FR has become easy to manipulate using "guilt by association" and ad hominem attacks.
After 911, the sites policy was essentially what is now called "neo-con" and not supporting the war in Iraq pretty much got you banned. Now we are all expected to toe the line on Ukraine, Trump, and a myriad of other issues that we probably would have been expected to have the opposite opinion on 20 years ago.
Many of these issues aren't even ideological issues, they are issues that are in the mainstream and so for some reason we are obligated to take the opposite position. There is also the general consensus that conspiracy theories are true if they are against the Right or Republicans and as long as the charges are against the left or support the ideological position of the posters here, no evidence needs to be provided.
Well there has always been the peer pressure to conform, however, while you certainly well get flamed here for not towing the majority line.. (And I’ve been flamed many a time)... unlike many other places on the internet, I have not had my voice silenced or my account banned etc.
I often get attacked because I don’t tow the line. Most recently would have been over me stating my honest assessments of OZ and Fetterman during the 2022 race. I was attacked viciously and vociferously by many many people whenever I would point out the fact, that OZ was by far the worst candidate I had ever seen run in a statewide election as a republican in PA and had zero chance of winning, and that Fetterman was not the left wing nutter and lug that the RNC and their parrots sold him as.
I won’t say I have never flamed anyone in all the years I have been here.
So, while I do get flamed whenever I voice an opinion that doesn’t tow the line, my voice isn’t shut down. So, I give FR props for that... however I won’t argue that this place has become far less the open exchange of ideas, and more a shouting match over the decades.
However, you have to be a special kind of person, to present things like the Gateway Pundit and think you are being told the full truth. I have nothing against them, and they do present things that often are ignored by the MSM.. however, their record for accurately reporting things, is abysmal. So, to take what they report fully at face value, you have to be a special kind of delusional to not question their reporting. There is no difference in swallowing what they are feeding you as truth, then there is someone swallowing what MSNBC offers up blindly as truth.
Yes MSNBC has a larger audience, and more exposure, sure, but GP and MSNBC are pretty much equivalent when it comes to “ACURRATELY” reporting anything.
Re: 242 - Good post.
There certainly is a bit of the hive mind for some issues, but that comes from both sides of the issues. The Russia-Ukraine War threads are a site to behold.
I believe part of the problem is that a greater percentage of posters lack discernment vs. 20 years ago. Looking through some older threads a couple of weeks ago was pretty interesting.
It also seems like more posters threaten and make comments about family members, make blatantly racist comments, etc the last 4-5 years. I use a FireFox extension a college student built for me to gray-list (their posts are literally grayed out by the extension) posters who threaten other posters, etc.
It is sad that more than a few older posters stopped contributing for a variety of reasons. I miss their insights.
Site management gets high marks for maintaining order.