Although Zero's recent editorial took a brief foray into this I'd like to share from my view why I agree.
Shoutwire is a very interesting community with characters and people from every background and belief system. Very few social sites short of myspace and face book come anywhere close to the diversity that exists here.
While there is definitely a very vocal majority here it seems to be the minorities that keep the site running. Because even those of the majority are in some way part of a minority. It truly is a melting pot like none other. And because of this we have quite a cast of colorful characters, from Mormons who swear, to Muslims who really enjoy their porn, we are a prime example of one thing... Reality. Every other news and or social site, tries to kill the reality that people are people, that the world isn't a very nice place to live, and that people are imperfect. Here though the dregs of reality are able to shine through in all it's sparkling glory.
The one thing I've learned in life and this was long before I chanced upon SW is that everybody is an extremist. And it is only here that people are able to voice how extreme they are whether they be liberal or conservative, religious or atheist, bond or free (in other words married or single). You can voice it here, hell even the spammers get their moment in the sun before they get banned.
Every other site is so caught up on hiding reality behind a veneer of decency that they forget that it's our extremism that generally drives who we are. It's more than just being able to use profanity, it's the fact that we can share our views in their most primal nature and get some form of credit from others for it.
How many other social news sites have Anti-Semitic and Zionist articles on the front page at the same time? I don't know of any. And it's only here that people can feel comfortable shouting both for the independent points they bring up.
We are a polarized community yet at the same tame there is comradery, even with those you despise on this site. Every day I find myself agreeing with someone whose views I generally deplore and disagreeing with those I generally agree with and it's great. There is truly no other experience like it.
I closing I'd like to thank all of you especially the employees of SW for the effort you make to make a mark on this site and even the world. Good Job to everyone who submits something that's not self-promoting or Spam. If you are one of the aforementioned then FUCK YOU! GET THE FUCK OFF OUR SITE! That is all. (If there's no separation between paragraphs like the preview shows I apologize for my ineptitude in being able to do anything in HTML)
Related Links:Why I Like Shoutwire More Than Digg.