At the start of every contest, when all the new members arrive, ready to post about anything and everything they can think of, all the faculty and older members on the site emphasize that all posts should be Progressive. If they aren't, they won't be counted towards the scholarship.
So, what does progressive mean? We've certainly told you what it isn't; it isn't talking about your day to day activities, it isn't rambling on about your boyfriend or girlfriend, and it certainly isn't talking about how much you loved the latest James Bond movie. Certainly, each of these can be made into a progressive blog, but they are not in and of themselves progressive.
We have people on this site from all walks of life; young and old, liberal and conservative, male and female, pale and pigmented, single and involved, etc. All of them find something to talk about over time. What do they all have in common? They call for progress.
With that in mind, we want you to tell us what 'progress' means to you. What does it mean, how do you achieve it, what other thoughts do you have on it? Write a blog on it to let us know.
Of course, there are a few rules:
And, naturally, we'll give you a little incentive to do this. First, ALL entries, provided they meet the requirements above, will be given 50 points. This is in addition to the 50 points you get for the blog, plus the read points you'll earn for it.
As an added incentive, if we choose your blog as a winner, we will give you an additional 1000 points towards the scholarship contest. But in order to win, you must have an extremely well written idea. We will choose up to 10 blogs to win.
Best of luck, and let us know if you have any questions!
I love how this contest comes out after I wrote a blog on this exact same thing, lol. I am way to far ahead of the curve.
I think it might've been suggested because of people like you :)
You can submit past blogs... just go back and tag them with 'Think Progress'.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Sweet.
That’s why we all love you…lol
You are the best ingredient this platform can dream of… ;-)
Lol yea, I think I commented that one. That's where they stole your idea from probably.
+mspin
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/weezyf
I believe that the creators of this site, and for that matter, this scholarship were greatly aware of the issue at hand. and that is the topic on how to warn future bloggers about their idle ways. However, I do believe that this article came out after your blog because the staff was just searching for kind way to circumspectly approach the tender issue.
It's not really a tender issue.
"Only one entry per user will be accepted. While you are free to submit multiple entries (though, why would you?), only one will be considered for the challenge"
Why WOULDN"T we want to submit multiple entries? If only one is accepted, how is that determined? Is it that you choose the best one submitted, or is it that it's the first blog entry that we submit? Or if we submit more than one, are we disqualified?
"With that in mind, we want you to tell us what 'progress' means to you. What does it mean, how do you achieve it, what other thoughts do you have on it? Write a blog on it to let us know."
Does this mean that our submitted blog should pertain exclusively to our definition of progress? I mean, if we right a blog that we consider to be "progressive," although it doesn't attempt to define progress at all, is that what you are looking for?
(sorry I'm not putting this next part in a reply, but I didn't want to make a pointless comment):
"You can submit past blogs... just go back and tag them with 'Think Progress'."
Great! I was just about to ask if it was retroactive. You're just one step ahead of me.
Why would you want several blogs all defining the same thing? We're not looking for 'Progressive' blogs (as all blogs on this site should, in theory, be progressive), we're looking for those specifically defining progress.
But you can interpret the question several ways; you can give a definition, much in the way I was just asked to write a paper on what history is; you can instead focus on how you think progress is achieved; you can focus on who can be responsible for progress. In each case, you have to start with the premise of what progress is.
Should you choose to write multiple entries on it, I imagine that when we go in to judge, we will accept the first one we come to. That depends on how the tags sort them... whether it's by date, rating, or whatever. But if there isn't hundreds of entries, maybe we'll just read through all of them and choose the best of the bunch, and drop all but one of those written by the same author.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Thank you for such a thorough response. It really helped me understand this better--I was pretty confused.
I'm on it!
Sustainably yers, http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/green-underbelly
Do we get the second 50 points after the judging?
Yes.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Fun, I'm up for the challenge!!!
I submitted a blod tagged think progress and I did not recieve the extra 50 points or at least not that I am aware of. Does it take awhile or did I do something wrong?
We have to manually add them in, so we're not doing it until after the challenge period is over.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Oh ok. Thanks for letting me know.
COMMENT TO ANYONE! I put the website for this page in <> at the bottom of my blog. Did I do it in the right fromat?
What blog?
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Remember your submissions are due tonight. I know I've seen several blogs on this subject NOT tagged with 'Think Progress'. To find out if your submission was received, PM me, and I'll get back with you sometime tonight.
If you have an old blog you would like to tag for consideration, but are unable to edit it, please PM me with a link to the blog, and I'll add the tag in there for you.
If there are any additional questions, feel free to PM me... I have nothing else going on tonight, so I'll be around my computer until after the challenge ends (at 10 pm Pacific time).
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Wow, had no idea such a simple request would create so much confusion.
Seems simple to me, I should define what I think progress or being progressive means?
Progress means moving forward, moving past what has already occurred.
To be progressive is to encourage forward movement of human thought, intention or action.
Being progressive means bringing a fresh perspective to age old controversies
Someone who is progressive will no doubt have comments about old school issues like abortion, school prayer, church vs state, science in relationship with the supernatural, you claim it, we'll honor it.
However, true progression should strive to move away from tired debates that have been stalemate for decades.
My attempt at being progressive would include the following: