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 still leads relative to the others.
I see what's happening now as a mere lull. A "deep breath" if you will... I'm waiting for "the surge" here at home. I'm wondering why the injustice foisted upon Scooter Libby and other outrages are not yet sending FReepers and others to the streets with "Free Scooter" placards and the like.
Opportunities for "SPARKS" just keep rolling on by and it seems everyone is too "shell shocked" to get up and hit the streets! The cooling off has been going on since the 2000 election IMO.
it is the issues or posters (deliberately) egging some on enough to (hopefully) getting them banned?
Okay so it was probably an over-exaggerated guess-timation, it just seems the goal posts for 'allowed' discord and dissent on certain issues seem to be getting narrower and narrower these days.
And yes I've witnessed tactics to try to inflame posters so that they would erupt to the point where they get banned til they are. But there are other days when it 'seems' some mods are just trigger-ban-happy. Be that as it may I still love FR.
Yowser...nothing around here should land us in the deep, dire predicament you describe. There are professional practitioners and pharmaceuticals to assist with the depths of your despair.
Best wishes and good prayers that you feel better soon.
Maybe if you would just express your honest opinion on a subject instead of playing "devils advocate" you would have a better chance of having a "good old fashion(sic) debate". There appears to be more and more who come to FR for reasons other than to discuss conservative issues or news from a conservative perspective.
It has become obvious that some posters are, in reality, GOP operatives. They post the party line talking points without the ability to explain or defend them.
Clearly some liberals like to post on FR to get the goat of conservatives. They do waste time and bandwith but are usually easily spotted because they cannot control their urge to act, well, liberal.
I have had disagreements with posters from both ends of the spectrum but the childish invectives and name calling come mostly from one direction. Open border advocates are downright nasty. Rudy supporters aren't far behind in their quest to degrade their opponents without answering real questions. Often the tactics are similar. First is to call anyone who does not agree with them a "hater". I believe they picked this up from the "you must always support President Bush" posters. I can't remember being called a name by a poster who obviously has a strong religious point of view, even when they disagreed with me. On the other hand "fundamentalist freaks" type of postings appear quite common.
There clearly is a battle among those who tend to be Republican. This can most obviously be seen on the Rudy threads. Winning is everything (and only we know how to do it) against we won't support those pushing a liberal agenda no matter what. This battle will probably continue until the election and afterwords. One of the things that annoys me is why those pushing a liberal or a liberal agenda feel it is necessary to get on FR to express their opinions. This is a conservative forum. The "platform" has been nicely laid out. Maybe some believe that if they make enough noise the "platform" will be discarded. This is plainly what some hope will happen with the Republican platform. Or maybe some just like to play the "devils advocate".
He doesn't have the balls to do it.
Speaking from experience, are you?
Trigger's a HOSS!!!
Your FRiend,
"Sparky"
Purge good people and this is what happens.
FreeRepublic is a shadow of its former self in terms of the variety of the topics posted and the vigor and depth of the discussions they elicit. Try to find a thread that does not revolve around Ann Coulter or Rudy Guiliani.
J/K previously...
I agree we need to coalesce and get out there more.
Man burns genitals in 'Jackass' stunt
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1797170/posts
I've been concerned, too.
I think it's a kind of despair and demoralization after the last election and looking at HARXIST Gritch Shrillery running so forcefully . . .
And, we have no suitable standard bearer that looks like a real likely possibility. Hunter looks good but how much can he gain against Guillani.
Very troubling.
I've read 292 posts on this thread and this has been one of the better threads on FR and relatively free of insults and with lots of insightful comments.
My suggestions for improving FR are to have the moderators review each article before it is posted. There are too many insipid articles from bizarre sources and too many articles that are near duplications and too many single issue zealots who think that posting article after article will help make their point.
Today, I think I've seen 20 threads about rudy leading mccain in a poll. They were not dups but they all said the same thing.
Next, you could put a limit of say 50 posts a day for each poster, or you could limit some posters who are post too much crap. It would mean fewer and hopefully more substantial posts instead of 1 line posts like, "you are a bot"
If you only get 50 posts, you might actually want to say something meaningful. Plus, with limited posting, you might want to read more and yell less and that would be good as I find too many posters don't bother reading the article.
freerepublic has changed
its moderators have a case of bush self-flagellation disease wherein they convict border guards sworn to our defense, and free drug smugglers
denying the problem of gop dysfunction prevents it from getting better
if traffic is down, it is because freerepublic has ceased being a haven for conservative values and instead become a bush propaganda site
AGREE 100%
Well done, as usual, quid.
I think conservatism has grown a little stale. Since Reagan there's been no identifiable leader of national stature to embody conservatism. We keep looking back to Reagan, which in one sense is fine, but there's an whole new generation of voters who weren't even alive when Reagan was President, and no leader has taken his mantle (that speaks loudly about a leadership vacuum within conservatism). There is no coherent message that is central to the ideology -- everyone's off in their own corner grinding their own individual axe. And in that sense, we tend to eat our own. There are too many purists who are content to disembowel anyone who doesn't measure up to 100% of what THEY want. And the movement is sorely lacking in intellectual firepower. When the "conservative" message can be summed up in a simplistic three-word mantra (e.g., "Language, culture, borders"), there's nothing there to sink one's teeth into, no compelling vision to rally the nation to.
The good news is there is now competition for one element of the "conservative" web viewers. pat buchanan's new website includes a forum but I don't think it's quite ready yet. If you click on the forum link it glitches out quicker then one of his presidential bids.
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