Free Republic Quasi-Official Blog Concept and Nomination Thread

[I Am Not A Mod]

Hi all.

I know that some people here are fans of Blogs. I am one as well. I had a brainstorm for something new here at FR, and Jim gave me the go-ahead to give it a whirl. The idea is for a quasi~official blog. The Freeper Island Blog.

Why Freeper Island? Because like Survivor, a blogger can be voted off the island.

Basically what I am imagining is that we will have a dozen people who are the designated inhabitants of the Freeper Island Blog. There will be a blog thread each day, and any of the twelve can add items to the blog (it would go in the article section of the thread. How we will handle updating it I need to work out. I have an idea but I need to talk to someone about it first). Anyone could reply to the thread, but only the twelve bloggers could add things to the article/blog portion of the thread. Each time an entry gets added to the blog portion of the thread, it would get bumped back to the top of either the Extended News or Editorial sidebar (this needs to be decided). The 12 islanders would have a month long term.

As the end of the month approaches, we would have a thread for voting for your favorite bloggers (all voting done publically). The 10 who get the most votes stay on (if they are willing).

Who gets to replace the two who didn't get enough support? We would also have a thread where people could nominate themselves (and give reasons why they should be voted on the island). And then a vote- again done publically on the thread. The two highest vote getters get a month on the island.

Who would be the original twelve? They would be picked by the same method- a nominating thread followed by a vote. Any replacements needed for emerging reasons would also be determined in this way.

Who gets to vote? To avoid problems, only Freepers with at least three months and at least 100 replies under their belt would be allowed to vote (or run).

These are my ideas for it. I figure we will give it a shot, and if it turns into a good feature we keep it and if not we won't.

Anyway, feel free to make additional suggestions, or if you are interested in being one of the first twelve, write up a nomination. I'll arbitrarily set Sunday at midnight as the cutoff for nominations, and will post a voting thread for Monday with each of the nomination writeups on it (order determined at random), with 24 hours for voting. You can nominate anyone, but only those who post to this thread saying they want to do it and why will actually make the ballot.

Cheers.

[McGruff]

I've got one of those blog things, but I haven't been keeping it up to date.

[I Am Not A Mod]

My choice of number is cliched! But 14 is round? Seriously, is there a less round number than 1? And look at all the hard angles in a 4. Pointy, pointy, pointy.

[Dog]

LOL!

[I Am Not A Mod]

My guess is that blogging with a group is easier, because there is some degree of debate that goes on and you end up playing off each other.

Although going with the "I have experience doing this, but I don't really keep up with it" might not be the most persuasive argument for being voted on in the first place...

[umbagi]

Ping...

If you've got the time, this is right up your alley.

[Fintan]

Sure, count me in. I'll try anything once.

[Fintan]

Sure, count me in. I'll try anything once.

[Focault's Pendulum]

I would like to nominate myself....as one of the sharks circling the island.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

Congressmen Billybob will SECRETLY have the hots for Chad Fairbanks but OPENLY flirt seriesly with the first blonde babe FReeper that comes along and then screw her--over- and vote her off the island. You will wear only a hugh loin cloth insinuating you also have large--- hands.You will be spotted alone alot with ernest on the beach gazing seriesly in his hugh eyes trying to con him. Jeff Head will outsmart you in a swift but hughly seriesly way...

[Timesink]

What's to stop people from being "voted off" for no other reason than that a certain FR clique got together to screw over someone they don't like?

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

The server burped and is acting sluggish for me, Sorry! Please delete two of the three identical posts.

[Calpernia]

What is a blog?

[I Am Not A Mod]

It would have to be a huge clique, because you vote for who gets to stay, and the clique would have to have enough votes to put 10 others ahead of the unfortunate screwee.

But you know what? I fully anticipate there are going to be groups that try to stack the island, and other groups that try to get certain people off. It will probably have some rough spots and never be perfect. And if someone decides to use their spot to be obnoxious continually, thinking they have the votes to stay on, they will find out that the rules can be adapted as needed to prevent problems. And that one vote by Jim counts a hell of a lot more than others. :-)

[Focault's Pendulum]

P>The server burped and is acting sluggish for me, Sorry!

Yeah, yeah....right! I remember using that excuse when the scotch bottle rolled under my desk.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Just out of curiousity, how does one determine how many posts one has?

[Admin Moderator]

I can see that information.

[Sally'sConcerns]

But is there a way I can see that information?

[Rabid Dog]

We are going to start our own clique!!! The BLOGS and the BLOG-NOTS