IF YOU ARE NEW TO REDSTATE, GO DOWN TO THE HIGHLIGHT. IF YOU ARE A PRE-EXISTING USER, READ THIS:

Friends, having posted this before, I want to post it again. I want to ask a favor.

I want to ask you to remember that RedState is a community. Sometimes, new people move into a community. Lately, we have a lot of new users.

In normal communities, when a neighbor moves in you welcome them — unless they are damn dirty hippies.

A while back I noticed a problem in our community. We have new people move in. Some of them are damn dirty hippies we have the power to evict. But some of them are well meaning. Some of them are just new and want to get in to the community. And there are some in the community who, instead of digitally shaking hands and getting to know the new neighbor, would rather pile on and correct them for improper usage of the site, bad blogging, dumb comments, etc.

Some of these people, a lot of these people, mean well. In fact, in light of the electoral outcome, a lot of the new people want to come join the fight with us and the conversation. I know a lot of you mean well. But unlike the real world, it is hard to get context, tone of voice, etc. online. So sometimes we come across as unwelcoming and hostile.

Friends, if we are to grow our movement — not just RedState, but the online conservative movement — we’ve got to be welcoming and patient. We have an obligation to each other to grow the community and harness each others talents in order to fight and win.

So please, please be a good neighbor and help us grow. If you see a problem, let the moderators know. Try always to be helpful.

Thanks.

And now a few words for newbies:

Welcome to RedState. We’re always happy to have new users. We want to expand the community and harness each other’s unique talents and ideas.

Some of you are crazy and are going to have problems. But the crazies are the exception.

For the non-crazies, here are a few tips:

1. When people move into a community by choice, they usually have taken the time to get the lay of the land and have an idea what the place is all about. Not so with online communities because sign up is pretty instantaneous. So sit back and observe for a couple of weeks before really diving in.

Every community online has its own idiosyncrasies, just like real communities. Try to tune in to those.

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or admit you are new. We want new people. It’s a sign we have a healthy community. But get to know the neighbors and ask about the community.

2. If in doubt, ask. If you don’t want to ask, don’t do it. Above all else, remember we want your thoughts, not recycled tidbits block quoted off of Drudge.

3. Welcome to RedState. Stay around a while, explore and get to know the community, be a good neighbor, keep your grass mowed, don’t put cars on cinder blocks in your front yard, and don’t let your dog dump on my lawn.