Yesterday's Most Active Threads

Today we will look at two threads that led in numbers of replies and views. Both are in the "Metropolitan DC Local Politics". The first of the threads, titled "The Bike Lobby is too powerful in DC..." led both metrics. The second, titled "I'm so happy to see all the family cargo bikes in my neighborhood!" was near the top in both categories.

Obviously, these threads are related in that both focus on bicycles. But, more than that, many of the same posters are participating in both threads and posters from the "Lobby" thread explicitly viewed the "cargo bike" thread as astroturfing by the bike lobby. The "cargo bike" thread was initially focused on the benefits of electric cargo bikes and their utility in an urban environment. Eventually, the threads started to overlap and essentially duplicate each other.

These two threads highlight a number of trends that have become common on DCUM. First, a number of posters who appear to be obsessed with a single specific issue have apparently found a home in our forums. In this case, a poster or posters who view bicycles as a significant threat to their way of life start thread after thread or hijack other threads to argue against bike lanes and traffic changes aimed at accommodating bicyclists and to paint bicyclists in the worst possible light. In their view, bicyclists are car-hating, scofflaws who constantly disobey traffic laws, backed by a powerful, well-financed lobby that controls the District's government. On the other side, bicyclists argue that they are protecting the environment, improving their health, helping resolve rather than contribute to traffic problems, and constantly at threat by aggressive drivers with their dangerous cars.

Groups on both sides of this debate will argue incessantly, leading to the large number of views and replies the two threads garnered. The "lobby" thread, for instance, reached 10 pages of replies in less than 24 hours. The "cargo bike" thread received six pages of replies. That was 228 posts between the two threads in a single day. As you might imagine, it is only a small group of posters participating in the threads. So, while there are a number of replies and views, the reach of the threads is actually pretty narrow. The threads are also dominated by repeat posters. For instance, one poster posted at least 19 times in the "lobby" thread and another at least 23 times. Both of those posters made appearances in the "cargo bike" thread but with much lower numbers of posts. That thread did have a poster who authored 16 posts, however.