Regarding Terri Schiavo Stories, the BN Sidebar, vanities, and newcomers

[Lead Moderator]

Hello everyone. I hope you are all having a good evening.

At various times today there have been upwards of 8 different stories at the same time posted to breaking news, and it does not seem like we go more than a half hour before yet another goes in.

We are all thrilled that progress is being made.

But it really is not helping matters to overwhelm everything in the forum with every new detail. So please, let's try to keep the new posts to the breaking news sidebar to a reasonable level.

Along the same lines, just like any story that is emotionally charged, we are getting a significant number of vanities on the topic. The rule of thumb on vanities is that they should be substantive, original, and relatively infrequent. Many of the vanities we have seen today probably could have, and should have, been made in reply to an existing thread rather than starting a new one.

And finally, this story has brought many new Freepers on board. To them, I extend a hearty welcome (hoo rah!). However, (speaking to the new folks now), some of you have been a little over-emotional, and are crossing the line when it comes to disagreements and engaging in personal attacks and flaming rather than debating. Please keep it clean, and realize that due to the nature of the beast, newbies are not given as much leeway as more established posters.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Freeping, already in progress.

[Smile-n-Win]

I especially am puzzled about the tendency to jump on "newbies" as trolls and disruptors.

Since Free Republic is the number one forum for freedom-loving people, we are also the prime target for freedom-hating people. Those who make their living by collecting taxes from us, or by publishing anti-American propaganda, feel threatened by Free Republic. There are also some people who simply hate everything and everyone successful; since FR is very successful, they hate us very much.

These people have been "visiting" us regularly. Quite a proportion of newcomers turn out to be disruptors. This is why a relatively new account is justifiably looked upon with a certain amount of suspicion.

Of course, there are the "mean" freepers who use insults instead of arguments as a way of "debating." If you have recently signed up, they are likely to jump on your "newbiness" as a convenient insult to hurl at you, abusing the natural suspicion that freepers have when they see a new account. They do this whenever you have debunked their fallacious arguments; being insulted is one of the surest signs that you are winning a debate. You should be glad when it happens to you! :-)

[ZAKJAN]

(BTW, if you are being remuffed, I am a Federally Certified Muff Inspector. License #AW16-1878-C.)

Does that mean you are in with mr. "HANS BLIX" and searching for WMM?

(weapons of Mass Muffing?)

Jan

[Egon]

On a semi-related note to this thread...

I'm pretty much a newbie. Is there a thread or a link to some page that attempts to define some of the lingo used here?

I've managed to figure out some of the simpler ones like 'ping', IMO, IMHO, etc., but 'bump' still has me stumped, and I haven't figured out what 'BTT' means, etc.

...or is this part of "being part of the priesthood" that comes with time?

Thanks!

[hellinahandcart]

The Lexicon of Free Republic, Fourth Edition

Bttt. :D

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

I didn't see "hugh" and "series" on that list. When I see those words used here on FR I feel like a maroon. :-)

[SamAdams76]

There is frequently complaining about this or that on this Free Republic forum. Always has been, always will be. I believe it is human nature to complain. At my workplace, employees complain about this or that also. No matter how things are arranged for their convenience, they will still harp and complain. Other co-workers will be resented for perceived slights. Others will get the impression that other co-workers are being treated more preferentially than they. No matter how the environment is modified to accomodate those who complain, an entire new set of complainers will be created as a result.

In a nutshell, you are in a no-win situation. It is impossible to please everybody.

Frankly, the volume of Terri Schiavo threads do not bother me. It is probably a good thing to consolidate them into fewer threads however. I do not see why that would create controversy. I also do not understand the anger at the World Series thread. From what I can gather, it is a single thread and only the title is updated with the score as the game progresses. I am not reading the World Series thread on account of the fact that the Boston Red Sox suffered a heartbreaking defeat in trying to get there - so I have tuned the games out and moved on to football for my sports fix. But the existence of the World Series thread does not bother me. I do not see how it would bother others. Furthermore, I do not see how a World Series thread would detract from the more important stories out there such as the Terri Schiavo case and the very successful operation by the United States to convert Iraq into a modern country that is not run by terrorist scum. The World Series is simply a diversion. Everybody needs diversion in life. We can't be involved in serious matters all the time. Even women who hate sports have their diversions, be it soap operas or shopping or getting a new hairstyle or whatever.

[Semper911]

I am posting without reading the entire thread, so someone may have already said this:

Freepers, please stop spamming other threads with this or any other topic. I would hate for that to become the norm here on FR -- other topics non-related to the thread being injected into the middle of discussions.

I skip threads that don't interest me. I would rather not be subjected to interuptions by the cause-of-the-day in the middle of other threads.

[boxerblues]

no offence to any following the Terri threads but this is all I am seeing here

[OldFriend]

Dittos your #17

[AFPhys]

For what it is worth: the device of updating the score of the ball game on the sidebar served to lower the number of times I loaded the story and reduced bandwidth demand. I found that to be very helpful.

In #70, Lead Mod, your comment got my mind chugging a bit: Perhaps in this type of situation, the Moderators ought to initiate a story on the sidebar in B.N. titled: "LIVE THREAD - Terri and updates" or some such. That story would be kept in the top five stories of the sidebar (I don't know what you would need to do to accomplish that). Such a title may well have reduced the Sidebar Mods' work load and lowered the "excessive" Terri threads.

[Interesting Times]

"Reciprocosity?"

[John O]

If you are requesting title updates to threads by pinging us on the thread, please realize that we get notification of abuse reports in our own accounts, but do not get notification of pings to us unless we change logins to the moderator accounts. That is not done often.

Is there a "how to" thread that covers small details like this?

[b4its2late]

The Baseball World Series playoffs and finals are much more appropriate fodder for ongoing Free Republic title updates compared to our judicial and legislative processes.

GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!

[adam_az]

You want me to stop--sobeit--and that will include my financial support of this forum.

[adam_az]

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[Egon]

Thanks for the Lexicon link-- that was a lot of fun, and very informative!

[honeygrl]

"Hit 'Abuse' - I dare ya ;0) "

Now that would've been funny.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, maybe for US... not for him, though ;0)

[jmstein7]

FReep CNN to tell them to correct Terri Schiavo question ("brain damaged" not "comatose")

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1005877/posts