The Republican National Committee needs to learn some internet etiquette. To wit, writing in ALL CAPS or weird capitalization schemes is bad. Posting walls of text full of quotes–but without links to original sources–is bad. Take a look at this RNC page. It’s full of good information useful for pushing back against the Bush LIED lie. But it’s unreadable. Here’s a sample of how the text is presented on the site:

Dem WMD Hypocrisy: Dems Now Attacking Bush Administration On Iraq War Are Same Dems Who Declared Iraq Had WMDs

DEM SENATORS’ HYPOCRITICAL ATTACKS ON MANIPULATING FACTS, PRESSURING ANALYSTS

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY): “[W]hat Happened With Scooter Libby Is Just A Continuation Of A Long Line Of Policy Of Don’t Have Debate, Don’t Hear Other Facts, Try To Manipulate The Facts So It Meets The Argument You Want.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 11/1/05)

* Schumer: “[J]ay Rockefeller Has Been Trying For A Year To Get The Intelligence Committee To Keep Its Promise And Investigate The Misuse Of Intelligence Information.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Conference, 11/1/05)

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): “The Manipulation Of Intelligence To Sell A War In Iraq, Vice President Cheney’s Involved In That.” (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 11/8/05)

* Reid: “[Americans] Are Interested In Knowing How An Administration, Led By The Vice President, Can Manipulate Evidence To Bring Us Into The Intractable War We Now Have In Iraq.” (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 11/3/05)

The whole page looks like that, nonsensical capitalization, bolding everywhere, no links. No links! This is the internet, Republicans. Let readers fact-check you and prove to themselves that what you’re saying is true. And give bloggers an easy route to linking the quotes on their own sites. You know, or at least hope, that bloggers will do just that–copy/paste the quotes from your page and put them on their own pages. Make it easy for them by giving them the links. As for the bolding, when you bold everything, you bold nothing. It’s like trying to pick out one voice in a crowded train station. Bolding everything just makes the whole page too noisy to deal with.

This may seem like a snit, but internet etiquette isn’t irrelevant. Making bloggers’ lives easier is not only not irrelevant, it’s vital. Why put up a page like that that’s full of good information and not make it useful to your friends and a source of difficulty for your enemies? And why go to the extra effort to capitalize Every Word In A Sentence? It’s wasted effort. Make the page readable, and make it linkable. Use those donations you’re always begging us for and get a clue, Republicans. I know the RNC was called about this issue about a year ago and just blew off the call. Don’t blow this off. Make your page usable, or it’s basically useless.

Same goes for your emails. Don’t get me started on how bad those usually are…

UPDATE: And the White House is using the same gadawful tactics in its otherwise solid fact-checks. Look ma, no links!

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