Welcome, I saw the exchange you are posting about and as a
long time poster, I feel the way you do.
That's part of the weeding-out process that goes on full-time here at FR. Those with points which can withstand scrutiny and yes, even derision, make it, and those without, don't.
That's how this got to be a useful forum in the first place... don't knock it until you've tried it.
If you believe in what you have to say, then stick with it no matter what anyone else has to say in response. You need a thick skin to participate in any forum on the 'net; this one more than most.
No one should be told to take a hike. Having said that, folks should try to follow the rules when posting. That goes for newbies and oldtimers.
Vanity posts are clogging this site up terribly. If someone wants to write a 10 paragraph essay and post it as a vanity fine. If you have a topic or information that it totally new again fine. The 3 sentence vanities that fit much better as a response in another thread are against Jim's rules and they don't belong.
This says more about the psychological inferiority of some of the oldtimers. it makes them feel superior to bully newbies
remember the school bully who felt the need to pick on people smaller than him in order to boost his own self-worth? 'nuff said.
Welcome aboard, and thank you for your service to our country..that is if you're legit, newbie :o)
90% of all vanity posts are trash. (I don't consider live Freeper reports as a vanity post - they are genuine news).
Of the 10% of the vanity posts that are good reading, half are from one author (John Huang).
100% of newbie vanity posts have been trash. 99% of them are the post-and-run types. The 1% that stayed with their thread to defend their position turned out to be agenda driven posters (advertisers, people promoting a website/blog, DUmmies, white supremicists) or those who whine about the Free Republic procedures/moderators.
This newbie post hasn't changed that percentage.
Some posters are obviously trolls, just looking for trouble, and they get it. Some posters are genuine newbies. They are usually treated with a bit of skepticism, maybe even hazed a little, but if they have something intelligent to add to the forum they are quickly welcomed in. A little thick skin may be in order for newbies the first few weeks. Big deal! Sticks and stones, as they say.
BITF, when you first signed on, what was your impression of the way you were treated?
Why, thank you so much for your service to our Republic.
Where did you serve and what did you do?
In fact, none of them are. Add your thought to an existing thread.
Don't sweat it. There are a few jerks here just as there are anywhere. Rest assured that there is no "old timer's" mentality here, despite what some may think. Just isn't so; we need all the new members here we can get.
By the way........welcome aboard.
Constitution Party, anyone? ;)
I think it was a lot worse back in 1998 during the Clinton/Lewinsky affair. The groupthink was horrendous, people believed every wild rumor, no matter how implausible (I think a good portion of them were floated by Clinton operatives, to discredit FR and other sites), and ten or fifteen posters pretty much controlled the daily discussion. As FR has grown, it's gotten much better at welcoming newer people and divergent points of view under the larger umbrella of American conservatism.
So, welcome! And don't let anyone intimidate you into not posting if you feel you have something important to say.
I've actually been treated more than nice on here. I'm a newbie and I'm glad they know it cause I struggled and introduced myself as a newbie right away. Someone taught me to use the private reply and I do use that. In the beginning I couldn't understand the difference between this and a chat room. Now as I've watched and read I'm beginning to get the basics. I even am on some ping lists now and I'm having a blast because some people are beginning to recognize my name.
I learned that not all conservatives think alike. Some people are very easily offended and some will keep blasting away and take it as good as they give it. If your work gets burned in this fire you know it can't stand the opponents fire either.
I got beat up when I was a newbie, then I proceeded to beat up someone else who won't forget me in his next book :o) Don't take it personally. I'm still here hehe!
On the other hand, if you've really been lurking here since 2000, then you know the signs of trolldom, and you should understand that some folks are sensitive to the signs (perhaps too sensitive).
And perhaps you're just too thin-skinned. This is a pretty free-speaking crowd. You're seeing the difference between pain-free lurking, and the jabs you endure by jumping into the pile. The sparring is different when it's directed at you.
So thicken your skin, don your asbestos undies, and have fun.
If some newbie lays a liberal turd and doesn't respond to numerous posts, ban em and be done with it. There are too many DU troll types that come here just to spin everyone up. You call them as you see them.
We can have some pretty hard nosed people on this board, just remember, everyone is not who or what they may seem, so you might well be being insulted by a dem troll trying to cause trouble.
Take a hike.
:^}