Welcome to Readers' Picks. You're all used to Editor's Pick; this one is selected by your peers instead of by an editor. Rating is supposed to accomplish that but rating has become, for many, a support mechanism rather than an honest critique. This blog offers the additional advantage over both EP's and Ratings in that the rationale for selection will be included.
For this blog to be useful, we'd like to suggest criteria, both for recommending posts and for commenting on those recommendations.
For recommending posts:
· Choose posts based on quality of writing, interest of content,
or particularly illuminating POV. We are more concerned about
whether the blogger is good than whether the blogger is right.
· Explain/justify your choice
· Please avoid:
o Choosing a post based strictly on friendship
o Choosing a post just because you agree with its content
o Bringing a post to our attention for the sole purpose
of condemning it. This isn’t Readers’ Pans.
o Choosing a post where most of what’s in the post does not consist
of the blogger’s own work.
For commenting on recommendations:
o Please limit comments to reasons for supporting or opposing the
recognition of a post. Comments about specific content belong in the
Comments of the post itself.
o Particularly if you oppose recognition, please write about the post itself
and write as little as possible about the blogger. Please avoid being
insulting – rudeness can get a comment deleted following a PM warning.
How this blog works: Those of us who are administering the site will check on comments and at least one of us will check on recommended posts, then comment on them. If the rationale for inclusion is present in the initial comment and the recommendation does not meet with an unusual amount of opposition, a link to the recommended post will be included in the next post on this blog. At this point, it is our plan to post once or twice a week.
We hope this blog proves useful in terms of providing recognition to those you think deserve it and introducing you to bloggers you may not be aware of whose work is admired by your peers. Thank you for visiting.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
FOMENT THE INSURRECTION!!!
OCCUPY OS!!!!
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Salon.com
Comments
http://open.salon.com/blog/naithom/
2012/05/20/leviticus_the_two_edged_sword#
comment_2942383
I'm recommending this post because of its very effective and thorough use of bible references that it uses. The post is well written and the subject, religion based politics, is pertinent.
http://open.salon.com/blog/seventhsister/
2012/05/20/national_association_for_the
_advancement_of_gay_colored_folk#comment_2941556
I REALLY liked this post. The writers juxtaposition of black/white/gay/straight was VERY well done and the quality of the writing made a harsh subject almost enjoyable to read. SERIOUSLY Amy Picked too! :D
Lezlie
The Seventh Sister post is outstanding. If I'd have found this one first I'd have recommended it. It takes an old case I've heard, the lament of Black women whose position is ignored by both Black men and feminist White women, and adds a third layer.
Those of us who are administering the site Would it not be a good idea to tell us explicitly who this is? I think it's kosh & SBA but is it? Anyone else? It doesn't feel like I'm being paranoid, I just think it's a good policy in general.
Actually, I agree, though those of us who are participating in this aren't here to function as editors. We're here really for two reasons:
1. To give the people who complain about EP's an alternative, and
2. To provide a mechanism for OSers to find new bloggers they don't know about or particularly good posts from bloggers they do know about but don't follow consistently. The advantage of this site over the front page is that you can see from the comments where the recommendations (and seconds) are coming from, and you may know some of the people doing the recommending, so you'll have a way of predicting if these posts are worth looking up.
Yes, except that we probably won't do multiple posts, we'll probably keep editing the first, because that will keep the instructions front and center. I suppose the alternative is to keep copying the instructions and doing new posts, because that would give us a way to keep a record of what's been done. The idea is so new that we're not sure yet. We'll take input. The idea of doing this at all is at this point maybe 50 hours old - I talked about a form of peer endorsement I'd seen in comments and she thought about taking that concept and setting up a blog for it. The text of the first post is mine with her input (if you've read both of our work, that will be obvious). If it helps, maybe we'll list ourselves as founders, but we've both spread the word in broadcast PM's so the nature of our attachment is announced there.
What we'll do next, probably once or twice a week, is move whichever recommendations we've gotten (after one of us has checked it out so there are at least two sets of eyes on a recommended post) into the text of the post itself in the form of a link, plus deliver a comment to the post in question informing them that they've been selected - in essence, that they've gotten an RP.
Right now, while we're setting up, the post is run by Safe Bet's Amy and me, but we're looking for others who are also interested in administering it because we don't want to own the blog. We initially wondered about simply publishing the access information but I realized that one pissed-off person could change the password and hijack the site, so we'd rather give access to several people we know and whoever gets time can handle the functions that week. For this to function decently it needs to be open and not remotely married to a viewpoint.
People have tried this on an individual basis in the past, but pooped out quickly (me among them). Having an institutionalized set-up has a better chance of working. Thanks you two for getting this underway.
So, the process of getting started what is apparently a self-governed site that will recognize excellent writing is certainly a healthier way to go than the present system, which seems to an unreachable, disembodied entity know as editor--or something like that.
As for me, while I recognize the legitimacy of having a peer-review kind os recognition site for those whose writing deserves attention and recognition, the highest form of praise I value is when someone whom I know and respect writes a nice comment, or sends me a PM. For the rest of it, as I said in an earlier post, there is a word I've invented to describe how I feel: whogivesashit.
Perhaps there are other mechanisms - equally transparent.
Suggestion:
Readers' Picks' friends a lot of people.
Every week RP starts a new thread and reminds all their 'friends' to look at it and rate it in order that it be high on the popularity list.
Recommendations are made in PM's and the admin for the week, after having a look at them, copies them to the post itself.
This way the body of the post contains all the recommendations in one spot rather than down the comment thread and comments are reserved for actual comments about the posts or about the editing process.
Not really, dude. This blog WAS created out of sheer disgust with much of the crap that is currently garnering EPs and cover space. That much is true.
What it IS NOT is an effort to assuage a damn thing! If anything, it's goal is to HIGH LIGHT the inadequacies of the current EP and cover selection process by offering a viable and BETTER alternative.
We hope to accomplish this in three ways:
a.) By having the readers who spend the time to actually READ a post recommend it as a Readers' Pick, the writing receives much more than the cursory glance that the EP stuff does.
b.) By requiring a "second" prior to a recommendation being selected as a true Readers Pick, we are in effect implementing an effective peer review. (something that is sorely lacking when Ed I. Tor does it).
c.) By having the people who actually participate in the creation of the writing, decide what is noteworthy, we are replacing the current level of editorial distain and disregard with people who have a vested interest in good, interesting, intuitive writing.
HOPEFULLY, this will let us bring to the forefront some good new writers and let us all read more quality writing.
Additionally, the RPs will not reflect the current trend of "fluff over substance", "campy current events over real life" and "plagiarism over fresh work".
In other words, the RPs are restricted only to "good stuff". That "good stuff" MIGHT be a fluffy fun, humorous piece, a heart rending personal essay or a "grab your balls" political call to arms. What they all will have in common is that they will be "good", based upon what the readers and writers of OS believe, not some dude in NYC making minimum wage to keep us placated.
There are two functions here. The first is to extend recognition based on what readers like. Not only are the Editor's Picks done by one person whereas here a second person has to second it and there can't be a whole lot of written protest about it, there's no explanation of process. Personally, I would agree that EP's are not important, but a lot of people worry about them. Like you, for me the most important praise is the compliment from someone you respect. When I get a good one, it sometimes takes the form of what I started to call the TSBAC, which stands for This Should Have Been A Cover. The idea here is that if you think that about someone's post, make it one.
The second aspect isn't exclusively for the writer; it's for the readers. If you want to know what other people are reading that they particularly like, you can come here and check out the comments. If I love your work and give you a compliment in your Comments section, that makes you feel good but it doesn't increase your audience. This will. This has the further advantage that you can see who is recommending what - if a recommendation comes from someone whose judgment you respect, you've got a better shot at liking the named post.
Whogivesashit only applies to the first reason.
When you click on it it takes you straight to your own blog.
Fuck.
You get the point.
Chuck Stetson "Forget About Ohio"
La Gringita Rainy Day Memories
the rest work ok.
I copy and paste the url into my compose comment box and then break it down into small enough chunks that each one doesn't exceed the width of the box -
http://open.salon.com/blog/james_emm/2012/05/22/
my_invitation_to_the_kingdom_of_heaven_no_rsvp
In this case, it's 2 lines of url, which if one copies and pastes it in that form into the browser window, it will take you to the post. Would be easier to just do it as a hot link or hypertext or whatever the heck those are, but I've forgotten how to do that.
/2012/05/21/forget_about_ohio
...testing
Visit W3Schools.com.
testing 2
No freaking clue why it's working for some people and not for others :/ sorry, that's as deep as my knowledge goes.
forgot about it-
now I'm going to have to read and try all these suggestions just to keep my postings current- thanks a lot guys
will be looking forward to updates on this, however you work it
I like to avoid complication.
It is confusing and I hiss at it everytime it does it to me!!
Here's hoping the RP works, I haven't stumbled upon any awesome works that anyone hasn't discovered yet (Except for some spammers! Can we recommend spammers??? Or will I have to create my own committee for that? :D)
By Tinkerertink69
Recommending this illustrated post because of the clever way the author commemorates fourteen years of marriage. Humor with a touch of romance.
Now, WHY did you like it?
Ideally, we'd like everyone to explain the reason they are recommending a post. It's part of what differentiates an RP from an EP.
Were you using James Emmerling's post as a link example or were you actually nominating it?
What I really loved was his poem in the comments of Forget About Ohio, but there is no mechanism I know of (nor that I can envision that would be workable) to bring attention to great comments. There are a couple of people I know on OS whose most outstanding work is in comments rather than posts.
Reasons: Jan doesn't post much, but when he does he always gives us gold. Variations on a Theme contains seven poems and a sample of his painting along with a link to his online gallery. His poems are of different styles but all grapple profoundly and engagingly with the sensations, thoughts and challenges of looking Death in the eye.
Jan is an octogenarian who lives alone in Helsinki. He knows his subject, I daresay, as well as anyone can on this side of the vale. His paintings are as sophisticated, multi-layered and provocatively breathtaking as his writing. He deserves a much more extensive audience than he gets here, but another of his talents - humility - keeps him from beating his own drum.
-- Think this post will be an EP/Cover? :) --
Why CAN'T a Readers' Pick be for the comments? I agree 100% that there are some SERIOUSLY noteworthy comments. In fact, a LOT of the time I think the post is made by the quality of the comments.
So, I personally, would be WAY okay with someone recommending a mediocre post because the comments were so good. (a good, insightful comment is as much "good writing" as a good insightful post, right? - and is usually harder to achieve due to its brevity)
That's the plan. Once we get a few more, the admins will start moving the recommendations up to the main weekly page, with the ultimate intent of creating an "archival" RP Cover Page featuring the RPs of the week.
I do not wish you were different.
There are a dozen writers on OS who are my own flawed, funky, shrewd, variable idea of the Best.
It has nothing to do with spelling or any other thing that adds up to orderly arrangement of squiggly things ion the screem. Fos ome of the Best, good syntax is simply a pair of corrective shoes, to be worn if necessary, if the queen cones to visit.
It has everything to do with indelible Voice, of intent as in full intent of the will, a deliberate, I-mean-this quality. It has to do with honesty about the broken playground equipment life provides, the intolerable hell of other people, the voluptuous languor of of self expression when that self is allowed to sweat, unsteady, to exist blighted and naked and needy before us. It has everything to do with the eyes that see inside and outside, a vocabulary sufficient to relate what is seen, and an inability to avoid blurting the terrible beauty of our real selves. It is the writer who insists that we see something, and it is the writer who makes us love them for both the truth they bare and the fitted, just-so placement of every gallon of writing as it pours from the lonely place she occupies. That crag on which each of us lives, to which we must retreat to Say our Piece.
You are one of the best, o chameloon avatar'd one, o wonderful mother, o funny brain and nimble phraser, o cryer in the night, o owner of the bucket of brave words and labarynthine meaning who has lost her lid and cannot help but grab fistfuls to keep it from overflowing, and with each fistful she seems to grab the accurate and simple expression of her daily life.
Such a mundane thing. So why do you sparkle so, even when you break our hearts? because we love you back. We can't help it.
Fuck drink and fuck cigarettes. Fuck despair. Live!
Fuck what really happens, in the waking hours. THIS, your writing of it, of you, is what's real. You sonic boom us, you are the RKO broadcast tower logo that bookends a movie we surrender to: your effort, your boy, your desire, your damn funny everything, your letters of transit to the grave filled with bumptious, complaining, ecstatic , and unique swerve -- and your radio towers sends electricity, Jane of many names, sweet Jane. We feel the emanations. Whatever happens next, you made it. You are a writer, one of the Best, and love is everywhere when you etch the screen with plain old Jane.
This is an exceptional stream of consciousness. This is how it's done.
Come have breakfast sometime soon.
Firstly, I've gotten to all the links provided here. I haven't gotten to Toritto's piece because there isn't a link here. Please provide. I have no problems with anything I've read. I will absolutely second Jan Sand's Variations on a Theme which, if I'd found earlier, I'd have nominated myself. It's excellent; I'm actually damned impressed.
Being as we're working on the rules as we go, I'll make the first Comment nomination: James Emmerling's poem in the comments of nominated Mean Mr. Mustard's Forget About Ohio.
OK, Chicken Maan and anyone else:
As things currently stand, because our figuring out things has been evolving: We will post fresh every week to half week. Each post will consist of a repost of what's up there now, the basic ground rules, along with any changes we make, such as the Comments addition. It will also include the week's list of RP's, along with links.
I don't know if Amy has anything else in mind. That strikes me as the easiest way to do this. It gives us a full archive, just week by week, and what administrators have to do then is:
1. Make sure someone reads the nominees because nothing should go up that isn't seconded.
2. Put together the new post, with the list of Picks and their links.
3. Notify the winners.
That should be it. Amy and I are not looking to do this alone. Right now, we're still in setting up mode, which I'm hoping we're almost finished with. (We've come pretty far for an idea that was hatched late Saturday night.) I'd rather we didn't do this alone, both because of work involved and because I don't want any questions of bias on the table. Though there are issues on which we differ (virulently), we both do lean left. I'm actually hoping the process takes bias off the table.
I'll second Chicken Maan's comment nomination.
OK, so what's still on the table:
Need a link for Toritto's post
Need to know from Nanatehay if he was giving an example to a link or making a nomination.
Anything else?
Never discuss stupid.
No believe Americans.
`
I'll check email. heehaw!
Ya no know seagull call!
I Loved Author Tag.
`
Reader` R.P. `Pick,
Pee, and no` R P's,
Pea and no `Butter,
This make `Grunts.
`
huh
`
heehaw
`
All in favor, vote 'Aye'
All opposed, vote 'Nay'
(All that understand what the HELL he talks about, please PM me because I usually don't have a freakin clue! :D )
I think Readers' Choice is a neat idea (finding hidden gems is one of the joys of OS) but I wonder if it goes far enough. Maybe when we all post there should be a choice of either posting it as "OS General" or "OS Select." Only "OS Select" would be eligible for ratings and Editors Choice, and you could only post to OS Select maybe 10 times per year.
I'll definitly come back here if I uncover something under the radar. Thanks.
james emmerling
The reason I TOO (
The reason that I TOO (capitalized 'TOO' being a subtle him to Chuck regarding the need for a "Why" explanation) liked the piece was because of the excellent interplay between the characters. The timing and "mood" of the piece was intriguing, as well.
http://open.salon.com/blog/divorcedpauline/2012/05/23/i_could_have_been_mary_kennedy
This post comes from a perspective we don't often see on OS; i.e., the impact of divorce on a woman who lived the life of the 1%. The writer expertly compares herself with the late Mary Kennedy.
http://open.salon.com/blog/
divorcedpauline/2012/05/23/
i_could_have_been_mary_kennedy
I really didn't want to because I don't feel any connection or empathy for the Kennedy's, but the writing and parallels of her own life were compelling.
P.S. this was a perfect example of what the RPs represent. I NEVER would have read this post otherwise. It would have been my loss. Thanks L! ;)
I like the prospect of Reader's Picks, appreciate the criteria - and think it can work - given a less unwieldy model :). Leave this blog up for processing ideas - and open a new blog (same subject matter as explanation) as the actual readers picks blog - For instance use the favorites feature there to post the 'managers' who are actually running the blog - and use the links side bar to name your volunteer 'vetters', regular contributors, and the like? And use the comments section on the readers blog for the picked blog posts - not for reader commentary (that has the potential for too much confusion :).
Rated for an interesting idea.
I also agree with your point regarding the need for other people. That is why tomorrow I will post the names of the VERY diverse crew of OS "regulars" who have kindly agreeded to take over the administration of this page. Once that happens Kosh and I will revert to just one of many because we will all have an equal say in where and how we go from here.
Where ever "that" is however, it will be based upon what the readers and writers of OS consider to be "cover" and noteworthy.
This is and always shall be the home page of the insurgency against the crap that has mostly been on the cover and sorry assed Editors Picks.
In other words, OS won't give us want we want so we'll do it ourselves, complete with our own more comprehensive and better Readers' Picks and eventually our own no BS Cover.
Thanks for doing all this!
I sometimes (**wink, wink**) have problems with rules and regulations and may not be able follow the criteria for commenting. Sometimes I just like something because I like it. Capice?
For me one of best writer here is Damon Walters who has a kick ass serial going in. The man deserves a bigger audience. I have no idea how to put the link.
Thanks for doing this. The RP is kind of like the People's Choice.
Chevy Van--toritto.
http://open.salon.com/blog/toritto/2012/05/23/chevy_van
Rationale: A story of 1 guy applicable to millions who are often ignored. Told in sparse, clear, visual language. The kind of poem you read and never forget.
At the moment, I'm the chief Et Al.
I'm certainly not saying that only lousy stuff gets EP's. I doubt that's what Amy's saying. From experience, I can tell you that that certainly isn't true.
However,
There's no way an editor can keep up with every post on OS. Good stuff has to get overlooked daily. So, the editor sees what she sees and picks based on whatever her criteria are which, frankly, the rest of us don't know. We have a few advantages, though I very much doubt that all who use this are going to ignore the cover:
We have more people looking.
Our scope is however big our readers make it so if we don't reach every corner of OS, that's not a problem. So, we're in essence better staffed for a smaller job.
EP's don't give us a vehicle to recommend the stuff we like to others. This does. EP's are advantageous to those receiving them, but that's one function. We also help our readers disseminate information.
We can add a category like Great Comments. Sometimes the comments and/or discussions are more interesting than the posts.
If you follow our comments, you can see where the recommendations are coming from, at least as we're currently organized. (There are other possible proposals on the table, but this is most likely to continue - we're not there yet.) That means you can take recommendations of people you know most seriously if you want to read the comment threads; otherwise, just wait for the posts.
I'm not inclined to knock EP's. For my own work, they've been mainly irrelevant, but they're gratifying to get. However, because of their limitations, a lot on OS resent them, so we'll approach that function from another direction.
Now get busy! This place is a freakin mess!!! :D
The logistics are simple!
1. Find a post you really like.
2. Come here and make a comment to say so (to include a brief "why").
3. Somebody else will read the post and either agree/disagree and also making a post saying so ( again with a brief "why").
4. Once your recommendation is "seconded" and barring a bunch of disagreeing comments, it then becomes a Readers' Pick and a hyperlink is put up in the main post body.
Note: A new post / Readers' Pick List will be created every week. The prior weeks RP List will form the basis for a "Cover Page" featuring all of that weeks RPs.
Easy-peasy, huh?
Read 'em and recommend 'em, somebody else agrees, we Readers' Pick 'em!
I like the people here, but I've had issues with OS (the interface and the way things are done) since I joined. Sigh.
http://www.open.salon.com/blog/drhassaballa/2012/05/24/patheos_why_hatred_of_islam_is_not_logical
This is a Muslim writer, sick of watching his religion being vilified, mounting an extremely rational defense of his religion. This is very well written and it makes a point that needs to be made more conspicuously. I'd call this important work.
I second you pick, Kosh. He discussed a touchy subject with intelligence and aplomb.
The morning, as usual, most of the Editor's Picks were nonsense.
I want my blathering to be seen for more than 3 minutes. The EP serves to insure that a piece of writing stays on the front page for a day and sometimes for a weekend.
I don't like asking my friends to see my latest post (now it's "Romney's America, Amercia), like I have just done. I want this post and my others to stand a chance of being on for at least one day.
I will help.
Pierre Angiel