Posted on 10/23/2012 3:58:44 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
The 4th and final of the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates have come and gone for 2012.
Here are the three things we can walk away with.
- Romney can't lose a debate coin toss, going 3 for 3. Which of course means nothing.
- Obama gets more moderated debate time, going 3 for 3 in the time column. Which of course means nothing.
- Free Republic crashes before any debate and doesn't get back to normal until dawn the next day.
I would like to state that I have been here since the 2004 election season. I can't lay claim to being an old timer here compared to some of the posters here. I can safely say though that I am not a spur of the moment account meant to come here and spam, insult and run away.
Here's my point; Free Republic is in danger of not being relevant and it's purely because of technical reasons.
I know your technical team or advisor is trying like mad to isolate why this site is unavailable for hours on end surrounding the debates this year. It's not working.
This debate season for Free Republic has been the equivalent of having a TV network go out for a wild card round, divisional round and conference or league championship. The network knew the times of the contest, they knew tons of people would be watching, they knew where the technical problems might arise yet failed 4 times over the course of every scheduled event.
Now the Super Bowl of American politics is 2 weeks away and the same team that has aired loading screens for every head to head political contest this year must realize this simple fact; if you're not up and running on election night 2012 you might as well close the door on any thought of continuing your political relevance.
Online communities do not build themselves overnight but they can collapse overnight. As inconceivable as it may be this could be a swan song moment that you were warned about, tried to prevent yet ultimately could not control. If your traffic can't get to your site, you have no site.
If you fail in giving voice to this community during what should or could be a glorious night for America your role in history will be noteworthy, just like print edition of Newsweek's coverage of the Presidential inauguration in 2013. Non-existent.
History will indeed be made on November 6th because of the nature of the event. The question Free Republic needs to determine is if it is going to report history or become part of it.
The limited information that has been offered doesn’t allow for an easy diagnosis. But, what little I have read from Jim makes me wonder if they are over their head.
I think FR needs professional help. It will be expensive, but less expensive than buying more hardware that won’t help. I suggest they start with a database performance consultant, as I suspect that is where the problem is.
Doesn't the left say the same about Limbaugh after every election?
I would say you are exactly right.
Yes, but, I never have trouble tuning his program in Monday through Friday at 12 noon ET no matter where I am or what’s going on in the world. Not so with FR.
You do know that their is a group of people on FR that will completely excuse stuff like this and bomb you with 10,000 “how dare you” replies.
They think they are sticking up for JimRob when they are just behaving like brown-nosing groupies.
The problems you cite are legit and the last 3 debates showed that this site for whatever reason is not able to deal with major news event discussion even though that is the whole point of the site. Now if the management cares or not isnt all that clear, but if they do then they really ought to look into some creative solutions and not just let the “why dont you donate 10,000,000” sarcasm kiss-up crowd to be the only answer people see.
FR is a great site, but if people dont think it is holding up, lots of those people, paying or not, may take flight.
I was referring to his content, not the availability.
It needs to be resolved. While some of these complainers are only noticing these issues now, it has been getting steadily worse over time.
Is it or is it not a capacity problem? Just because someone is not posting, doesn't mean they are not using capacity of some sort in just trying to visit the site. Add on to someone trying to post and hitting the enter key over and over....like 15 times...or more...and it bogs the system down.
Last debate I suggested some folks visit the two alternatives. Stubborn FReepers insisted on staying on a site with a closed door and a leaky tin-roof. Twitter a live thread, FB a live thread, Yahoo alt. ....etc. There are other options to keep in touch with other FReepers, it is just FReepers are a stubborn bunch. They'd rather complain at times than really communicate.
I did not even waste my time last night with FR and I won't bother election night either. The more that kind of stuff happens though, the closer to irrelevant FR becomes. And that is a shame, because there are some brilliant minds posting here.
FRiend,
The site is always stressed when THE NICE GOVERNMENT MEN want to silence the citizens’ VOICE OF FREEDOM., like during a national presidential debate.
Pure and simple. This is what fascist control looks like in Obama’s America. It is a wonder the Obamunist have not closed the site altogether. believe me, they read every word. So we have a choice: diminished responsiveness, during debate times, or none at all, which will be the norm if the commie is re-elected and FR is shut down as a hate site against gays commies and non Christian perverts and terrorists trying to destroy our world... Hang in there, we are in a battle for freedom.
Endure, grin, bear it, and be thankful when we are allowed to exercise 1st A rights, for we may not have them for long.
Did you ever consider, you or family members may one day be civil war veterans?
FE
A hobby-related forum I visit will give a message that the post you are trying to enter is the same as the post you just entered. It keeps those multiple posts down to zero. Last night there were about 650 posts in what should have been a huge debate thread. About 50 of those were the same post over and over.
Someone mentioned the site works faster if you are logged out and only reading. I tried that last night, took most of the debate to log out and finally got on the debate thread with a few minutes left. Meanwhile, I had several other working options going on from other sites, but this is my favorite. I wish it worked.
You do know you sound Like Obama last night?
You’re always free to leave. This is my home and I’m sticking with it. Does it need some remodeling, yes but I love it. You can list it.
I agree with your observations. It is maddening that FR hangs up at these times. Not sure what the problem is or how to solve it, but I think it is long past time for a professional consultant to come in.
What? You mean MORE money? You sound like Obama
What is notable thusfar on this early thread is that there has not been a single comment from any FR administrator or moderator about what they think is causing the problems and what they are doing about it. Disappointing. But perhaps we’ll hear something later this morning.
No need to insult someone trying to educate you as to the differences in media. I am not decrying Rush’s success just pointing out a fact. It is not my concern if you “like” the fact or not.
Go away.
I don’t come here for live chat either. I can yell at my tv/radio/computer without having to type it into a thread.
I too come here for information not found elsewhere. That is what this site is good for. It isalso good to know others agree or to hear a neocon’s perspective vs. a libertarian perspective of some events. Live chat? Not so much.
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