Should Free Republic become a paid subscription service?

Vanity | 6/23/2006 | Berlin_Freeper

[Cyber Liberty]

Who in he Hell are you to ask?

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"*shakes head*"

Even though the troll was banned long ago, it still comes here to find wisdom.

Is this a great place, or what?

Michael Frazier

[Berlin_Freeper]

"If your m.o. seems to attract stalkers, maybe you should stay off the internet a (long) while. Just a thought."

My m.o.? Looks to me like an abusive stalker can be easily recognized in this very thread. What m.o. did I use to deserve the nasty attack from the stalker in this thread?

And doesn't that make the stalkers win? To be honest, your suggestion isn't much of a suggestion, it sounds more like what you would wish.

[pollyannaish]

One of the things that makes this place so successful is that it has all the elements of the worlds biggest bar. You see everything here: serious discussion, a lot of inanity, fights, flirting and a little strategizing.

I actually think that is what makes it successful and entertaining. Anything more would be a lot like work.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"Another thing that a paid subscription would curtail would be "celebrity" posters that frequent here. For example, I don't think that Tony Snow would have posted here if he had to pay to do so."

Famous people who want to post here like Tony Snow did could probably easily get a free account.

[reagan_fanatic]

So I would like to ask: Is it time for Free Republic to become an online subscription service?

Relax - sit down and have a smoke.

[Little Bill]

I have been a lurker and a member, a couple of times, since '97, I do not regret one dime that I have contributed so keep this an open forum. People sign up because of free access and then get hooked, mind drug.

[backhoe]

"One thing I keep lobbying for and would love to see is an "Ignore" button." Aha yea. At least put me down for that, thank you. :)

Appreciate your support.

I used to belong to the "just scroll past people or posts you can't stand," school of thought and kind of still agree to the theory-- but the difference in "before" and "after" at Free Dominion was amazing.

50 to 75% of the flame wars died immediately, and the tone became far more civil.

[nopardons]

NO !

[Berlin_Freeper]

"This is on your home page ,I haven't run into the same problem yet."

That is good to know. I am interested if other people are having that problem or not.

In case you're interested you can find one right here in this thread. Just look for the abusive flame with personal attacks. I'm sure you can't miss it.

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"?"

You didn't miss a thing, FRiend. I was just doing a minor illegal alien type hijacking of the thread by agreeing with you in Spanish.

Michael Frazier

[Bigh4u2]

"I was just doing a minor illegal alien type hijacking of the thread by agreeing with you in Spanish."

Shows you how dumb I am.

I thought it was FRENCH!

LOL!

:0)

[Berlin_Freeper]

"It's been a while since we had an 'I have a better way to run FR' thread."

Allow me to help you notice the fact that my vanity was posted in the most questioning terms, clearly seeking input and ideas from other FReepers.

In no way was it meant, like you are trying to make it seem, that I know better or can do better than anyone else.

[pollyannaish]

Mad Ivan left.

NOOO! That is a travesty. Heartbreaking. I hate it when good people go.

[Indy Pendance]

I never said that, quit being so sensitive, or we'll have to make this a pay per site, and only allow your approved opinions.

[dalight]

I think you are missing the point of Free Republic. This IS the nexus of conservative analysis of the news of any day. If it was limited, then rather than 100,000's of eyes on this site and the thought that goes on in the threads of this site, we would be silenced.

This is the Wet dream of the DU crowd. If posting was restricted to pay only, then you wouldn't find some of the most interesting folks who only jump on here casually.

But mostly, such a move would remove Free Republic from the core and marginalize the site for some other site like several folks around here have said.

As far as being out of date. I study web sites. And this site works. I have my complaints and ideas how to fix Free Republic, but, the forums here work. Nested presentations like at DU and Slashdot and other sites hide content and the vast majority of the discussion is lost. Some may say this is good. But remember, the most famous post on Free Republic was way deep in the thread at post 47.

If this was buried, would it have been a day or two rather than minutes before this fire began to burn? Free Republic communicates fast. Posers and Trolls are identified quickly and referred to Management with stunning speed. This is as good as it gets.

But, you know the ultimate answer to this whole question can be answered by you if you care. Build your own and see if anyone comes.

[Indy Pendance]

he's left a couple times. A couple weeks off does us all good.

[madison10]

No.

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.

LOL!

This thread has provided a pleasant excuse to stay inside on a hot day, hasn't it.

Michael Frazier

[Bigh4u2]

"clearly seeking input and ideas from other FReepers."

If you were looking for a consensus, then I think you got it with a resounding NO!

But it seems every time someone says NO, you just can't seem to take that as a 'final answer'.

Why is that?