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?

[Lysander]

send us up the bomb.

[DJ MacWoW]

Your title is still incorrect. Your premise isn’t who but how many. Page views answers that.

[Responsibility2nd]

Click here to Donate. Do it for Bobby McGee

[mnehring]

That really is kind of a side diversion as the main problem I have with your analysis is how you came up with the 28% variance in registrations and membership.

[DJ MacWoW]

LOL!!!

You should have pinged the Boss. lol

[don-o]

The worst song ever is NOT “Me & Bobby”

It’s “Macarthur Park”

And I am a little disappointed you did not know that.

[Responsibility2nd]

Ehhh. I already fussed at him in post 79.

Honestly I like that song for one reason: It is easy to learn how to play that on the guitar. Just 3 chords and you're done. It's the very 1st song I ever leaned on the guitar.

[sam_paine]

We’ve got a lot of people posting here and even more reading.

And even more posting before reading! =)

[thackney]

Previous statement about bloggers by Jim Robinson

...Furthermore, I’m not big on “rules.” You won’t see me posting rules for bloggers. The rules for bloggers on FR are the same as the rules for everyone else. If you are a good conservative activist and are willing to work with US on OUR goals and causes and not against US, then you’re welcome to post to FR. But unless we say otherwise your blog material should be posted to our bloggers forum and it would be best if you do not excerpt your own material and if you would actually join in on the discussion here on FR. We’re not really that interested in driving OUR traffic to YOUR blog. But if our readers see that you post useful information then they might start reading your site and that’s fine by me.

552 posted on Tuesday, December 07, 2010 4:06:19 PM by Jim Robinson
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2636843/posts?page=552#552

click link for full text and context.

[InvisibleChurch]

America where are you now?
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?
Don’t you know we need you now
We can’t fight alone against the monster

[Jim Robinson]

You’re just not listening right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il1H1E6HpME

[thackney]

I was supposed to get a hat, too. :-(

[DJ MacWoW]

Yeah but that "Donate" button was a special just for Jim. :-)

His favorite is Kristoferson's version. I heard Joplins first.

[humblegunner]

OK, a different hat.

I've already got three of those.

[onyx]

And that’s good enough for me. Good enough for me... and Bobby McGee.

You betcha!

[agere_contra]

Oh man, now I want to be the Billionth Freeper.

I didn’t know it before I clicked on this thread, but now I want it so bad.

[Pan_Yan]

Interesting side note:

I heard Dr. Bill Bennett in an interview talking about his college days. He and Janis Joplin went out once. Try to get your brain to encompass how that date went.

[philman_36]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GFqhCq2HA
Speaking of "home girl" Janis, the liberal song of the ages as government is Lord to too many of them.

[DJ MacWoW]

LOL!!!!

[Responsibility2nd]

Wow. I googled that. It says he went on a blind date with Janis Joplin.

And I thought, yeah. It'd HAVE to be a blind date.