Just some thoughts. And I think anyone who doesn't love Bibi should be banned.
Posted on 10/26/2009 4:32:01 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
This is a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood Admin Moderators (Sidebar gave us some attitude so we shoved him in the closet for a while. He never recovered from the Yacht incident) For a while, we have noticed some things happening that we need your help with. The Free Republic community is strong; we are almost a family, albeit very dysfunctional at times. Like any community, we have new members joining us daily. Unfortunately, the air of suspicion and the desire to keep things “the way they are” has fostered a feeling of distrust with new members. Almost every day, we see new members join, then, because of comments of suspicion, they often don’t return. For any community to thrive, it must grow. Because of this, we are asking for your help. Here are some important things you should know:
The Internet has changed greatly since Free Republic first started. When we formed, few people had their own websites, now, everyone has their own blog. With this, there is an attitude change where someone who doesn’t understand how our community works may be more interested in self-promotion than we have been used to in the past. We don’t want to change the overall feel of this site- it is about our shared values, not about self promotion, however, we don’t want to drive people away simply because they link to their own blog. There are blog “pimps” who want nothing more than to promote their own sites, but for most people, it is simply how they start out sharing their thoughts on a matter. Encourage these members to take part in existing discussions.
Many new members may not communicate well what they believe and it gives the appearance they are not 100% kosher in their Conservative beliefs. This may have nothing to do with their Conservative credentials but simply how they are communicating their beliefs or how the media/pop culture has told them what to think. Be an example and discuss what you think is wrong. A liberal troll’s true colors will reveal themselves while a new member who is honest, but may not communicate well, may learn from the conversation.
Remember, how you respond to a topic not only reflects your thoughts, but also is a reflection of the community and Conservative values. We need to be an example of positive conservative values when responding to members, especially new ones. As mods, we make a strong attempt to screen all new members. Every new sign-up goes through a period where their posts are reviewed. This helps us eliminate most trolls, porn and commercial spammers, and those who don’t fit in with our Conservative values. This isn’t a perfect system, but it does help us make sure that by the time a new member reaches the community, there is a greater chance this person is the type we want around. Some slip through, yes, and you can always help us by hitting the abuse button. (of course, we do let some world class morons through every once in a while as “Live Chow”- after all, the kitties have to have toys.)
_____________________________________________
With all that said, we need to grow. We need to be far more welcoming to new members and guide them into how to use our community best. With this said, we are issuing a challenge to our long time Freeper family. We would like to start up a ‘welcome wagon’ type of ping list or group whose job it is to welcome new members, show them the ropes, and guide them through our community. This could be as simply as giving new members a kind welcome, guiding them to how to post topics or replies, or just making the experience pleasant.
As this is your community, we would like your thoughts, ideas, and most importantly, for some of you to step up and help us with this.
We are passing the ball to you. What do you think?
Just some thoughts. And I think anyone who doesn't love Bibi should be banned.
Great idea. It took me months to get up the courage to post, then although I didn't get hammered I was unsure if I should even respond to people on my own threads for fear I would be "bumping" my own thread for number of views. That's noob thinkin' for ya.
Sign me up.
Sybil?
Can’t we just play good cop bad cop?
Here’s an observation....
Newbie signs up but gets his in-thread posts pre-screened with a message: “thank you for your comment, it will be considered for posting”, and it may show up in the thread anywhere from 10-60 minutes later.
But the same newbie can start a new thread and it gets posted immediately?... do I have that right?
If this is correct, doesn’t this encourage newbies to do the very thing they shouldn’t be... i.e. starting new threads without knowing the ropes... and at the same time doesn’t it discourage them from doing what we want them to do i.e. engage in existing discussions?
I think the pre-screening thing should be reversed...
no new threads till they prove themselves worthy in discussion... but let them have at it with posting in existing threads.
But then what fun will the kitties have?
By jove...is that James Carville in the back?
Those people didn’t drop out. They are still here, but there’s no election to bother to bring those things up again.
I know, because I talk about the things you said. :-)
I have to say when I joined, I read ...a lot first. I was excited to find people who wrote how I thought!
I investigated things too. Like before posting a reply, checking the date of membership and going to poster’s homepage.
I say thank you FReepers for not slamming me! But as a newbie I spent lots of time being cautious how my responses were worded.
As for new members, a welcome wagon sounds nice, but those on that committee set themselves up for the big fall to a troll. Yes, I see some of the fast IBTZ’s and perhaps that is something management should address vs. setting folks up. I’ve read many threads where we’re being “attacked” etc. and yet we want a welcome wagon?
Just my 2 cents. It ain’t worth much.
lol
btt
lol
Aren’t you the one who came up with the Soup Nazi picture... No Freep For You!
New threads are also pre-screened.
Same for me too! I remember posting my first thread. I cut and pasted all the html, ads and all. Needlesss to say, it was a mess and most freepers couldn't read the thread.
I stayed away from FR for days after that. Fortunately for me, Freepers were kind about it.
>We are passing the ball to you. What do you think?>
See my blog for details.
www.heresmyblog.com
; )
Welcome to FreeRepublic.com
#
ON THE INTERNET:
Yeah the FReep Nazi was one of my unruly children.
A few more notes.
The mods are working on a guide for newbies on how to post in the blogger’s category.
If someone wants to take the ball and start the “welcome wagon” ping list- go for it. It is better if something like this is done by regular members instead of mods.
I suspicion some confusion. Probably the same confusion that partisan newbies bring to this forum.
It is certainly OK to turn the other cheek when confronted with moderate sentiment on this forum but it is not a sin to defend conservatism through rejection of liberal, poliical personalities and leaders, regardless of partisan affiliation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.