Happy New Year DU!
We can probably all agree that 2025 was a terrible year. I won't attempt to recap the many, many travesties that have occurred over the past twelve months, since it would take far too long and would be far too depressing -- and anyway, retrospection is more of an activity for New Year's Eve. On this New Year's Day, I suspect that most of us would prefer to look forward, not backward.
I think that with 2025 behind us, there are things to be hopeful for in 2026. While Trump's deplorable policies continue to be carried out by his minions -- often illegally -- the man himself is fading. He's unpopular, and as Americans watch his policies drive up costs and collapse what remains of the social safety net, his approval ratings seem unlikely to improve. With the country seemingly desperate to bring back checks and balances, and without MAGA's diminishing figurehead on the ballot this year, Democrats appear primed to take back at least the House, if not the Senate. The fight is a long way from over, but this could be the year that the political tides turn in our favor.
This year -- in just a few weeks in fact -- DU will celebrate its 25th birthday. Skinner and I launched the site on January 20th, 2001 -- the day George W. Bush was inaugurated -- and I still remember the Free Republic post from those early weeks, in which a confident Freeper stated, "Go back in a few months and they won't even be there." Well, a quarter-century later, we're still here.
After a frankly exhausting 2025, I don't have anything special planned for the anniversary. But that doesn't mean we're resting on our laurels this year. One of the great things about DU for me is that it is, and always has been, different. While we've incorporated a few of the better ideas that the Internet has come up with in the last 25 years (for example, recommending posts), we've always carved our own path (for example, the Jury-based moderating system).
We've also done our level best to stay far away from the enshittification that has ruined so much of the Internet over the last decade. Yes, our software is a little janky and a little old-fashioned, but I don't necessarily consider that to be a negative. Unlike modern social media services, we haven't tried to hook you with endless scrolls and personally-invasive addiction algorithms. We aren't trying to vacuum up as much of your personal information as we can get our hands on -- an email address and a pseudonym is all you need to participate here. We still have to run ads, because those ads bring in vital revenue that is necessary to keep DU online. But we offer an ad-free experience that can be bought for as much or as little as you like -- you will find neither paywalls, nor the slowly-turning screw of forced monthly subscription increases at DU. This remains a community that is to a large degree run and funded by its own members.
However, over the past few years it has been difficult to avoid some of the modern Internet's uglier trends. The Internet now seems driven almost entirely by AI, misinformation, and clickbait, and it is becoming harder than ever to separate the wheat from the chaff. I am well aware that plenty of you would like to see us get a handle on some of these unappealing trends as they unfortunately bleed over onto DU, so one of my priorities in 2026 is to see what I can do to reduce the impact that those trends have on this community. This might require some left-field solutions -- I've previously spoken at length about why we can't just add a standard Jury alert for "AI" or "misinformation" -- but if you've been around DU for any length of time, you'll know that left-field solutions are our specialty.
I'm not going to lay out any potential solutions just yet, but my feeling is that because of its people-powered nature, separating the wheat from the chaff is what DU has been very good at for the past 25 years, and I see no reason for that to stop now. So rest assured that this year I will be doing what I can to make sure that DU lives up to its promise as a unique, friendly community filled with useful and reliable information for everyone on the left side of the political spectrum, and I'm sure you would all like to join me in that endeavor.
Beyond that, we have a long run-up to the mid-term elections this year, which I think we are all hoping will be a blowout. And after that, we have the exciting prospect of a completely fresh Democratic presidential primary contest. A changing of the guard is coming, and many of the old leaders that we've been used to over the past 25 years are stepping aside in favor of the next generation. Over the next couple of years we are going to see a lot of new faces, new ideas, and new actions to take back the country from Trump and MAGA.
So as we move into 2026, despite everything going on around us, I remain hopeful that the political tide is slowly turning, and that from this chaos will come new opportunities to make America a better place. I plan to spend my time both working to achieve that goal, as well as watching history unfold along with all of you here at DU.
Happy New Year!
= new reply since forum marked as read
and am looking to a more hopeful 2026.
Happy New Year to one and all.
I don’t know what I would do without DU.
Best to everyone here for a much better year ahead!
You folks are doing a hell of a good job.
Honestly, I don't know how I would have made it through 2025 without DU. It has truly been a blessing.
Best wishes for a wonderful 2026.
This site has been personally very helpful to me as you can probably tell and I sincerely thank you both for having me around as I navigate my own conflicts with ai.
This is a slice of Americana I have always been fond of. And yeah that stuff is everywhere (even I am pretty sure in typically offline spaces) and I am fighting that. DU has personally helped me and thank you for that.
I have felt reassured by the presence of a message board where I genuinely trust the admins.
I hope this is a better year for all of us.
Since the world was stuck with Trump anyway, my hope is this wakes people up to a lot that is wrong with society and a real turnaround follows. If that ass Joe Rogan pushing Nick Fuentes next doesn’t wake people up, nothing will..
(Is Free Republic still around? 
I no longer visit right wing sites as they may stick something nasty like Paragon or Pegasus on one’s phone I worry these days. Oh well..lefty echo chambers are fine by me. Though no doubt I miss out on many conspiracy theories and assorted bs.)
and I look forward to voting out as many of them as we can in 2026!! Happy New Year!
If it's not too hard to create, it might be useful to have a "Fake News" or "Pure Bunk"
smilie as a warning sign similar to this:
It would be a start toward at least labeling spurious links and mis/disinformation sharing.
It's something that could be used with economy of effort by all posters and would keep the discussion open for evidence to support or refute such a claim.
Just a thought.
Congratulations on twenty-five years and thank you.
❤️
We are in this together
We must look forward to a better future because we can't look back.
Happy New Year to EarlG and Skinner ... and a big "Thank You" for the greatest liberal/Democratic forum on the internet.
Compared to most of you, I'm still a "newbie" - I found DU back in the early days of Chump's first term, in 2017. I'm happy to know all of you and I plan to stay here as long as there's an internet.
Group Hug!!!
And Thank You for keep DU the DU we know and love!
I have a feeling 2026 is going to be a very good year (hat tip to you, Mr. Sinatra).
Thank you for being here for us EarlG. It's a beautiful sanctuary for us good people.
Love to all of you.
...community to exist and thrive! It means a lot to so many.
Here's to you, DU, and 2026!
And as to this -
Meanwhile in FReeper-land, the hamsters are still spinning the wheel to keep Rim Job's site going!
As for janky software, you know how old we all are. Do you think we'd notice?? 
Hard to believe it's almost 25 years. I'm not going anywhere.
Power to All the People 2026 and forward
Thanks for all you do to keep this community online! 
Thank you for all you (and Elad) do to keep it up and running.
I feel honored to be a member. DU is an important resource and community in these troubling times.
My wish for all is that 2026 is the year of WE THE PEOPLE.
and thank you for keeping up our refuge!
A thousand thanks to all for this best site on the internet. Long may you and DU run.
the best refuge I could find was this one, from life's so many ups and downs.
Thank you to you, Earl, and your valiant assistants and crew. You and the many regulars and visitors, short and long term, some living and some that have departed, have made my real daily life so much more bearable and more beautiful from the ongoing and evolving good, bad and ugly....
This little site is the best little island on earth; even if a virtual one. 
❤️
when Dubya was appointed by the Supreme Court I desperately searched for people like me who knew just how WRONG that was.....I have been with DU ever since
thank you for all you do, EarlG !!
Thanks for your work, from a DU old-timer!
good things to everyone