Posted on 10/26/2009 4:32:01 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
This is a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood Admin Moderators (Sidebar gave us some attitude so we shoved him in the closet for a while. He never recovered from the Yacht incident) For a while, we have noticed some things happening that we need your help with. The Free Republic community is strong; we are almost a family, albeit very dysfunctional at times. Like any community, we have new members joining us daily. Unfortunately, the air of suspicion and the desire to keep things “the way they are” has fostered a feeling of distrust with new members. Almost every day, we see new members join, then, because of comments of suspicion, they often don’t return. For any community to thrive, it must grow. Because of this, we are asking for your help. Here are some important things you should know:
The Internet has changed greatly since Free Republic first started. When we formed, few people had their own websites, now, everyone has their own blog. With this, there is an attitude change where someone who doesn’t understand how our community works may be more interested in self-promotion than we have been used to in the past. We don’t want to change the overall feel of this site- it is about our shared values, not about self promotion, however, we don’t want to drive people away simply because they link to their own blog. There are blog “pimps” who want nothing more than to promote their own sites, but for most people, it is simply how they start out sharing their thoughts on a matter. Encourage these members to take part in existing discussions.
Many new members may not communicate well what they believe and it gives the appearance they are not 100% kosher in their Conservative beliefs. This may have nothing to do with their Conservative credentials but simply how they are communicating their beliefs or how the media/pop culture has told them what to think. Be an example and discuss what you think is wrong. A liberal troll’s true colors will reveal themselves while a new member who is honest, but may not communicate well, may learn from the conversation.
Remember, how you respond to a topic not only reflects your thoughts, but also is a reflection of the community and Conservative values. We need to be an example of positive conservative values when responding to members, especially new ones. As mods, we make a strong attempt to screen all new members. Every new sign-up goes through a period where their posts are reviewed. This helps us eliminate most trolls, porn and commercial spammers, and those who don’t fit in with our Conservative values. This isn’t a perfect system, but it does help us make sure that by the time a new member reaches the community, there is a greater chance this person is the type we want around. Some slip through, yes, and you can always help us by hitting the abuse button. (of course, we do let some world class morons through every once in a while as “Live Chow”- after all, the kitties have to have toys.)
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With all that said, we need to grow. We need to be far more welcoming to new members and guide them into how to use our community best. With this said, we are issuing a challenge to our long time Freeper family. We would like to start up a ‘welcome wagon’ type of ping list or group whose job it is to welcome new members, show them the ropes, and guide them through our community. This could be as simply as giving new members a kind welcome, guiding them to how to post topics or replies, or just making the experience pleasant.
As this is your community, we would like your thoughts, ideas, and most importantly, for some of you to step up and help us with this.
We are passing the ball to you. What do you think?
Enjoy! I hope you don’t suffer from claustrophobia!
Happy Second Day of Christmas. We always keep our lights up until Epiphany. We might keep the tree up that long, since (a) it’s fake and (b) we put it up the night of the 24th. Depends on how the catz do with the ornaments, and how quickly Frank develops additional mobility.
I’m typing the texts for the speech competition Tom is in on the 9th. He’s doing a selection of war literature: a piece from the “Iliad,” a bit of the Battle of Gettysburg from “The Killer Angels,” a section from Martin Gilbert’s “First World War” about the last minutes before the Armistice, and a Siegfried Sassoon poem.
This is his first try at this, but if he likes it, he can do more. He can also start Debate over the summer. One of the fathers in the Catholic homeschool association is the debate (and general public speaking) coach, and they compete with public and private schools around the area. I don’t know how he arranged that, but it’s a great opportunity for Tom, who I believe has a lot of potential as a showman.
That, by the way, is the reason that elves never ride in the sleigh with Santa.
I just figured they didn’t like his driving.
He also never stops for directions OR bathroom breaks.
I don’t like to stop for bathroom breaks, either. “I told you not to drink all that! Now we’re never going to get there! What do you mean, you want *another* can of Coke? We might as well have stayed home!”
Fortunately, most of the family has headphones on, and I will stop to feed and/or diaper babies ;-).
Yeah, but imagine being stuck in an open cockpit with that devil suited old grouch all night in the cold.
Oh, and he has cookie breath.
It’s all in the timing. My dad called them D&D’s. They were timed to when the car needed gas. Drink & Drain. These were Trips from near Seattle to Tulsa. Later trips from Alameda to Oklahoma. I would say Mooreland but very few would know where it was.
I know where Moore is, between Oklahoma City and Norman. It’s true, you do have to get gas.
And now, I’ll take my watch-cat and go to bed.
Enjoyed. No issue with claustrophobia.
It was a mixed day. Starting off thoroughly steamed over TSA was A Bad Thing and rather messed my day up. I hope not too badly for others.
Catching up on the news this evening I was happy to see that one of my main two points to be made to my congressman and select other folks has already been addressed by Congress. My experience of Congress is that a single letter is not likely to change anything (even though our Representative knows us personally) --unlike the state legislature where LoM & I have made a big difference-- but one letter in addition to many others that I expect they'll receive might change things. It won't if we don't try.
After the tour we got to meet my youngest sister's new boyfriend. She lost her husband last year to Alzheimer's (he was "gone" before that, but he passed away last year); it was a really hard time. But we like him, and not least because she is so much happier now.
And at some point we will have to introduce Anoreth to a store called Archie McPhee's; a favorite of my sister's.
Pleased to hear your day picked up after the idiot-government episode! Thank you (again and again) for having Anoreth over. If you’ll FReepmail me your US Mail information, I’ll order you a nice Harry and David fruit basket, hopefully avoiding allergy complications. My family disappeared a large order of pears in one day, and I don’t like pears.
Maybe the new stupid TSA rule will be changed once the airlines scream bloody murder about their already-pathetic load factors.
In recognition of the new flight restrictions, and the reasons for them, I think now might be the right time for a new airline.
You’ve heard of Virgin Airlines. I’d like to introduce Birthday Suit Airlines.
It will be perfect for in-flight wedding ceremonies. Everyone will already know who the Best Man is.
LOL! That’s our Bob, making lemons out of lemonade ...
At least I wouldn’t have spend an hour or so trying to figure out what to wear.
This is going to have a chilling effect on air travel. Won’t they have to turn up the heat on flights?
I am SO never getting on a plane with this carpola going on.
I think there would be enough body heat to go around.
I don’t want to get that Close with strangers on a plane, thanks.
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