internet pervards like to go on. Hopefully they don't come here. I don't mind discussing my opinions about cartoons or celebrities because these are real life issues and this website allows for topic diversities. We can find something in common with strangers by voicing our opinions about everyday things that everyone can relate to. Thanks.