[si tacuissem]

A thread with over 14,000 posts in it tends to be either very serious or very silly. I read a couple of thousands posts and have to admit that - as a European freeper - I don't know where to place this one in, there're lots of things I just don't understand, and a lot of things, I just don't like, esp. the foul language which is used even by the management...

So, I took a look at the stats:

Over 800 freepers participated in this thread, 30 freepers of those now show a blue screen (quidnunc KATIE-O kellynch shaylalala stuned_beeber jasoncann GenuineChocolateFace BeHoldAPaleHorse AZRepublican motzman Al Simmons sully777 Just sayin NGRY Sam Hill Pukin Dog habs4ever Dominic Harr Zeroisanumber 68 grunt cicero's_son oceanview Howlin RadioAstronomer meg88 debg B-bone justshutupandtakeit Peach Texasforever )

I don't now, how many "opused" or choose a kind of "inner emigration"...

To put this numbers in a context, I tried to get some stats of this site. At the homepage, it just states: Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic since inception in 1996 and our forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and all around the world.

Using the fact, that every freeper has a unique id-number (now going up to something like 280.000), I took a sample of 1000 feasible id-numbers and had a closer look at them. Here are my results:

• there are indeed ca. 200.000 accounts (either active or suspended)
• 25% (ca. 50.000) of these are banned or suspended
• another 40% (ca. 80.0000) of the accounts were never used to post
• the remaining 35% (70.000) were used the last time in

  2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
  1.3 %	2.1 %	4.4 %	6.8 %	5.8 %	5.9 %	8.4 %
  2600	4200	8800	13,200	11,600	11,800	16,400

It seems to be fair to say that there are 16,400 active freepers. Ca. 5% of those took part in this very thread. But I think that most of us other active freepers had a look at it. And we'll observe the development of this site:

• will it resemble a park where everyone willing to participate sensibly is welcomed as all the contributions add to the value of the site or
• will it become a backyard where there is no place for different opinions?

BTB: Of course, no guarantee can be given for the numbers - though they seem to be reasonable guesses. I'd be glad if someone could give the actual values...

[Mojave]

25% (ca. 50.000) of these are banned or suspended

Retreads, multiple fraudently obtained accounts. Probably more like 2 to 3%.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I run a whole bunch of email lists...and those who post are always much smaller in number than those who have memberships...frequently less than 10 percent of a list membership might post.

That is the way forums and discussion groups work. More readers than posters.

As discussion groups go, FR is HUGE. You don't get 16,000 people together online most places. Lots of towns don't have populations that big.

People who hang here a lot begin to treat it like it was fully public space, but it's not. It's a private park. It's too big to ever get lockstepped, but occasionally the owner makes a effort to nudge the group along the lines he clearly has stated are the true purpose of the site.

It's still and always has been here to be a conservative forum.

All opinions have never been welcome here. But within its subset, there is room for differing opinions, interests, viewpoints.



If you don't fit within the dark area, which includes an emphasis on social conservativism, you will find at time, things might be uncomfortable.

When subcommunities arise that are too far away from the mission statement, things happen too.

It really doesn't matter what we think of as the ideal diversity of ideas or viewing things as lockstep. This site was created for a certain form of political viewpoint, by the owner's wishes.

[new cruelty]

So, I took a look at the stats:

Great googly-moogly, I like the way your mind works.

[Kevmo]

Very interesting analysis. Thanks. I’m sometimes amazed at what some freepers can do. I probably have access to the same information but it would take me over a year to put it together and then, it would be worse than stale hamburger.

[rockrr]

I’m curious as to how you arrived at the 800 number...Surely you didn’t manually count each post?!

[si tacuissem]

Over 850 freeper took part in this thread, 39 are now banned or suspended:

Freeper	Last Post
quidnunc	04/21/2007
Texasforever	04/21/2007
habs4ever	04/22/2007
Howlin	04/22/2007
KATIE-O	04/22/2007
NGRY	04/22/2007
Peach	04/22/2007
stuned_beeber	04/22/2007
Zeroisanumber	04/23/2007
AZRepublican	04/23/2007
B-bone	04/23/2007
kellynch	04/23/2007
motzman	04/23/2007
Pukin Dog	04/23/2007
Al Simmons	04/24/2007
Dominic Harr	04/24/2007
Sam Hill	04/24/2007
68 grunt	04/25/2007
BeHoldAPaleHorse	04/25/2007
cicero's_son	04/25/2007
debg	04/25/2007
GenuineChocolateFace	04/25/2007
jasoncann	04/25/2007
Just sayin	04/25/2007
justshutupandtakeit	04/25/2007
meg88	04/25/2007
oceanview	04/25/2007
RadioAstronomer	04/25/2007
shaylalala	04/26/2007
sully777	04/26/2007
Cincinatus' Wife	04/29/2007
dukakis kerry the dream team	04/29/2007
GSlob	04/29/2007
ilovew	04/29/2007
Jhensy	04/29/2007
RexTheRunt	04/29/2007
sissyjane	04/29/2007
IrishRainy	04/30/2007
veronica	04/30/2007

Bilbo Baggins phrased this Golden Rule for online-comunities:I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you as well as you deserve.

I'm sorry to witness this blood-letting...