BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES! A plea to all FReepers... mostly new, a few old

FreeRepublic ^ | 11-7-04 | Red State Denizens & me

[cgk]

Now that the Election is over, and we've let the rest of the country know Loud and Clear where we stand, and who we stand behind... it appears to be a good time to get re-organized here on FR.

Perhaps it's the euphoria that isn't quite wearing off at the 5% mandate the President earned and was given voluntarily by all of us. Maybe it's the fact we picked up even more seats in both the Senate and the House. Maybe it's just knowing Sen. Daschle has been voted out.

Whatever it is... we need to get back to work. "W2" is just the beginning of our battle. If you've been over to DU lately... they're not exactly throwing in the towel, and neither should we.

HOWEVER - this seems to be a good time to remind everyone a couple of things. Flame away, I expect it, because I know I am by no means some kind of old-timer around here breaking my seniority out at every perceived slight. Then again, I've been waiting for one of those "since the 90s" FReepers to say this, and haven't seen it yet.

To those of you who found us after the Buckbeak/CBS Memo scandal... many of us (not all) do not consider FreeRepublic a Blog. Because the MSM has labeled FR as a blog, doesn't make it so. FreeRepublic is considered by most (from what I've read here since before the CBS debacle) as a Forum. A Blog has been commonly defined as a website hosted by one (or so) people - where they post their thoughts. An online diary. People comment or analyze on that person's thoughts sometimes. Sometimes not. Here on FR we comment on various articles, news events, editorials, and call out for action.

All that being said - because FR is not by common definition a "blog" - your every thought does not need, nor sometimes deserve its own thread. If you feel you really need to share something with everyone, it is best posted in the General/Chat forum.

Next... PLEASE PLEASE USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION! It can be found below, in its own link, and it is also found on the Main Forum page as a Handy little Box above all the current threads.

Hot tip: Searching for an exact title is less successful than typing in ONE keyword FROM the title of the article you're trying to post. Especially when people miss spelling errors in their titles, and change the titles of the articles. Searching for ONE word works, especially when it's by DATE.

We can all understand the excitement and confusion of Election Day, exit poll madness, and Arafat and his 72 lives.

There are pros and cons to duplicate postings.

• How many times have you clicked on an article you've never seen, only to see 2nd or 3rd in the comments "Already posted"?

• Suggested Solution: Notify the Admin Moderator or Sidebar Moderator about the Duplicate post by PROVIDING THEM THE LINK TO THE MAIN THREAD, so they can "lock" the thread and direct all future responses to the "Main" thread. This will help all of us from trying to follow news events on sometimes up to 8 or 9 threads. It stands to reason that if we help the Moderators out by providing the links for duplicates, things will proceed much more quickly and smoothly.

• Try not to abuse Topics when posting an article. If you want to get maximum exposure, it actually works if you post the thread where it belongs. I assume I am not the only FReeper who uses the Headlines page to gauge what the "Top Stories" are on FR. It's something else to see "Arafat Dead!" on every topic from "Breaking" (yes) to "FR" (no) to "California" (hardly) to "Anthrax" (source?). Not every story is breaking, especially those coming from unreliable sources. (Your own head comes to mind). Not every news story belongs in all 50 states. And no, not every thread from DU belongs in "News." (And if you're posting profanity-laced threads, clean it up please. We can all follow the original link, should we choose to expose ourselves to garbage.)

  ---

  I'm sure there's more others would like to add to the Bonfire... whether it's to agree or disagree. Long-winded I know, but much of it seems to be overdue. This seemed like as good of a time as any to gather all the valuable informative links and resources of FR and stick it in one place.

  I honestly am just trying to help out those who are new, and who are still riding the W2 wave. Let's not get sloppy.

  :)

  ---

  Recommended Bookmark/Starting Point:

  Your Headlines Page

  Main Forum

  Main FR Search Page

  ---

[WKB]

I didn't have to read your name to know it was your question



Why ?
Because it was so articulate and ask with such
insight and fore thoughtn?

[onyx]

It was the forethoughtn.

[WKB]

I am taking a half time break

AL 17 Miss State 7
This is one of those games I wish they could
both lose.

[onyx]

LOL!
Well go ahead and root for State.

[Nita Nupress]

But how do you get the newbies to read this?

I don't know, but they NEED this, especially that part about this not being a blog and about not posting vanities.

How about we take away their first-born until they can pass a multiple choice exam?

[Nita Nupress]

many of us (not all) do not consider FreeRepublic a Blog. Because the MSM has labeled FR as a blog, doesn't make it so.

your every thought does not need, nor sometimes deserve its own thread.

Worth repeating. THANK YOU.

[Revolting cat!]

Dude, that's, like, ironically self-referencing.

Dude, we're, like, postmodern! Jacques Derrida may be dead but his heartbreaking, uhm, did I mean groundbreaking, ideas, like, live.

More on pets peeved. Cliches, and worse, cliched thinking are as common here as there are among the DUmmies, I'm afraid, even if the hearts maybe in the right places. But thoughtless one or two sentence vanities are the scourge of the place and should be ridiculed, if that's the least we can do. Another classic one comes to mind (again, from memory) "What did I hear Rush just say?"

[MeekOneGOP]

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES!
A plea to all FReepers ... mostly new, a few old

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[MeekOneGOP]

bump!

[searchandrecovery]

Jacques Derrida may be dead

I heard there was a team working to deconstruct his death (trying to bring him back to life). Sorry, know nothing about Derrida or deconstruction. Got any good (simple, overview) links on the subject?

I disagree with the part about 2 sentence posts. I think the messiness and rawness here (and the ability of the mods to keep things in check) is a strength. That having been said, I can only hope that other strong conservative websites pop up in the next year, catering to different aspects of conservatism and posting methods (academic, moderated, brutal left/right mixed sites, etc.). I think it's great a lot of people (left & right) were engaged by this election, and hope everyone stays involved, engaged, and actually debate the issues of the day. Communication is a good thing.

[Bahbah]

Here is a ton of information.

[Revolting cat!]

Here's an excellent critique of Derrida by Roger Kimball.

I didn't make myself clear on the one, two sentence posts. I didn't mean "posts" - I've made a good share of posts that aren't even a full sentence - I meant threads, that is to say initial, starting posts such as the examples I cited. "what did I just say Rush say"? Is that an intelligent thought to start a discussion?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[xJones]

But how do you get the newbies to read this?

You can go to their first posts that are vanity threads, and mention that vanities aren't all that cool. Then you'll be jumped on by well-meaning Freepers that think you're being a grouch and not welcoming the newbie.

Personally, I'm almost ready to post a vanity about my upcoming dental teeth-cleaning appointment and I'd bet it would get 100+ sincere replies.

[Happy2BMe]

Good post, good tips, good advice.

I like this one the best:

_____________________________

Suggested Solution: Notify the Admin Moderator or Sidebar Moderator about the Duplicate post by PROVIDING THEM THE LINK TO THE MAIN THREAD, so they can "lock" the thread and direct all future responses to the "Main" thread. This will help all of us from trying to follow news events on sometimes up to 8 or 9 threads. It stands to reason that if we help the Moderators out by providing the links for duplicates, things will proceed much more quickly and smoothly.

[searchandrecovery]

I meant threads, that is to say initial, starting posts such as the examples I cited. "what did I just say Rush say"? Is that an intelligent thought to start a discussion?

Good point - completely agree with you. Also, thanks for the link - I'll check it out.

[DanTheAdmin]

UPDATE:

ARAFAT HAS DIED AGAIN!

Please standby for his next death, which will be announced promptly.

[DanTheAdmin]

If you've been over to DU lately...

Please make sure you wash your hands before you return to Free Republic. ;o)

I suggest a long, hot shower...

[Rightly Biased]

Post that vanity and I'll send ya here ;^)

I wish there was a "time limit" on your tenure before you could post.

[Rightly Biased]

With a day like I had yesterday with my oldest I would have given FR my firstborn to sacrifice to the gods of zot;^)