Reasonably. Many younger posters I have stayed in touch with started leaving during the frequent crash period. Even more got run off during one of the great purges. I have no way of proving it but I would wager a hefty sum that the demographics have shifted at least 10 years upward on average age of active FReepers in the last 6-7 years. Go back and look at threads from more than 10 years ago. There was a definite presence but 35-40 year olds now not so much. My son turned 40 this year and is reasonably tech savvy. He doesn’t get the attraction to FR - to clunky compared to other conservative sites. My younger offspring say the same thing. Good if you still have dial up service one said.
Tell them it’s not about technology (although I have no complaints about FR on that). It’s about the comments. They are the heart of Free Republic.
Anyone can post a legitimate, well-sourced news article. Freepers give you the extremes of opinion that news and opinion pieces can’t give. They contribute a perspective informed by the state where they live and in some cases even a deeper knowledge, depending on what they do in their lives. Freepers’ political memory is extraordinary, and of course there is great wit and wisdom here.
I’m not even going into the “family” stuff, like how the posters are known to one another and constitute a community of sorts.
It is priceless. The posters we disagree with even help. The kids just don’t get it.
>>Go back and look at threads from more than 10 years ago. There was a definite presence but 35-40 year olds now not so much.
The 35-40 year olds of old are the 45-50 year olds of today.
The site may be more generational than others.
I don’t want pre-chewed bits with embedded videos (that have a tendency to crash even modern browsers on current systems on high speed networks).
And the discourse at the bottom of MSM articles is very poor. FR posters will cite additional details and counter arguments in the articles and discussions posted (often with references). In the MSM, you get name calling and long discussions of how it was Jews celebrating the 9-11 attacks and that Boosh stole the 2000 and 2004 elections.