Are Freepers Still Winning the Online War?

Vanity | 7/11/03 | me

[Political Numbers Guy]

Are Freepers still winning the online war?

I think we still are. But as conservatives, we need to ask what we can be doing better. One area in which we can and do must do more is blogs. What are blogs, you ask? They’re personal web journals run by online pundits, and they’re achieving enormous popularity both online and in the media. Blogs like InstaPundit.com, the Volokh Conspiracy, and Right Wing News are daily must reads where some of the best minds opine on the really important stories of the day, and where upstart bloggers (folks not unlike you and me) can get noticed just for covering the news well. Great blogs are like mini-Free Republics, and they’re growing at mind-boggling warp speed.

Grassroots conservatives have yet to make their presence known in the blogging arena. Blogdex.net tracks the most popular stories in blogs, and the worst sorts of lies about our President and our mission of liberation in Iraq top the charts every day. Today, it’s CBS News’ big lie that “Bush knew” that the Nigerian intel was false – something directly contradicted by its own story (first exposed by blogger Eugene Volokh). Despite a healthy supply of intelligent right-leaning bloggers, conservative stories always linger toward the bottom of the list.

As a longtime lurker and occasional poster, it surprises me that Freepers largely haven’t 1) picked up on the truly brilliant material that is produced by bloggers everyday – the good ones are seriously 10 times better than anything you’ll read on any op-ed page, and 2) struck out into this new medium ourselves by starting blogs to expand Free Republic’s sphere of influence.

Free Republic is a great rallying point for conservatives – but to truly defeat the Left, we need to be bigger than just one website. Bloggers have created value by building a network of thousands of smaller sites that are catching on like wildfire, and unfortunately the Left has taken advantage of it. There’s even talk of blogs becoming the “liberal talk radio.” There’s still time to stop this. By dominating Free Republic, talk radio, and blogs, there is no way Democrats and the Left can win at the grassroots.

There is something you can do right now. Start a blog. Go to http://www.blogspot.com and set up a free site for yourself. Start reading and linking to other conservative-minded blogs and your favorite Freeper threads. You’ll notice your readership start growing right away. Post the best stuff you in the “blogosphere” on Free Republic. Just 50 or 100 successful new conservative blogs can tilt the balance in a profound way and draw even more attention to our efforts here on Free Republic.

The expansion of direct personal publishing by bloggers is something we have to pay attention to. Free Republic could benefit immensely by giving Freepers free and/or premium blog hosting – attracting traffic and links from thousands of other blogs. The liberal rag Salon did this, and this is partly why the Left started gaining traction in blogging. AOL is now rolling out their own blogging product, and this blog piece talks about how it can and will be used to promote AOL content. Hosting blog sites on Free Republic makes plenty of sense from both an activism and a marketing perspective. Case in point: instead of just one fundraising thermometer on top of every FR page, there’d be hundreds more on popular blogs hosted on FreeRepublic.com, each linked to by dozens of outside blogs.

What does everyone think of these ideas? Most importantly, how can we make this happen?

[Dan from Michigan]

I look at it this way. If the elections are won, the online war is won. It's an important tool.

Blogs are IMO minor stuff. They are fun, but how big are they to the big picture. All sides will have theirs.

Bulletin boards - same thing. There's FR, LP, The High Road, MGOUC other gun and political sites, etc. There's the email lists, and everything else as well.

It all comes down to two major things. What is the goal, and what is the tactic used to achieve it?

[Quix]

I think you make some excellent points.

I must check out the blogs more.

[annyokie]

TheAngryClam has a terrific blog. Go read!

[headsonpikes]

Long time no see!

[Dan from Michigan]

Correction. Minor stuff in of itself. More blogs don't mean it's a win or a loss.

If they are popular, they can be major though.

[Political Numbers Guy]

The Semi-Official Directory of Bloggers on Free-Republic!

http://cathryncrawford.blogspot.com
http://williammckinley.blogspot.com
http://iraniangirl.blogspot.com
http://yaeli.blogspot.com
http://regnumcrucis.blogspot.com

We should get a Freeper-blogger webring going to boost all these sites! Sign up at Blogrolling.com to add links to the ever growing circle of Free Republic bloggers to your own blog.

http://www.blogrolling.com/signup.phtml

[WorkingClassFilth]

Good idea.

There are tons of wannabe writers here and I think that many would love a spot for posting their materials. In many ways, utilizing the full potential of the net is like getting used to sitting in the front of the bus. Most of the Conservative mental structure has been set up to process the tactics of being the underdog. The struggle up from the back of the bus needs to sink in before the tools and mechanics of maintaining and expanding power become familiar.

Give the movement time.

We're all unfamiliar with the net's potential as well as the novelty of power and real impact as a political force. As Conservatives, traditionally, we have spent most of our time on the porch. Sitting in the parlor is new to most of us, and our ascendancy has occurred at the same time as the shift in technology and information control. Together, these forces have a very large and unpredictable synergy.

There is a Robert Capa photograph of a soldier captured at the moment of a bullet's impact. He is captured on Capa's photo running, holding his rifle. Capa said that he ran on a few steps and collapsed - stone cold dead. I believe that encapsulates the situation the traditional media outlets. The Left still believe they rule the information flow and shape the opinions, but I believe that they have already been killed and the battle has moved on. They'll twitch for awhile, but ultimately they'll cool off and stiffen up.

So what I am saying is give us some time. Let us find our way around the house and realize a few of the potentials in being master of the house. The real danger, in my view, is shucking our shoes, putting up our feet and relaxing too long in our new parlor.

[thoughtomator]

How could you forget the USS Clueless?

[dennisw]

You have a good idea but no need to make it free. At least $30/year would be a reasonable blog hosting rate

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Smile. I'm still here, just very very busy these days. This place is easy to get lost in sometimes. Thanks for the bump.

[Political Numbers Guy]

A sense of community is really important to their success. A bunch of disconnected conservative blogs won't do much. A group of smart conservative blogs that all link to each other and do stuff for each other can do tons. And even InstaPundit, with 50,000 page views per day, relies on these smaller blogs for tips and links.

Let's also not forget the impact blogs are starting to make in the Fourth Estate. We all know the media is liberal. But above all else, it is *lazy*, and the more upstart bloggers can do the job of slicing and dicing the news and figuring out what the overlooked stories are, the easier it is for them. Do we really want to cede this ground to the liberals?

[headsonpikes]

"Thanks for the bump."

You're more fun to bump than most. ;^)

[Cathryn Crawford]

What is the goal, and what is the tactic used to achieve it?

Good point.

[Nick Danger]

Well, this sucks. Not only did I find out there was already some guy on blogspot calling himself Nick Danger, the Google search turned up another one on DU! Or maybe the DU one and the blogspot one are the same guy. Either way, my blogging future seems clouded.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Actually, two of those (http://iraniangirl.blogspot.com and http://yaeli.blogspot.com) are not FReepers. Iranian girl's was pointed out by someone here on FR and Ya el is a friend.

[William McKinley]

Free Nick Danger!

[Dan from Michigan]

True to some extent.

Pinging myself as well. I want to think this one over before posting.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

May I suggest "The REAL Nick Danger"?

[Political Numbers Guy]

My apologies sir. Yet more evidence of the lightning-fast speed which blogs can be used to debunk liberal bilge, in addition to Free Republic.

[GOPJ]

Do you have a list of the better known conservative blogs?