I’ve been here longer than you and I’m not going anywhere.
I’m on ‘X’ and FR, so comparing the two I find FR much more to my liking. In depth stories and articles and many different people.
‘X’ is full of bots and scammers...................
It’s simplicity and lack of ads it what makes it what it is.
Don’t change a thing.
I don’t post articles or replies like I use to, however I read as many articles and replies as I always have done. I think there is way less drama on this site than there use to be, don’t really hearken back to those times myself.
One thing that has concerned me is what happens when the top brass here are no longer around to keep it going, there should be a legacy plan in place.
Let me correct you. Libertarian ideals have moved sharply to the left in recent years. I’d say they’ve always been leftist and not truly conservative.
I’d further say that even William F Buckley was a social liberal and I have no use for libertarians.
Now having said that, I think it’s time we adapt to the changes and use 21st century websites on a 20th century site like Free Republic to the best of our abilities.
For instance, when I see a Breitbart article or a Fox News article that references a video and you have to click through to the link to two or three pop-ups to two or three more advertisements before you can even watch the video, that is pretty much a useless endeavor . The easiest way to watch that video is on x.com.
Now, having said that I will agree that most Freepers have no idea on how to access current videos on x.com but that’s another problem for another day
X charges people to be “verified users” and allows them special features. Would I pay $5-$10/month to support FR and also have the ability to edit my comments and block other users who are notorious for harassing or posting spam? Maybe.
FR is the home of Lazamataz and Billthedrill, two of the greatest humorists on the Internet. That alone is worth the price of admission.
I think during the covid/vax era was when I really noticed changes in the discourse.
I think a few paid actors/provocateurs came in and changed the tone of FR. Not saying everyone who was strongly pro-CDC or pro-Pfizer was a paid provocateur but I think a few were, just enough to damage the FR culture.
Same for UKR-RU war.
A few provocateurs that push hard in various directions can push the whole community — mostly injecting division and strife rather than simply arguing for their position.
Prior to Covid such stridency seemed to be isolated in religious debate threads.
apples and oranges...
I read a lot of conservative sites every day. Free Republic is still the best.
Someone above said they don’t post as much as they used to, and I’ve never posted much. I think that in the last several years we have lost a lot of posters, either through folks returning to their heavenly home or other reasons. And I think encouraging people to post more would help FR.
One reason I have not posted is that I know there are sites we can’t post extracts from and maybe some we can’t post from at all. I would love it if someone could do a short how-too that new posters could follow. I know it would help me, and maybe some others.
yes FR is a treasure as it is. long may it wave. i hope it doesn’t change too much.
it’s a true public square. strikes a pretty good balance between individual, ethical free speech and a common sense, conservative American culture of need to know, and can do information. sure there’s some duplication, but the format makes it easy to deal with that. it’s also a good ‘market place of ideas’ to acquire a broad, and brawling (if you want to test yourself) knowledge of the spiritual, the profane, the technical, the evil, the good, the truth, and the many varied interests, point of views, and ideas of the posters and commenters here.
Content is king. Yes, there are times that I wish I could edit my posts after the fact, or use italics and post pictures without using HTML, but FR is a lean machine with no advertising or tracking.
Somewhat akin to an original VW Beetle’s setup, or even a Lotus Super 7 . . . light, even if it overheats sometimes.
Drudge would still be a major website before it sold out. It STILL has the same plain look, just with more ad trackers.
Sometimes a limitation IS a feature. The original iteration of Twitter was 180 character posts. Make it limitless, and you risk winding up with MySpace. I don’t use X so it may have changed since that iteration, but the limits and simplicity is a selling point.
Few of these sites feel like they are part of one man’s vision. FR is very much JimRob’s electronic living room, and this conservative, traditionally minded Catholic feels like a welcome guest, enjoying the company of Lutherans, Jews, Evangelicals, Calvinists, Seculars, etc. because of the environment JimRob fosters, including QAnon, Stuned Beebers, Freeper Canteen, Random Pop Music postings, and NFL Picks.
I also like that F-bombs are not generally tolerated.
I think Zuck realizes that. Facebook is lame. They have the marketplace but that's about it. Why would anybody want to hang out over there?
More people would post stories if they didn’t have to jump through hoops to do it. Their search engine doesn’t work. I have to use Bing search. It would be nice to have an edit button. Bring back the views per post. Most importantly, stop the censuring.
I remember the Free Republic upgrades.
When it got rid of the frame.
We’re all mostly 25 years older now
The younger posters didn’t continue our membership bubble
We’ve had die offs and drop outs
And yes a tsunami of alternatives
Still those who post here come here first but likely have other sites to purvey they lacked 25 years ago
It’s an evolution and we’re living and dying it
Just being a realist about it
Who knows where any political forums go from here
Even mighty google and YouTube won’t last in its current form forever
It does seem to be taking longer and longer for the pledge drives to complete.
Maybe if the owners published the stats in graphical form such as number of articles, comments, viewers over time we can see what the trend is.
not long enuff, newbie.
Face it... We are dinosaurs and we were here first. FR doesn’t need to copy X or any other site. We’re one of the oldest and most enduring conservative political forums ever. Now just embrace that and be proud that you’re a part of it.
You’re welcome.