What's Happening to Conservative Websites?

vanity | 3-7-07 | Bob J

[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.

[Liberty Wins]

My bookmark goes right to the forum so Alexa doesn't even see me.

Free Republic has been my home page for years.

[evilC]

I am not certain, but fairly sure, that Alexa counts hits to any page on a domain. If that was not the case Yahoo, MSN and other large sites would score low because so many people hit pages other than their home page.

In other words visits to the forum should count as Alexa hits.

[wireman]

I couldn't agree with you more. And the majority of the really strident, annoying posters seem to have the most recent sign up dates.

The site is becoming a victim of its own success.

[quidnunc]

I have tentatively reached several conclusions which I have enumerated in Reply #513.

I suspect the operative phrase here is cui bono?

[Nova]

The graph you post could indicate a drop-off in the numbers of moonbat trolls on FR (and similar sites) along with their success in destroying the popularity of W.

[Godebert]

"But we must stay in the fight and not let the liberal bastards win."

They've already won. Half the threads on Freerepublic (a supposedly Conservative website) are touting a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda, pro-illegal immigration and anti-gun platform for the GOP. I never thought I'd see the day.

[RKBA Democrat]

"Now, if you don't toe the party line and show proper suckage, you are run out of here as a troll."

I'd have to respectfully disagree. I'm an open and notorious Democrat and have been so since day one of my time at FR. As for toeing a party line, I think I've been about as straightforward as I can possibly be in expressing my generally unfavorable opinion of the GOP. This is a conservative political website to be sure, but it isn't universally Republican. And my own personal experience has been that alternative opinions, when politely expressed, are generally tolerated.

[wireman]

Whose benefit?

I suppose the folks that operate the site (though I can't see how or why).

Could it be that success has gone to their heads and they feel as if they only need to appeal to the unappeasable zealots - The farthest right wing?

There have always been spirited arguments here. It's the new coarseness that I find most disturbing.

[quidnunc]

wireman wrote: Whose benefit? I suppose the folks that operate the site (though I can't see how or why). Could it be that success has gone to their heads and they feel as if they only need to appeal to the unappeasable zealots - The farthest right wing? There have always been spirited arguments here. It's the new coarseness that I find most disturbing.

This site operates on donations.

Who donates the most, the zealots or the mainstream members.

Was an analysis ever done?

I have no idea but there's this nagging little voice in the back of my mind which reminds me about the Great Schism back just after Y2K …

[wireman]

I agree. It seems that a conscious decision has been made to move FR in a certain direction.

Time will tell.

[Mr. Brightside]

Maybe it's because so many good stories get moved to chat.

Seriously....

What is the trend on liberal sites? Is it the same?

I imagine that there are high traffic times during elections, impeachments, national disasters, etc.

And that there are slow times, for instance AFTER a national election.

[Clintonfatigued]

There are several reasons, no doubt, but the 2006 elections demoralized many. Some are just no longer in the mood to keep up on public affairs, as they expect the news to be all bad.

[SeaBiscuit]

Bump!

[eleni121]

It's been depressing since the November debacle such as it was. Right after the elections I couldn't bear to confront any political news outlet much less post my comments regarding the snakes taking over. Rush and Levin were about the only two I could take.

I suspect lots of people feel the same way.

The numbers are bound to go up again.

[Seruzawa]

Yes but... but... but... only Rudy can win! We have to win! Even if it means selling our souls.

The claim that only Rudy can beat Hillary! is a load of camel dung. Republicans lose when they run liberals! Rudy is a great guy to run a big liberal hellhole of a city. He's bad news for the whole coutry.

My only uncertainty is in figuring out just how many of the strident Rudyboosters are paid campaign workers.

[OldArmy52]

Well, you sure hit the nail on the head.

I've been a conservative for 40 or so years and looking at the current crop of Repub Presidential hopefuls, other than Hunter, is like watching the Repub Congress/Senate the past few years.

Luke warm candidates, matching the luke warm Republican Party.

A den of wimps and weaklings.

Bush's problems come from strong enemies and weak allies.

Also from Bush acting like a Repub on odd numbered days and a Dem on even numbered days.

[chasio649]

campaign workers.

---

A Lot of us would like to know about that!

[SeaBiscuit]

Yes, and the rudybandwagoners claim anyone that is not behind Rudy will be responsible for Hellary getting elected.. if that's the case then I guess all those GOP hopefuls should drop out of the race right now or they will be accused of hurting Rudy and helping Hellary!

[OldArmy52]

Not a good example of a conservative, Mike Savage. Savage is to talk radio as McCain is to politics.

Sort of a bipolar guy, alternating between sound conservatism and liberalism or wackiness.

I thought Savage a conservative until he did a lovefest with McCain on one program.

[conservative in nyc]

What is the trend on liberal sites? Is it the same?

See posts and 299 and 314. The Liberal sites have had worse losses in the percentage of total Internet users who visit their sites (also called "reach") during the past 3 Months. And the big conservative Blogs' (other than Red State) reach is down about the same as DU or Daily Kos, but more than Moveon.org and Huffington Post.

Moreover, ALL major U.S. news sites appear to be down in the last 3 months. Free Republic's reach losses are almost identical to the New York Times, CNN, the Houston Chronicle, and Fark. On the other hand, YouTube and the social networking sites' reach is up, and major foreign news sources are down a less than their U.S. counterparts. The U.S. elections and their aftermath probably drove a little more traffic to the U.S. sites three months ago.

There does need to be caution when using these Alexa numbers, in part because they only measure those who download the Alexa toolbar, and in part because reach can fall while the number of visitors increases as more people surf the web. Also, Alexa measures worldwide users. While the U.S. Internet market is fairly mature, as more foreigners get on the web, reach for U.S. sites might fall.

That is why, like Kristinn, I'm skeptical of Bob J's premise. Whatever is happening to conservative websites appears to be happening to liberal ones as well. The recent fall might just be due to election fatigue and the availability of newer websites like YouTube and Facebook that vie for people's limited Internet surfing time.

I do agree with other posters that the dialog level here needs to be picked up a bit. But it doesn't seem to be driving any more users away than it does at similar sites.

Also, it would be nice to have thumbs up/thumbs down/laugh/rolleyes buttons on comments to cut down on contentless "I agree"/"You're stupid"/"LOL" posts.

I absolutely can't stand those things (and things like avatars). Can you imagine the number of useless no text, thumbs up or roll eye comments we'd end up with were that to be added? This site would look as unprofessional as DU.