Posted on 03/07/2007 6:57:43 PM PST by Bob J
I have diligently watched the rise in size and influence of conservative websites, including Free Republic, over the last 7-8 years. I have been shocked and concerned over the drop in traffic at the most popular ones over the last year or so. There was good growth up until 2006 but since then there has been a steady downtrend that would crash any other market.
Anyone have any ideas as to what is happening? I'm out of explanations. The deficiencies in alexa.com are noted, but even if the numbers aren't accurate you're still comparing off numbers to off numbers so the decline is consistent.
FR has really changed.
I see threads that have nothing to do with anything important enough to even read .. but there are so many of them .. they move the other important threads out of sight before you can even read them.
Too many disruptors. All they do is all people names and argue about everything .. and especially when they have all their facts wrong. It's practically impossible to DISCUSS any topic.
I won't stop supporting FR .. but I don't spend as much time here as I used to.
Rudybot works for me.
I wondered how long it would take for someone to blame Bush...
and that, by the way, is one of the reasons I don't spend as much time here.
The Sunday Morning Talk Show thread and the Day in the Life Thread are the ones I visit regularly.
Bush II betrayed the conservative movement and screwed up the Republican Party on the National Level.
You make a lot of sense. Speaking for myself - the thought that I might have to vote for the lesser of two evils again - depresses me so much, it's certainly taken alot of the air out of my balloon.
"Bot" has been over used. We need something fresh and demeaning to insult people with.
I guess the Porno sites are getting better.
BINGO!
AMEN!
EXACTLY!
I can't believe your brought up China! WOW! YOU ROCK! You are the real deal! YOU GET IT!
I'm not trying to lump everyone together. I think there are a lot more religious threads than when I was a lurker. In the past, for example, there was no daily liturgy from the Catholics and the like. I just indicated that my husband said there was talk one time of a separate area for religious threads.
I can read the Rudy threads with interest and amazement
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same here....i couldn't imagine someone in the republican party spinning that way just 10 years ago...it is amazing isn't it? Ya just gotta laugh and go on...at least that what i tell myself :D
Yes, but there is a curious increase in DU and FR activity right around the November '6 date when you joined, newbie. You seem here to divide rather than seek to unify.
There is a separate place for that, I don't know how much it gets used. Look under "Browse By Forum".
We all know what the issues are. We all know where the blame lies. We've told each other the same stories so many times that the memories are worn. There's nothing "new" about the "new media" anymore.
Which is not to say that FR and its companion sites aren't valuable. They serve as a nexus for the ideals that sustain us, and everyone needs peer validation once in a while. And occasionally, like the Dan Rather scandal or the Swifties, the eternal vigilance that is liberty's cost pays off.
But mostly, I think we're just getting older, and the fire is burning low. I know I can't muster the enthusiasm I once had.
But tomorrow's another day, and who knows what it may bring? In the meantime, Jim and John and the crew at FR are still latter-day Diogenes's to me.
It appears to me that there are fewer posts of articles from reputable news sites and more from marginal and special-interest sources.
Increasingly any post which does not hew to the wingnut lineis met with flaming.
In short, the hard-right ideologues have made life so miserable for center-right posters that they have decided that Free Republic no longer represents them.
More and more Republicans have decided that the wild-eyed lunatic fringe is doing more harm than good to the conservative cause.
I am not alone in this opinion.
I have discussed it with other Freepers who were formerly prolific posters of articles but who now seldom do so.
We are tired of the abuse so we have decided that we aren't going to stay where we aren't wanted.
If you think I'm exaggerating, just post an article favorable to President Bush and see the response.
How about "Libertarian?"
*Sizzle!*
You know, I am so sick of this. Could it have been worse, yes. A couple years ago I asked my very religious son who'd just reached voting age who he planned to vote for, he said.....ummm, not Kerry... Yes, I'll take two of Bush and bend over for more..but no longer will I be looking for "could it have been worse". Now, I'm looking forward to "could it have been better".
We need someone on OUR team and that's why I like Duncan Hunter, he actually likes America, he wants to stand up for America. I like that!!
the thought that I might have to vote for the lesser of two evils again - depresses me so much, it's certainly taken alot of the air out of my balloon.
I personally got tired of the hysteria against illegals. All hysteria, all the time.
Good assessment IJ.
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