FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What the heck is a diary?
For an example of the diary format, see dailykos, which is alike in that they use the uncommon diary format but unlike in that they’re a partisan democrat (rather than ideologically liberal and secular) blog, they have lots more visitors, and they have dedicated Information Technology professionals who have created their system. We’re just a few non-techie people who have cobbled something a bit similar together. We adopt the term “diary” from them.
Is there money for writing?
No, money doesn’t change hands; you don’t have to pay us a dime! I know that’s not what you meant, but we really lay out quite some thick wads of cash to keep this site going. We’re not wealthy people and can’t afford to pay anybody anything. We don’t get paid for writing either, at least not directly (we do sell some stickers and such on the side, which we prefer to those pesky blogads, and which allow us to lay out the hefty wads of cash necessary to keep Irregular Times online).
Why Write Here?
If you are inclined to write online then doing a diary here saves you money (hosting fees and such). Also, you get to do it with other people, and not just in a solitary fashion. It’s more communal.
In addition, because we’ve been at Irregular Times for a bit more than a decade now, we’ve written enough that what we write tends to show up well on search engines. This means that if you’d like your words to be widely available, the Irregular Times diaries are a good place.
You could write a diary at dailyKos, an alternative web site that gets many more visitors than Irregular Times does. But it’s a different place with a different mission. DailyKos is huge, which means you can get lost in the constant shuffle of diaries. We’re small, which means everybody here will get to know everybody else. DailyKos is openly dedicated to the partisan advancement of Democrats and the Democratic Party, with ideological liberalism placed second. Irregular Times is about ideas first; toeing some party line is not the priority here. Don’t get us wrong; we like dailyKos for what it is, but we’re not it and it’s not us.
Do you own my words if I write them here?
We don’t own your words. We have no intention of assuming authorship of what you write and turning it into a book or anything. If we ever quote from or refer to what you write, it will be with attribution either via hyperlink to your diary, or by name, or both.
What can I write here?
The diaries can be whatever you like, although given that Irregular Times is what it is, a diary about your cats’ culinary habits probably is going to look out of place. We’re not going to try to restrict speech — with the exception being that if you’re an incredibly abusive, threatening person who ruins everything (we wrote this up on the diaries page under “rules of the road“), we’ll yank ya. This is to cover the behavior of malicious people who post spam links to porn, or flood the diaries with 100 copies of their manifesto every frickin’ day, or who are “trolling.” But you’re not that kind of person, I know.
Do you have an addition or suggestion for a change to the FAQ? Go right ahead: comment here and we’ll look at your suggestion. Thanks!
Date: March 9, 2006
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