Posted on 10/26/2009 4:32:01 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
This is a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood Admin Moderators (Sidebar gave us some attitude so we shoved him in the closet for a while. He never recovered from the Yacht incident) For a while, we have noticed some things happening that we need your help with. The Free Republic community is strong; we are almost a family, albeit very dysfunctional at times. Like any community, we have new members joining us daily. Unfortunately, the air of suspicion and the desire to keep things “the way they are” has fostered a feeling of distrust with new members. Almost every day, we see new members join, then, because of comments of suspicion, they often don’t return. For any community to thrive, it must grow. Because of this, we are asking for your help. Here are some important things you should know:
The Internet has changed greatly since Free Republic first started. When we formed, few people had their own websites, now, everyone has their own blog. With this, there is an attitude change where someone who doesn’t understand how our community works may be more interested in self-promotion than we have been used to in the past. We don’t want to change the overall feel of this site- it is about our shared values, not about self promotion, however, we don’t want to drive people away simply because they link to their own blog. There are blog “pimps” who want nothing more than to promote their own sites, but for most people, it is simply how they start out sharing their thoughts on a matter. Encourage these members to take part in existing discussions.
Many new members may not communicate well what they believe and it gives the appearance they are not 100% kosher in their Conservative beliefs. This may have nothing to do with their Conservative credentials but simply how they are communicating their beliefs or how the media/pop culture has told them what to think. Be an example and discuss what you think is wrong. A liberal troll’s true colors will reveal themselves while a new member who is honest, but may not communicate well, may learn from the conversation.
Remember, how you respond to a topic not only reflects your thoughts, but also is a reflection of the community and Conservative values. We need to be an example of positive conservative values when responding to members, especially new ones. As mods, we make a strong attempt to screen all new members. Every new sign-up goes through a period where their posts are reviewed. This helps us eliminate most trolls, porn and commercial spammers, and those who don’t fit in with our Conservative values. This isn’t a perfect system, but it does help us make sure that by the time a new member reaches the community, there is a greater chance this person is the type we want around. Some slip through, yes, and you can always help us by hitting the abuse button. (of course, we do let some world class morons through every once in a while as “Live Chow”- after all, the kitties have to have toys.)
_____________________________________________
With all that said, we need to grow. We need to be far more welcoming to new members and guide them into how to use our community best. With this said, we are issuing a challenge to our long time Freeper family. We would like to start up a ‘welcome wagon’ type of ping list or group whose job it is to welcome new members, show them the ropes, and guide them through our community. This could be as simply as giving new members a kind welcome, guiding them to how to post topics or replies, or just making the experience pleasant.
As this is your community, we would like your thoughts, ideas, and most importantly, for some of you to step up and help us with this.
We are passing the ball to you. What do you think?
I have a PAL DVD of that I need to rip to some better format.
What do those men in the military think of closing Gitmo?
What do they think of bringing the terrorists to the U.S.?
What do they think about the canceling of the F-22 program?
What did they think about the canceling of one type of anti-Ballistic missile defense system?
What did they think when McCain praised Obama for all this and more?
What did they think when John said torture did take place at Gitmo. What did they think when he said we have to close it, because it gives us a black eye because the rest of the world knows what went on there?
Would they have been happier if all this was being done in their name, after voting for him?
I don’t like what Obama is doing any more than anyone else does, but he’s not doing it in my name. He’s doing it in Mao’s name.
The above things would be done in our name. John would have destroyed our brand even further, presiding over the dismantling of our military. Oh yes, John talks a good game, but he either backs Obama’s play all too often, or does exactly what Obama would have done if he had been elected, or just keeps his yap shut when Obama does terrible things.
McCain is in his second best place right now. He’s outside the loop for much of what is taking place, and I hope that reaches 100% in November of 2010.
No, I don’t follow people all over the forum as a general rule. I figure they’re smart enough to figure this stuff out for themselves, or they’ll see me saying it and it will make sense to them without me having to follow them around.
We will get Congress back in 2010. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell, that would have happened with McCain in the White House. And 2012, Obama will be gone, yet McCain would have survived.
No thanks.
Series?
Really?
I was in the shower and missed the entire thing!
Wow Diana.
Love that movie!!
Because it works?
Yeah. I don't know what's in the minds of the powers that be and I wouldn't mind a upgraded interface but I do everything I need to on FR with three basic HTML commands, , and
.
The rest is intellectual work. And this bare-bones interface encourages mind over keystrokes.
CG has very complimentary pictures of McCain on her FR profile page.
The logical conclusion here is that she is, at best, a McCain supporter, and at worst, a McCainiac.
< We have to talk to them? Why can't we just eat them? /h
IOW, hit and run. It’d be nice if they hung around and participated in the thread they post here.
Those are for sure blog pimps and if you go check they don’t even off the courtesy of a link back to FreeRepublic.com from their own blog. Riding the back of others for blog hits..
BTTT
>>> Or, in the interest of supporting the forum we could link the posting of new threads to the commitment of at least $1.00 per month in monthy donations to FR. Non-donators could comment but not start new threads.
I thought of that suggestion myself, but I would advise against it. I’ve seen quite a few veteren freepers leave for much less.
HA! Oops.
italic, image and paragraph.
On the thread where this question came up, I recall those being some of the reasons given for why the forum remains sorta bare bones.
I'm not complaining. If those cool features were that important to me, I wouldn't have stuck around. I'm here because this place has become the de facto Central HQ of the conservative movement. It's the ideas, the communication, and the connection to others of like mind that are most stimulating for me.
I know Jim, John and those working behind the scenes more on a technical end, are always looking for ways to improve things...
Bless them, and all of you mods for everything you do for the rest of us. Thank you.
10-4, and when I read this thread, I thought you were starting the welcome wagon. LoL I was thinking, now that’ll be a juggle.
No, you’re right, it’s much better to have Ozero as the commander in chief. I’ll let my brother know. And my friend in Iraq. Maybe you could explain it to them. How it’s better to have the worst possible president than one who isn’t a perfect conservative.
On FR we have folks who trash lots of Republicans for not being conservative enough: Bush, Medved, Gingrich, even Cheney. Eventually, nobody is good enough. It makes you wonder what the true goal of these perfect conservatives is, really.
Of course, I'm sure some people will ask that you post animated gif's all over the page too.. :->
Darkwing104, Old Sargeand I sorta run the “Unwelcome Wagon”. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.