VANITY : Suggestion for reducing Freepathons

self | 6 August 2022 | self

[ShadowAce]

OK, so I woke up this morning with a thought. It may not be worth anything.

People here are understandable frustrated with the fundraising and lack of donations to the site. We also do not want to clutter the site with ads and become beholden to outside interests. We want to remain as independent and self-reliant as possible.

Why not merchandize the FR name? Sell coffee cups, water bottles, t-shirts, etc with the FR URL and logo? I'm a woodturner and can make pens with logos/messages on them (though I *am* employed full time and would not have the time to make hundreds or thousands). I would even suggest selling e-mail addresses ( user@freerepublic.com ) for a nominal fee. The selling point would be a guarantee to not create, collect, or produce logs of any activity for this domain. This may take some up-front expenses to set up though.

Not only would this raise money, it would get the site out into the public eye more often.

I'm not saying this will replace freepathons, but perhaps it can mitigate the length and lower the monetary requirements needed for each one.

[texas booster]

We could all make our own Tshirts marketing FreeRepublic.com but I would buy one from Jim and John if they profited.

At least to wear to the Republican county meetings.

[Responsibility2nd]

The site isn’t making money because the moderators allow abuse. It’s driven away throngs of folks. What used to be the best news aggregator on the internet has fallen from that peak.

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It used to be that if you posted a duplicate article you were roundly and soundly told off. But now?

If you even dare to suggest that an article has already been posted, you will get criticized by several or more Freepers who complain that they have not seen those previous articles. So mind your own business.

One has to wonder why those Freepers have missed the previous articles already posted? Perhaps they don’t freep enough. Perhaps this site is inundated with dozens and dozens of duplicate and meaningless articles, vanities, religious threads and other useless posts.

[texas booster]

After 90 days the goal is reached ...

Come on, we reached the last goal in about 86 days ...

[zeestephen]

Our biggest problem is loss of viewership.

I am a night owl, and we frequently have posting gaps of an hour or even more during the Midnight - 6 AM period.

Bottom Line - if there is nothing new or interesting to read, people stop showing up.

We also have a very large elderly demographic, which means that reliable donors get sick or die, but they are not replaced by new reliable donors.

The quality of the posts at FR have also degraded. I have learned more about science, engineering, and political philosophy at Free Republic than I learned in 16 years of formal education. We have lost a couple dozen members who specialized in informing and challenging the intellect of other members.

Our Troll problem has abated somewhat over the last year, which is good, since the Trolls definitely drove away a lot of good people.

I think the Q-experience also drove away some good people who have not returned.

I still love coming here every day (mostly nights actually), and I still think FR has the best news and comment format on the entire Web.

I will also continue to donate money every month, or as long as the Robinson family keeps the lights on.

[DCBryan1]

I’d buy a humblegunner T-Shirt . . .

Oh...the possibilities:

Humblegunner t shirt
Eschoir t-shirt
DeepintheHurtgenForest T:
Lazamataz T:
DFWGator T:

[Publius]

Humblegunner’s favorite brew is Busch, not Coors.

[Responsibility2nd]

lol. Lucky for me I was not drinking my coffee as I read that reply.

🤠

[txlurker]

At the beginning of every quarter a new Freepathon begins. After 90 days the goal is reached and another Freepathon begins.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

This model has been ongoing and successful for 20+ years. Why change things now?

From my point of view, what you stated is the problem. The Freepathon goes all year long. If the money could be raised in 30 days, perhaps it would not be so bad. But it takes the whole quarter to raise the funds only to start over again immediately. I would be happy to pay a monthly subscription if it is a reasonable amount. I am a proud Freeper and would be lost without FR but have noticed a lot of posting from websites I have never heard of. We used to be the place for breaking news, but not anymore.

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Not ads - sponsers

[BipolarBob]

Included in the price would be a ban on postings to the thread by humblegunner whining about blog flogging.

But, but . . I'd go broke.

[GOPJ]

I like it.

I send cash donations and several recently have NOT gotten through.

[Responsibility2nd]

We used to be the place for breaking news, but not anymore.

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You got that right. Breaking News is now just a place for Jim’s daily fundraising request, Donald Trump‘s rally‘s and the Sunday Morning talk show thread.

WTAF?

[zeestephen]

Re: "How much does American Thinker (just as an example) make from FR clicks?"

LOL - since entire American Thinker articles are posted right here on Free Republic, no one from FR needs to click on American Thinker!

[txlurker]

I would like to add one more thing I have noticed is the griping at Freepers who post an article that has already been posted. Those who feel the need to call out duplicate articles should give it a rest. Perhaps that is why some are reluctant to post at all.

[outofsalt]

I suggest ShadowAce’s bake sale!

[FamiliarFace]

If I had a humblegunner t-shirt, I’d burn it before wearing it.

[stars & stripes forever]

If you have complaints about too few articles on Breaking News, start posting them yourselves.

[Responsibility2nd]

lol. Right. Sure.

You know as well as I do what happens to a Freeper who dares to post a thread to Breaking News.

[Michigan Bowhunter]

Have a weekly video on you tube or rumble where the feed is monetized where members or other lurkers can donate through patreon. Subject matter is articles discussed on FR. LAZ could be comedy relief. Others with expertise could donate time and input through experience etc. Call it the “Robcast”

[DJ MacWoW]

Financial support of FR has been a repeated subject discussed over the years. Jim Robinson's point has always been to keep FR free of any outside influence. If freedom to speak isn't more important than a mug or t-shirt then FR is already toast.