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FR was founded in early or mid-1997. I joined within the first few months. FR also has the honor of being the only site that's ever banned me (and I've been in online forums since the BBSing days of the mid-80's). Back then you had to be a neo-con; now you have to be alt-right. I'm a Christian conservatarian so I tend to aggravate the big-government sympathies most Freepers instinctively have despite their dislike of the actual big government they have. I attended a couple early rallies and gatherings FR sponsored, that were billed as among the first examples of using the internet to rally people politically for real-world action.

I was banned when I objected to the mad herd rush here championing Bush's neo-con warmongering and his assertions that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was part of 9/11. Not only was there never any valid evidence, it was hogwash that never made sense. Hussein always wanted to make Iraq a great regional power, but was never senseless enough to imagine he could overpower the US (nor was it necessary to do so). So when he miscalculated in the Kuwait invasion and the US planted its boot on his neck, his only interest at that point was to get out from under it. Angering the US by supporting terrorist attacks that had no chance of seriously weakening US power even in a best-case scenario would be exactly the opposite of what Hussein was trying to achieve. So it was a stupidly dishonest effort by neo-cons from the start and I said so, and got booted for my trouble.

I'm still waiting for my apology from FR over that one, because we all know how things turned out, eh?

I never really left FR because it has barely changed in 25 years, and that's exactly why I love it, warts and all. I don't want extraneous graphics and advertising etc. garbaging up my information feed. Text is what I want, and text in plenty is what FR provides. If I want to find pretty pics to look at I can always go find them elsewhere, but FR lets me browse a lot of news more quickly than anywhere else.