Who reads FR? [FReepathon thread 9.6]

Conservapedia-An Illustrated Guide ^ | Jan 18, 2011

[bezelbub]

At www.freerepublic.com, we find the question Who reads FR? to be answered in the following way:

Over 300,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic since inception in 1996 and our forum is read daily by over one hundred thousand freedom loving citizens and patriots from all around the country, and all around the world. We're currently delivering over thirty million pageviews per month to over one million visitors.

This number of 300,000 users is sometimes quoted (i.e., "On one conservative Web site, Freerepublic.com, some of the site's 300,000 registered users have recently used discussion threads to encourage votes for Bristol." - www.people.com), and adorns the front page of freerepublic since Dec 2008 (waybackmachine.com).
But it was wrong then - and it is still wrong now.

So, why aren't there 300,000 freepers?

When registering for posting privileges, any user gets an identification number. The user normally doesn't see this ID, it is only used for internal purposes. Jim Robinson got the number 1, the number 100,000 is taken by The 100,000th FReeper! Unfortunately, these consecutive numbers seem to have been assigned at the beginning of the registration process, not after a successful creation of an account. So each failed try to register increased the used ids, but not the number of accounts. Both numbers diverged pretty fast, but the bug wasn't mended until Feb 2010, when the new mile-stone of 350,000 attempted registrations arrived. By then, the two numbers differed by roughly 100,000. In fact, when freerepublic announced to have 300,000 registered users for the first time ind Dec 2008, the number really was closer to 230,000 - and today, it is less than 270,000.

And what has been done about it?

The way the powers-to-be have chosen to get the numbers right is obvious: they wait for the reality to fit the stated fact. The number of created accounts wasn't updated for two years, and probably won't be changed for another two years, until the number of registered freepers meets the announcement on the front page.

Just for the record: I think that the number of pageviews and visitors are correct. And I doubt that the makers of the site willingly inflated the numbers of created accounts. It seems to be just an honest mistake, and an easy one to make. But when they found the bug, wouldn't it have been the right thing to change the number, as they knew that it was false?

[mnehring]

geez, you must be a riot at parties.

It probably goes something like this:
_{In nerdy, nasally voice}
The beer you poured me says it is in a 32 ounce plastic cup but you poured too much head, that is only 28.876893 ounces. You lied about the amount of beer. You must fix it!

[mnehring]

Oh good grief.. no offense, but get a life.. It is close enough for general knowledge purposes.

There are so many better things to do with one’s life than to spend lord knows how many hours or days going through each and every sign up here (300,000+) and seeing their status, compiling the data, and then writing about it.

[gitmo]

Does this blogger have any evidence to support his claims? I see no proof offered in the blog.

[dayglored]

> You lied about the amount of beer. You must fix it!

Even worse... "You must take stop your bartending duties, find a balance scale, and spend your time measuring it until it agrees with my figures."

If I were the bartender, I'd pour the "short" beer over his head, by way of reply.

[bezelbub]

It’s more like: Bartender, you are advertising British pints, but you are handing out American pints. Do you think that this is close enough?

[Jim Robinson]

Woo hoo!!

And this just in:

$10.00 from Texas
$20.00 from Pennsylvania
$10.00 from Never Never Land
$100.00 from California

Thank you all very much!!

[DJ MacWoW]

You are the ONLY one who cares about things that signify nothing. GET A HOBBY!

[cynwoody]

Your query returned no results.

So, he's not very talkative. Maybe his jollies were totally fulfilled by aligning his name to his number. No need to post, then.

It would be interesting to know how many times he logged on and how recently. And which other FReeper logs in from the same IP.

[onyx]

Jim just wrote;

Woo hoo!!

And this just in:

$10.00 from Texas
$20.00 from Pennsylvania
$10.00 from Never Never Land
$100.00 from California

Thank you all very much!!

[eak3]

we should care why?

[onyx]

[Windflier]

I was a FR reader long before I joined.

Same here. I must have read occasionally at FR for three years before I finally registered as a member.

No telling how many thousands of people read here, who don't have an account.

[mnehring]

Or how many folks share accounts, such as husband and wife or newsroom groups like the Pajamas Media team.

It makes exercises like what the OP did completely fruitless and a waste of oxygen.

[Windflier]

I’ll bet your one of those guys who’d complain if he was hanged with a NEW rope.

LOL!

You're on a roll today, Jim!

[r-q-tek86]

I’ve noticed that the post time clock isn’t the same as my computer’s clock...

[dayglored]

Just kicked a double-sawbuck into the kitty from my iced-over Upstate NY hilltop abode. The sun may not be shining outside, but FR brightens my day!

May God bless you and all the folks who put so much time and effort (and love and spunk!) into keeping FreeRepublic on the air, growing, and thriving!

Thank you!! -- Dayglored

[mnehring]

I’ve noticed that the post time clock isn’t the same as my computer’s clock...

I've seen a lot of posts on this, but what is funny is the time clock here may not match my computer, but it does match my cell phone.

[Windflier]

That’s why we have blog overlords.

Well, that's just great. Humblegunner is already insufferable. Now you done gone and gave him a dang title.

His head's gonna swell, you know. He'll be downright impossible now!

[dayglored]

> I’ve noticed that the post time clock isn’t the same as my computer’s clock...

It's true. The only clock that is correct is the one at FreeRepublic.... time to reboot the Internet!!!

...3...2...1...

[humblegunner]

He'll be downright impossible now!

Pshaw, I've been downright impossible for years!