FFForums Has 5000 Posts!

[Savonarola]

FAYETTEVILLE, AR -- Amid the hubbub of monkey-based politics, calls for anarchy, critique of religion, and scientific discussion, a local forum has achieved a significant milestone.

Earlier today, the discussion board at fayfreethinkers.com received its 5000th post.

"This is an exciting happening," says Savonarola, moderator of FFForums since its inception in January. "In our humble way, we're promoting the exchange of ideas in a manner no other local system allows."

The discussion board was created in part as a response to a local conservative political blog. "But this was no ordinary blog," Sav explains. "Administrators censored and dishonestly edited posts as well as banned users for having opinions that different from the opinions of those in charge. Certain posters were given preferential treatment and others were prevented from speaking out."

"That's not how it works here," he says with a smile.

Sav explains that maintaining the board as is can be difficult. "We were being overrun with spam, just like their blog was. They finally went to a system requiring registration, but we specifically wanted to avoid that, allowing guests to comment without submitting any personal information. Especially in a region where freethinking is taboo or even 'evil,' we're trying to keep anonymity an option," says Sav, who proudly uses his alias.

"We've had nearly 700 spam posts, and scores of registered robot users. They've all been deleted, and we've taken steps to make it harder and harder for the bots to get in." Sav says he spent several hours modifying the software during the last update. "The blog guys just gave up... Pansies."

Sav says they would love to have more contributors. "We can handle thousands of users," he says, "as long as they all have heartbeats."

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

And the First Amendment Freedom Fighters win another round! Hurrah for our side.

[Betsy]

nice press release, sav! are you submitting that to other media? you should.

although i'm not clear, are the 700 spambot posts included in the 5000?

[Hogeye]

I would be nice if that were really an article in a local paper. Hey, why not send that out as a press release, Sav? (Maybe you have already.) Or send it as a letter to the editor. (Sorry, I've hit my quota on that for the next month.)

[Savonarola]

nice press release, sav! are you submitting that to other media? you should.

"Oth-- Other ... media"? What's that?

although i'm not clear, are the 700 spambot posts included in the 5000?

Not a chance. 5000 bona fide posts (and counting). Spam is deleted and not counted toward the total.

I would be nice if that were really an article in a local paper. Hey, why not send that out as a press release, Sav? (Maybe you have already.) Or send it as a letter to the editor. (Sorry, I've hit my quota on that for the next month.)

I haven't sent it anywhere, and I don't plan to. Too many potshots at nwapolitics.com. It was more for the entertainment those of us familiar with the antics over there. Also, a letter to the editor requires name, and I'm not comfortable giving that out in popular media at this time.

If anybody would like to send something to the press, feel free. I'll answer any questions you may have. Alternatively, I could try writing a real one soon if someone knows of a way for me to keep my anonymity.

See also newly added poll above.

[Hogeye]

A press release could officially be sent out by "Fayetteville Freethinkers." I think Fayetteville's only general "free speech" forum should be publicized. I know that I tell people wanting to discuss my letters-to-editors to come here. Since people on this board are here to discuss, more people would be great for everyone ... except Sav, who has to ride herd over the 'bots and spammers and thread-hijackers.

I think its okay to knock that unspecified other forum. It might be good to list some of the discussions that may be of interest to the general public, e.g. global warming, gun control, the occupation of Iraq, evolution vs. creationism, science and govt, drug policy, ... Make it clear that this is a real discussion and debate forum, not the place to discuss baby clothes, recipes, and dog shows.

[Doug]

The Dec. 5th post by Sav looks very well done and could be used for the press release.

[Betsy]

I agree with Doug. You could send that as a press release to the newspaper, maintain your anonymity by using your email address as your contact. If they use it, or if it intrigues them enough to contact you and write a story about the forum, it would attract potentially hundreds more participants.

You take potshots at nwap, but no one else except us and the three or four people over there will know who you're talking about.

[Dardedar]

DAR
We could use my name on it. I am supposed to be the "administrator" and I pay for the hosting (no biggie, I think about $7 a month). Fortunately Sav works real cheap.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I agree that Sav's post would be a great press release, however you can get it out there. In fact, I think it would be better as a press release than a letter to the editor (which I couldn't do this month anyway, having already been published for December) since it is an announcement of what we're doing and have done and not a comment on any specific topic. I didn't vote because that choice isn't offered.

[Savonarola]

Here's a reworked release, ready for anyone (Darrel?) to submit.



FAYETTEVILLE, AR -- Amid the hubbub of monkey-based politics, calls for anarchy, critique of religion, and scientific discussion, a local forum has achieved a significant milestone.

Earlier this week, the discussion board at fayfreethinkers.com received its 5000th post.

"This is an exciting happening," says "Savonarola," moderator of FFForums since its inception in January. "In our own way, we're promoting the exchange of ideas in a manner no other local system allows."

The discussion board was created in part as a response to a local conservative political blog. "But this was no ordinary blog," Sav explains. "Administrators censored and dishonestly edited posts as well as banned users for having opinions that differed from the opinions of those in charge. Certain posters were given preferential treatment, and others were prevented from speaking out."

"That's not how it works here," he says with a smile.

Sav explains that maintaining the board as is can be difficult. "We were being overrun with spam, just like their blog was. They finally went to a system requiring registration, but we specifically wanted to avoid that and allow guests to comment without submitting any personal information. Especially in a region where freethinking is taboo or even 'evil,' we're trying to keep anonymity an option," says Sav, who proudly uses an alias.

"We've had hundreds and hundreds of spam posts, and dozens of registered robot users. They've all been deleted, and we've taken steps to make it harder and harder for the bots to get in." Sav reports that he spent several hours modifying the software during the last round of maintenance, which has helped prevent floods of spam. "The blog guys, contrastly, just gave up."

Sav says that the activity has picked up recently, and that they would love to have more contributors. "We can handle thousands of users," he says, "as long as they all have heartbeats."

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Looks good. My vote is submit it, whoever can.