Posted on 06/23/2006 12:27:30 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
I am not certain what the legal ramifications would be in changing Free Republic from donations to a subscription service. It seems to me the switch may be detrimental to legal issues such as copyrights. If that is true I'd appreciate if someone could briefly explain that to me. However if that is not the case here is my suggestion:
I have been wondering about this for some time now and have not seen any discussions about it. So I would like to ask: Is it time for Free Republic to become an online subscription service?
Currently, the site is very antiquated. People can easily abuse the "add a keyword" feature and there seems to be a growing number of liberal trolls, foreigners and even pro-homosexual agenda-driven people infecting the site. In order to cut down on the undesirables and enhance FR at the same time, would it be advisable to start charging a monthly fee of about 15-30 bucks to be able to log into the site and post? There could also be different subscription levels like Basic, Premium or Platinum. That way, the more you pay the more features you have access to. Some of these extra-services could include storing photos or FR could be a conservative search engine for the web.
I have seen online sites where people can still read the boards for free. FR could do something like that so it would still be accessible to the Conservative public even if they are not paying members with posting priviledges.
Websites that rely heavily on banner and pop-up ads need as many hits as possible so for them restricting posting rights to subscribers might not be so desirable. However, Free Republic does not work like that. There are no ads other than some book links on the home page so the number of hits is not as crucial to the bottom line which is currently being paid for by donations.
Donations seem to be working well, but I am sure the cashflow could be improved. How many of you people honestly are put off donating money to FR because it is not what it should be? Especially in regards to the undesirable element that can be found throughout many of the threads. Wouldn't this change in format go a long way in eliminating the undesirables? I think so. Plus it would be neat to experience an upgraded more modern version of Free Republic.
Note: If you are a democrat troll, foreigner or pro-homosexual/lesbian then I am really not interested in your opinion and you should not be posting it to me (just the fact that I have to add this note is proof that something is not right).
Who in he Hell are you to ask?
"If your m.o. seems to attract stalkers, maybe you should stay off the internet a (long) while. Just a thought."
My m.o.? Looks to me like an abusive stalker can be easily recognized in this very thread. What m.o. did I use to deserve the nasty attack from the stalker in this thread?
And doesn't that make the stalkers win? To be honest, your suggestion isn't much of a suggestion, it sounds more like what you would wish.
"Another thing that a paid subscription would curtail would be "celebrity" posters that frequent here. For example, I don't think that Tony Snow would have posted here if he had to pay to do so."
Famous people who want to post here like Tony Snow did could probably easily get a free account.
Appreciate your support.
I used to belong to the "just scroll past people or posts you can't stand," school of thought and kind of still agree to the theory-- but the difference in "before" and "after" at Free Dominion was amazing.
50 to 75% of the flame wars died immediately, and the tone became far more civil.
"This is on your home page ,I haven't run into the same problem yet."
That is good to know. I am interested if other people are having that problem or not.
In case you're interested you can find one right here in this thread. Just look for the abusive flame with personal attacks. I'm sure you can't miss it.
"I was just doing a minor illegal alien type hijacking of the thread by agreeing with you in Spanish."
Shows you how dumb I am.
I thought it was FRENCH!
LOL!
:0)
"It's been a while since we had an 'I have a better way to run FR' thread."
Allow me to help you notice the fact that my vanity was posted in the most questioning terms, clearly seeking input and ideas from other FReepers.
In no way was it meant, like you are trying to make it seem, that I know better or can do better than anyone else.
NOOO! That is a travesty. Heartbreaking. I hate it when good people go.
I never said that, quit being so sensitive, or we'll have to make this a pay per site, and only allow your approved opinions.
This is the Wet dream of the DU crowd. If posting was restricted to pay only, then you wouldn't find some of the most interesting folks who only jump on here casually.
But mostly, such a move would remove Free Republic from the core and marginalize the site for some other site like several folks around here have said.
As far as being out of date. I study web sites. And this site works. I have my complaints and ideas how to fix Free Republic, but, the forums here work. Nested presentations like at DU and Slashdot and other sites hide content and the vast majority of the discussion is lost. Some may say this is good. But remember, the most famous post on Free Republic was way deep in the thread at post 47.
If this was buried, would it have been a day or two rather than minutes before this fire began to burn? Free Republic communicates fast. Posers and Trolls are identified quickly and referred to Management with stunning speed. This is as good as it gets.
But, you know the ultimate answer to this whole question can be answered by you if you care. Build your own and see if anyone comes.
he's left a couple times. A couple weeks off does us all good.
No.
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