MODS Rule!!
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.)
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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?
It's bad manners to talk about people without pinging them.
Oh, and for the record, I should hope that supporters of McCain, Romney, and other RINOs/DIABLOs feel unwelcome on FR!
Ok, I’ll be nice...
[there are so many FReepers that if each contributed $1.00 per month we’d never have to have FReepathons.]
I’ve written that on threads before with not a single reply! How easy it could be!
Yeah, I was nailed last week for being a “newbie.” I have been here for more than a year.
JimRob agrees but I'm not at all sure he wants to change the volunteer system.
I'm relatively new, I pay a very modest monthly fee now but started with just a few small donations at first. Because I know there are thousands of FReepers that find it hard to give much I try to think of ways (they might not be good ways) to help increase FR funding. Jim has been very responsive to my ideas but always indicates that he likes it as it is. It's his site and I feel less guilty about posting a lot now that I am at least monthly.
Getting a *lot* of small monthlies could go a long way toward helping out FR IMO.
We need these.
Man, I would so love for JimRob to add a WYSIWYG editor here. Would make putting up interesting-looking posts a breeze if we didn't have to use HTML for everything (including a simple paragraph break).
One thing that REALLY gets me fired up is when someone new asks an innocent vanity question, this person is called a troll and is ridiculed. The real trolls are obvious but the newbies aren’t aware how spastic some members are with the ZOT.
Name the names, CG.
My first and only thread posting was a vanity.
You’ve posted a total of 1 thread and 66,163 replies.
Try again it can’t be any harder than this one.........
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2371516/posts?
Freepathons ain’t bringin’ in the cash like they used to, Eh? We need more Newb Blood? (Monthly donor here; part of the solution, not part of the problem.)
Fine. I won’t call out the Noobs. Actually, as Moderator, that’s YOUR job, so since I’m already tapped out, pulling the wagon that all the other FREELOADERS here are riding in these days, I’ll stop doing your job, too.
How’s dat? ;)
Romney gave his state RomneyCare. Right now we have another guy trying to install something like it in the nation. As Conservatives I hope we agree that this is wrong.
Why would I possibly support Mitt Romney. Why would I be anything but miffed that a guy tries to pass himself off as a Conservative, but still pushes this junk?
As for McCain, I’m not going to waste my time listing all the things he has praised Obama for doing. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking that guy could be our president.
So yes, I guess that makes me an evil angry person alright. Imagine that, I’m one of those sickos that actually thinks our Constitution is almost sacred, and that it should be upheld.
God forbid anyone on the right should want me on their side. /s
How could I oppose Romney and McCain like I do? I’m so damned ugly...
I think its an indicator.
Actually, in our conversations, donations never came up. This is out of frustration seeing some potentially good people sign up and after a few comments, were driven off simply because they didn’t understand our culture.
For most, this isn’t about doing more, it is simply about being civil and understanding how internet communities are changing.
No, he wants to stay on donations only and I agree. A ‘paid’ forum operates under a different set of rules AND regulations.
I prefer mail in checks so I send a check for three months at a time.
Looks like you were able to recognize your own unfortunate approach to communicating without me having to say your name at all.
If the laws, regulations, etc change then I see it. He hadn’t mentioned that.
Cool.
There is a forum on this site called...”Bloggers and Personal”. That’s what it’s called. Seriously.
Now I am a Blogger but I also am a prolific poster on this site. I understand that prolific doesn’t necessarily mean good or even desireable but go with me here, I don’t post a link to my Blog once a week and run off. I actively participate in discussions and many enjoy what I offer.
But I simply cannot win. I go to this part of the forum called, again, read it...BLOGGERS AND PERSONAL. Silly me, this makes me think it’s okay to post a link to my Blog...a synopsis.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such cruelty and nastiness in my life and at times I want to sob out loud.
What happened to the FreeRepublic I used to know? For I am no newbie, that’s for certain. I joined this forum right after the attacks on 9-11-01.
I get cartoons of Blog pimps, nasty comments, told my Blog is ugly. I only post links to my Blog once a week but to try desperately to be fair I put right on the front page, in big capital letters...VANITY TO MY BLOG! Just so that folks who don’t want to be bothered can scroll right on by, scroll right on by, don’t let me offend you. And yet there are people who have to take time out of their busy lives and write nasty things and I wonder what joy people get out of taking time to stop and be mean.
I don’t put my Blog synopsis and link on that forum to garner hits. You get a couple of hundred hits, maybe, but that’s peanuts in the world of this big bad internet. I put the link to my Blog because I love to write, I love to Blog, I’m not normal some might say, I want to share my thoughts.
Why oh why is this so bad?
I contribute to FreeRepublic’s fundraiser. I try to be fair and decent but this site has somehow come to be a place for a few very mean people whose goal in life is to show how nasty they can be.
Hey, it’s not that often and it’s not that many. The vast majority of Freepers are good people. Used to be only Liberals were mean. But it only takes one really, really mean commenter and it can ruin a day. I can’t imagine how on earth a new poster handles it. They probably head for the high hills.
I happened to check into a thread by a relatively new Blogger and he was getting eaten alive because he put up a post to his Blog. I defended him, I told him that this was the Bloggers and Personal forum and he could most certainly post a link to his Blog here. Blogging IS a way of communicating today and hey, go ahead, start another forum for strictly Freeper Bloggers if need be but dear Lord stop with the meanness.
I do so appreciate the time taken to post this and I will volunteer to help in any way possible to welcome new posters. I know FreeRepublic has gotten involved in some of the tea parties and is getting more recognition every day. I’d hate to think that we’ve all gotten so small, mean and narrow minded that we implode and rot into ourselves.
No more cheese threads in "Breaking News??"
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