Free Republic has become Twitter. Posts of more than 140 characters have become increasingly rare and most are just reactions to mindless chatter surrounding some vacuous thread. Even threads now come from social media sources commenting on rumors of an unknown source. Yesterday, we had a wild alarm, accompanied by hysterical rantings all started by a thread that quoted Twitter feeds from Iraqis claiming that ISIS had overrun Balad Air Base and captured 300 Marines. The days when such ludicrous stuff was stopped in its track within minutes by some Freeper who knew what was going on and could point to credible sources seems to be gone forever. Even when Freepers came forward with accurate reports, their voices went unheard in the frenzy of Twitter-length nonsense.
All that said, I don't have a Twitter account or a Facebook page for reasons that this article makes clear. What is a mystery is why I am still a monthly donor to Free Republic and continue to participate. Nostalgia, perhaps.
Precisely.
Cheers,
‘Pod