Posted on 08/11/2015 6:16:36 PM PDT by Zeneta
I've been hanging around FreeRepublic in since 1999 in one capacity or another and I wouldn't change a single thing. I love this place.
Recently, however, it has struck me that my attempts over the years to recruit others to join have been complete failures and I honestly don't know why.
I am curious to know the experiences of my fellow Freepers regarding this in order to learn what I can do differently.
I understand the issue of "trying too hard" and the natural push back that people have. I tried the "soft", "check it out" to the hard push for certain people but it seems that my efforts are in vain.
These are not the casual conservatives you may meet. These people, IMHO, have a ton of knowledge and experience that can contribute to FR. Extraordinary knowledge and resources that would embrace our forum but for something that seems to keep them away.
Some have expressed a concern that their comments are being "monitored", others, well I'm not really sure.
I guess, I'd like to know if any other people here have had the same experience and what if anything they were able to do or say to get your like minded friends to participate.
I text and email links to theads all the time.
The severity of scrutiny that any newbie usually receives eliminates their enthusiasm should one even happen to sign up and try to post here.
I would suggest a section for newbie introduction, a place where people can ease into the freerepublic culture and not be mocked for revealing their cultural norm concepts and assumptions that tend to grate against the average freepers sensibilities.
A kind of safe freeper preschool that one could leave at their own time of choosing and at there own peril!!!!
I lurked for months when I first signed up and eased into posting. I posted one thread once. I then found that posting my own threads was not my way of enjoying freerepublic.
90% of people are too thin skinned, and just not as obsessed with conservative issues as freepers are willing to be.
You need to be able to face the coldness of world reality to be here.
Most just don’t want life to be so heavy.
I think you are right for a third time.
Sometimes you can get lambasted for posting too hugh a picture too.
My bad on that pic
The severity of scrutiny that any newbie usually receives eliminates their enthusiasm should one even happen to sign up and try to post here.
Very true. Some FReepers are needlessly rude and arrogant.
Three times is a new record for me.
“My bad on that pic”
I done that too LOL.
Ahh, a Free Republic Witness.
I got into this site because a friend just kept sending me links to threads, with no explanation, no exhortations. After lurking about a year or so, I signed on.
Pulled a shotgun on a DU witness once.
Interesting ... I have had one experience when I introduced someone to FR and they reported the first couple of posts they saw were pretty “radical” ... you know what I mean. Those “It’s Friday Night and I’ve Had A Few and By God I’m Going to Post a Vanity!” things. We all love ‘em, but one truism is you will never know what post your potential FReeper will encounter when he or she signs on! I still think it comes down to reading, though. You may know a lot of readers, but they’re just not used to the wall of text that we all love. In short, I think the people that will love FR and become FReepers are just basically a different breed and (old man voice) we like it that way!
“FReepers have become genius at deciphering the IslamoFascist, Progressive propaganda strategy and tactics,”
That’s a very good point. After being here for a while, it was almost like having Roddy Piper’s (RIP) sunglasses (`They Live!’) and being enabled to read what the signs really said and see some politicians for what they actually were (really ugly) and understand what they were saying, between the lines, and really trying to do.
Sometimes it was embarrassing looking back on, say, watching alphabet news and remembering: Did I actually buy that stuff? Cronkite & co, etc.
It’s frustrating sometimes talking to my better half: “Don’t you see that/understand what they’re doing/know what that’s really about?”
Yes, the point of the thread is good too. Proselytize. Work it. Recruit. Yeah being a semi-conscious human Irish setter is no way to go through life.
Others are needlessly arrogant and rude.
Who hasn’t at least once?
And that is a fine line to walk but I think FR walks it pretty well.
...and we are glad you did!
Sometimes, but some noobs who sign up have tried to pass themselves off as someone they are not, and deserved the zot. The worst are the ones who say they are serving or have served in the military and are more likely to have spent the last 10 years living in their mother’s basement.
Also no one likes a noob like Danny H.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2538272/posts
I agree with your post and miss the old Free Republic. It seemed that, no matter the topic, there were several people in that field, at that event, or living in the area that knew participants to a news item. The depth of knowledge we would all get from one little article posted and then the following commentary was amazing.
And also the immediate timeliness of the breaking news and events. I think we knew that the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed on re-entry before NASA did. There was a thread posted for watching the shuttle come back and land, and one of the freepers on the thread said he saw the shuttle overhead in his part of the state and it looked like it had broken in multiple pieces. After I read that, I looked over at my television and the personnel in the NASA control room were still trying to get an answer from the crew and looking very confused.
Free Republic was simply the greatest website on the internet in so many ways.
LOL Right!
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