Replies

To You need to click "Tune"

From Frank Patalong

Votes are a fine thing, the butter on the news bread. They give to the on-line media doer a feedback how the reader sees a thing. Nearly 60 percent of the readers of SPIEGEL ONLINE hold George W. Bush, for instance, for a top president. We also know, why.

From the instructions for the forgery of SPIEGEL ONLINE Votes: "You need to cklick" voting! ' "
The widow Vivian Freep from Midland (Texas) is " George Bush biggest supporter ".

Nicely for Bush, the European imagines there, however, in an American of conservative credo the rage climbs up equally. A cheek is this which no more wants to say and no less than follower: Bush's success is based on the help of people who manipulate, interfere, fake.

Since "Freeping" is a slang expression. He means night sticking of election posters, the organization of noisy counterdemoes, the specific sturgeons of appearances of political opponents and - not least - the plentiful falsification of votes in the Internet.

The strange concept came into being end of the nineties and goes back on the web page "Free Republic" of the ultraconservative activist Jim Robinson. "Freep", as the web page by fans was called quick, gets on as a " conservative news forum ". Principal item of the offer is the discussion forum in which it goes partly violently to the thing.

The conservative click Gürilla

Free Republic began as a Clinton Hasser page, however, developed fast. The "Freep-Movement" harvested the first laurels when the side began to appeal in various elections for the "support" of conservative nominees.

Namely quite specifically: It was a matter of disturbing rallies of the democrats, of tearing off posters or of falsifying, of supporting opponent actively. Already when himself Bill Clinton with an office exclusion procedure saw confronted, to organized Freep groups in different US towns "info arrangements" and switched newspaper announcements. The concept "Freeping" came into being and meant: Drown the opponent

Vote manipulation with SPIEGEL ONLINE

In it nothing has changed. Last week SPIEGEL ONLINE was given the attention of the "Freeper", more exactly: a vote, a Vote in the subjects parcel to the starting US-presidency election campaign (see below).

" For three years ", we asked our readers, " George W. Bush is the mightiest man of the United States - and the world. How do you judge his present term of office (in school notes)? "

The result of the popular vote with over 38,000 delivered voices up to now could prove two things:
Germans are not at all in such a way a "sceptical of Bush", as often maintained;
the power of the "Freeper".

Since they appeal since the 5th March for it, the Vote with " Germany's left left wing SPIEGEL ONLINE " " to freepen ". The actually special one at the fact is that the forum member who did the suggestion is by all means no American conservative: David Kaspar pursues the web log " Davids media criticism ", a forum for " politically incorrect considerations for the reporting in German media ".

SPIEGEL ONLINE is not responsibly for the contents of external Internet pages.

With Kaspar this signifies: with vehement Bush's friendliness against the supposed prepossession of the German media. From the media expert Kaspar the evaluation of SPIEGEL also comes as "left-left", as ultralinks - all one question of the perspective.

Literally one says in his with Free republic returned call: " Bush Needs Your Help! " And farther: " Up to the 5th March, 13 o'clock Berlin time Bush's results are quite rotten. Only 3.3 percent voted for '1 and 1.47 percent for '2' ".

Luckily the call with Free Republic finds immediately friendly admission: within less hours the "Freepern" manage to tilt the vote. David Kaspar on the 5th March, 22 o'clock " Berlin time ": " Bush's results are excellent. 41.23 percent for "1" (= Bush has mastered his task as a president splendidly). Thank you very much! your people make this fantastic! Bush Hasser with SPIEGEL ONLINE get a cardiac infarction early tomorrow... Continues thus! "

Vote manipulations: the masses did it

Two days later, announces Kaspar, the result is "official: " SPIEGEL ONLINE With Large pro-Bush user cousin ". Ecstatically Kaspar returns an imaginary interview with an imaginary SPIEGEL ONLINE editor in his announcement more than " 59 percent Einsen ": Therefore, the Vote has shown SPIEGEL that his whole "adjustment" was wrong. Now the editorial staff Rat looks with her media advisers as the " future course " should look.

Literally one says in the imaginative interview: " ' now concerning the Idiologie everything is open ', said the spring, ' It could even be that we support now Bush's reelection. Kerry is so or so a frankfurter. ' "

So that the nice pressure does not decrease, he repeats his calls to the Vote manipulation now in the day tactfulness: " You could bring light in our miserable life, while you take part in this small survey. As a side effect they injure the feelings of some German Bush Hasser. "

Within less days the call spreads to the Vote manipulation like a brush fire. He is carried by a strong, up to now a little perceived conservative Blogger scene. Thus "Little Green Footballs" appeals to his audience: " Help to do the German left in the insanity. "

" Freep this Poll! "

However, the masses come about Free Republic. The website confesses for a long time openly to it, with enthusiasm " to freepen ". An inquiry with headword "Freep" about the searching mask of the side revealed how many honorary enthusiasm Free Republic is able to release: in the morning 8th March Free Republic announces the appointment list of John Kerry and calls on Freeper to appear with a digital camera on site to do "more realistic" pictures of the appearance.

Also for actions against other "Democrats" is called, above all, however, over and over again for the manipulation of on-line votes: " Freep this Poll! ".

The purposes of the calls: votes to the gay's marriage (56 percent against it). Also votes to the question whether the "9/11" - electoral advertisements of George Bush are tastelessly or not bring clear results: sometimes there are 78 percent which can find this not at all, sometimes 85 percent - even with CNN are it another 72.

Masses ordinarily protect against Vote manipulations. The big web pages protect her votes with Cookies which should make laborious repeated choosing at least: between two votes the Cookies must be extinguished every time. Otherwise stands for the dependability of a Votes only the number of the readers who take part in it. An imperfect protection, however, with the Votes in which several thousand of people take part becomes the manipulation at least the torture.

Freeper: on the way to the Mainstream?

The Freeper, nevertheless, show that they can oppose any time own masses to the masses of "normal" web page visitors: from SPIEGEL ONLINE through CNN and "Times", various TV stations up to Australia MSN and of course countless smaller newspapers nobody more gets in the web an honest Vote there if the Freeper are on the way.

They manipulate themselves the most trivial votes: last week it was important to them to document the influence of her land by the fact that they manipulated the vote of a South-African website about whether ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide Haiti has left voluntarily here that 68 percent with einemmal of the opinion were, the USA would have pushed out him.

In a vote about the greenhouse effect meant 86.5 percent which exists either not at all, or is completely natural. On the 2nd March Free Republic for it, a vote in elementary schools in the Staate called New York " to freepen " because up to this time the majority of the basic pupils showed "democratic" electoral trends.

Only to the big American newspapers Free Republic no more dares near: Already in 1998 had brought " Los Angeles Times " and the "Washington Post" Free Republic because of copyright injuries before court. Only in June, 2002 operator of "Freep" Jim Robinson succeeded to reach an arrangement extrajudicial which ran out to a waiver: In future may be quoted on his web page neither from the plaintiff's newspapers nor from media linked with them.

The "Freep-Movement" which inserted a longer popularity break after the failure of the dismissal procedure against Clinton has not damaged this: At the latest since catastrophic 11th September and the radicalization initiated thereby in the political discourse of the USA "Freep" is stronger than ever before. The movement looks for ways in the Mainstream: since the gulf war "Freeps" are also involved as quite normal demonstrators in the good thing - for Bush and in the war. Now with John Armor, announced Free Republic on the 2nd September, 2003, "one of our very own" tries to be chosen first in the US congress. Armor would do his forum Nomen the omen: Up to now he appeared there only as "Congressman BillyBob".

I wonder if they'll update their article with the swing back to anti-Bush, no doubt promoted much the same way. (Although it's just as likely European lefties are doing this, rather than lefty blogs.)

Free Republic == Freie Republik

So, they've been freiped. (sounds like friped)

Thank you for all your work.

Yo, Jim ... this you?

"The strange concept came into being end of the nineties and goes back on the web page "Free Republic" of the ultraconservative activist Jim Robinson. "Freep", as the web page by fans was called quick, gets on as a " conservative news forum ". Principal item of the offer is the discussion forum in which it goes partly violently to the thing."

Got a question for you, bro ....

How and when do we get to go partly violently to the thing?

Ach! Das ist schade (too bad).

I wish they would have included my line about "making the German cowards cry."

Schade.

This would make a great tagline for you!

Armor would do his forum Nomen the omen

ultraconservative activist Jim Robinson

Woo-hoo Jim - you're ultraconservative!! LOL!!

the specific sturgeons of appearances of political opponents and

Political opponent sturgeon, before and after.

"However, the masses come about Free Republic."

Jim R. should be praised for his gift to the masses! Free Republic has made Viagra obsolete.