Burp.
Jim ~~~ if I'm mis-representing what you have said, please accept my apology. It's a misunderstanding on my part.
I think that the definition of a well written vanity is one that does not get pulled! By that definition all vanities by the Robinsons, and the Moderators, are exceedingly well written. LOL!
Some vanities ARE informative and fun. There've been a TON of 'em about cars, music astronomy and Lord knows what topic that haven't been directly related to politics.
Without a sprinkling of vanities we'd lose our personality and that's one of the main things that sets FR apart from other websites. Without allowing some personality to we'd become just another sterile political forum, and that's the reason I highlighted what I did in the text I excerpted from the FR front page.
Conservatives have enough to battle, and enforcing the stereotype of us being puritatinical, frumpy and anything but fun-loving folks doesn't help. I would wager the fun aspect and personality of this forum are two of the main reasons newbies keep coming back.
Tin-foil hats and rightwing-nuts banished!? God forbid! When I engage a leftie in conversation and they call me a rightwing-nut I come back without missing a beat, "Yup, I'm proud to be a rightwing-nut helping to hold the Constitution together as the leftwing loose screws fall out". Or, "I'm a member of the Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy" (aside - I can't remember which FReeper came up with that clever slogan but it's a classic). The thing is when I hit 'em back with something like that it might get a laugh...break the ice...and a worthwhile exchange might follow.
Perhaps the problem is like Topsey we've grown too big. Maybe FR should evolve into a FreeRepublic Nation...a disributed forum. Costs and responsibilites could be spread over a series of seperate but related websites. Kind of like peer to peer networking. I'm sure it would be clunky and ineffective at first, but with the correct software and participating sites it may eventually be justified. "Temporary inconvenience - permanent improvement", to borrow a phrase from PennDOT.
Just my 2 cents worth.
prisoner6
"One man's trash is another's treasure."
At least 95% of Vanities are a complete waste of bits (and I think I'm being generous). By far the most common types of Vanities are (1) from people who in reading an existing thread firmly believe theirs is the sine qua non of opinions on the subject, and can't bear to think of their superior thoughts on that subject being buried among the debris of the common FReepers, and so post a Vanity instead of a response; (2) written by people who absolutely LOVE to hear themselves type, and have no doubt that everyone else does, too. Usually this type is an insipid essay on a subject that has been done to death, or something that is counter to the prevailing opinion--usually full of cliches and stock-phrases that have themselves been done to death--followed by three or four responses pinging the 25 or 30 people in the author's "posse."
And (3) is the plea for "off-topic" help (and I have myself posted a few of these): "Help, I can't figure out how to install Windows," "Does anyone have a recommendation for my next automobile purchase?) and the like.
And (4)last, the oozing sludge at the very bottom of the barrel: Those who post emails they have received, which are almost always either rumor or humor (in the eye of the beholder at least) that has at the very least appeared in the mail boxes of over 90% of FReepers anyway (or will soon appear in those of the last 8%), and most often has been posted innumerable times already.
As I said, the acceptable vanity is a very rare creature indeed. If we limited vanity posting only to those with wit, wisdom and a message that might actually have some substance to it, the traffic on FR would be cut dramatically, and we'd all enjoy it a lot more.