Posted on 11/22/2007 4:43:01 PM PST by kristinn
FreeRepublic.com, the eleven-year-old conservative granddaddy of political discussion websites, was rated the most popular political website by Hitwise, an Internet data tracking service, for the week ending November 17, 2007 with 5.14% market share.
The liberal site, HuffingtonPost.com, founded two-and-a-half years ago, was the only site that came close to Free Republic in interest from net users, with 4.51% market share. In a distant third place, the five-year-old liberal site DailyKos.com, was left in the dust by Free Republic and Huffington Post, garnering only 2.57% market share.
The others sites Hitwise listed were, in order, politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com with 2.17%; townhall.com with 2.1%; buzzflash.com with 1.95%; politico.com with 1.9%; humanevents.com with 1.84%; realclearpolitics.com with 1.72% and democraticunderground.com with 1.69%.
Free Republic has received none of the fawning promotion in the mainstream media that its nearest competitors get. It takes no paid advertising, has no membership fees and relies solely on donations for its existence. Its founder and webmaster, Jim Robinson, is not touted as a political player like Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga are. The site has endured withering criticism this year by pundits from Bill O'Reilly to Patrick Ruffini. Yet, Free Republic survives and thrives as one of the most popular and influential political websites.
From leading the charge to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, to the 2004 exposing of the fraudulent National Guard documents that led to Dan Rather's firing by CBS News, to the recent deep-sixing of expansion of the S-CHIP program, Freepers, as members at the site are known, have changed politics in America.
Liberals despise them, some conservatives seeth with envy, yet none can deny that more than a decade in to the online revolution, Free Republic is still a force to be reckoned with.
Just a thought, how about offering some FReeper t-shirts?
Thank you for this wonderful site, JimRob, and bless you for all you do! When I thought yesterday of all I have to be thankful for, FR and my fellow FReepers were high on the list.
I admire you both for having been here so long! I wandered in the wilderness for years until Sean Hannity was criticizing FR one day. I thought it sounded like a place I wanted to be. I signed up that day and have been thankful for FR ever since!
That's exactly the info about which I was wondering. Thanks for the link, GondramB.
I first started lurking during the MD4BUSH/Martin O’Malley event. After about a year I signed up. Been here everyday since then.
I'd forgotten about them. That was some purge.
The best part is knowing that her staff is reading it every day.
They are? Then let me say this. Hillary, you are a greater threat to our country than the Islamofascists. It's the traitors within who pose the greatest danger to freedom. You are a disgrace and belong in jail.
And let's not forget the Swifties:
John O'Neill to Free Republic -- Thanks for everything...
email | November 15, 2004 | John O'Neill
Posted on 11/15/2004 3:02:56 PM EST by Interesting Times
To The Citizens Of Free Republic:
We will never ever forget your support and help. Your threads not only encouraged us but kept the truth alive in a period when Big Media sought to suppress the story. Your e-mails and phone calls to Big Media at least shamed them. The thousands of contributions we got from you helped us to organize our website, produce our earliest ads, and keep the light flickering in the darkest of times. The English at Agincourt would have executed Kerry for meeting with the enemy and betraying them. In contrast, we found a true band of brothers who stood with us and supported us. Thank you. We will never forget it.
John O'Neill
November 15, 2004
4
Welcome! I see you'd lurked for a while--congrats on making it official.
Any time.
Nice cogent vanity K...well done.
Impressive indeed!
Yet another reason to be Thankful!
日本＊ピング＊ (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
Bump - Liberals fear Free Republic for a reason!
I still have 300 of those bumper stickers in my drawer :)
On the rare occasions when I have to miss a day or two, I get dizzy. It's like the oxygen is being sucked out of the atmosphere.
I agree. Someone with an account over at the DUmp should post those numbers and then just sit back and enjoy listening to the excuses they come up with why their numbers are Soooooo low!
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