What do you perceive to be the "next level?" I've always felt Kos was pretty far from top-down, as much as any opinion site can be. How is it more top-down than VJ, for example?

VJ is not the same kind of site that Kos is at all, even if they look similar superficially, so I don't think comparisons in that way are meaningful.

I think that at a minimum what galiel was urging in the thread would be a good start.

It's not "top down" or "bottom up"-ness that is my disappointment so much as Kos's seeming resistance to learning from what has gone on in other online communities as they have attempted to scale up. There is a rich wealth of knowledge in people's heads and literature out there from the past couple of decades. It's sad to me to see that he doesn't seem even curious in understanding the dynamics, pitfalls, and potential opportunities that growing a vibrant community can present - beyond what he's learning from direct experience. (Which is not to be sneezed at, btw..)

Now, I don't care about dKos so much that I'm going to make it a mission of mine to educate him - note that I didn't even post in the thread in question - but my observations generally concur with galiel's. That's all.

VJ is not the same kind of site that Kos is at all, even if they look similar superficially, so I don't think comparisons in that way are meaningful.

Illustrating how this is the case would be a good thing. I'm not sure how Kos works, and although I think I get VJ fairly well, if you can see how people might say that they look the same on the surface, it would be a good thing to go a bit further under the surface and point out the differences.

I wouldn't rely on kos (or any other 'major' blogger for that matter) for grass roots leadership. They have been co-opted by the DNC leadership and paid off in advertising and consulting deals.

kos, in the thread explains his role best:

I advocate for the larger machine, while having a role in one of the cogs.

Look no further than how they have all lockstep adopted the party's cone of silence about the vote fraud allegations - or how kos jumped off the Dean bandwagon when the party elites started showing their displeasure with his candidacy.

kos isn't a revolutionary, he just plays one on his blog.

galiel's diary as mentioned above seems to have disappeared. Did he take it down?

It looks like it. That's a shame.

And, tangentially, another reason why I don't post much there (or get very heavily involved in forums where it's hard to keep a local copy of the discussions) -- one never knows when one's words will just disappear at someone else's whim. There was some good conversation in that thread, IIRC, too.

I wish I could have read that thread. It sounds as if it was likely constructive criticism. Some folks just can't take it, I guess.

I don't post much on Kos anymore either. My main gripe is that I tire of the self appointed "rules police" that hover over every thread..looking for ways to snottily beat people over the head. If your post is three sentences, it's too short and should be in the open thread. If your post is too long..you should have put a large portion below the fold. If someone else diaried on that topic six hours ago, you damned well better not diary on it again. It's ridiculous.

The content on Kos is fine in a lot of ways. The diaries can be very informative and many of them are currently elevated to the main page, which is nice.

I think Kos has allowed his ego and self importance to cloud things. It's understandable given how he's grown that community, I suppose. It's easy to lose sight.