Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Why Did You Join Ricochet?
I know, I know: broken record time. But here’s the problem: we here at Ricochet HQ know why we love Ricochet. And from the rate of returning and renewing members (which, just so you know, is what someone in the member/subscription business called “stratospherically high”) we know that our members love it, too.
So here’s my question: why did you join? What triggered you to sign up and join this excellent community?
Because our problem is this: we have, across all of our podcasts, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of listeners. And we have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of unique web visitors. We — all of us — are bigger than MSNBC. Seriously.
But we have vastly fewer members.
And that’s okay — really, it is. We’re not tottering on the verge of collapse, I promise.
But we’d like to grow our membership. Just a little bit. A few thousand new members would be a very big deal to us.
So: when you joined, what pushed you over the edge?
(And I’d be roasted alive at the next management meeting if I didn’t also add: if you haven’t joined yet, what are you waiting for?)
(And also: Hey! Sign up for The Daily Shot! It’s open to all, even non-members, because we don’t think you’ll be a non-member for long…)
Published in General
I had been reading the Main Feed and enjoying it. I had found the Main Feed through NRO. I was perfectly happy just reading the main feed, but the famous “End of Ricochet” post with the “Its a Wonderful Life” picture caused me to ask myself if I was willing to pay a small fee to have the Ricochet website continue. I have never listened to a Ricochet Podcast ( I have listened to only 3 episodes of Podcosts in my life, all Giles Peterson …).
Ultimately, I felt guilty for not paying to have something I enjoyed continue, so I enrolled….
Not data, but definitely “Bring to management meeting”/”use in some promotional context” material.
The kinds of people who laughed at Semmelweis and called the 2012 election for Romney might at this point be noticing how often the words “podcast” and “member feed” come up in this thread. Those happened to be the two ideas I thought were silly and would never work, but never mind that, and I don’t have to, because of course it’s just anecdotes, not data.
But the more voodoo-minded among us might note that, or else conclude that maybe there’s a reason I’m not “management.” Of anything.
An interesting observation. Could lead to inspiration, the generation of a theory, to be subjected to further testing–one along the lines of “Claire has no business sense, don’t listen to her.” Though I must say you have to be quite committed to science for its own sake to want to run those experiments–if you’re Claire.
I think it was a link to the 200th live podcast on something Andrew Klavan posted at PJMedia. All of the people that I listened to and read in the same place? How cool is that? At the time my wife and I were living abroad and it wasn’t my job that took us there so I had a lot of time on my hands and my dear wife, while conservative, hates politics. So here I was stuck with all this incredible insight into what was going on and no one to share it with! I thought with Ricochet I had finally found the place where I could share my brilliance with others. Then after joining I realized that as a political thinker and a writer I was an infant. Now for just a few dollars a month I get an education from some seriously intelligent people that let me hang around the room and listen. I can do with one less fancy coffee a month for that.
You said it, not me. Or even “not renewing.” Or “not joining.”
But yeah. And I’d also recommend “finding ways to ask them that are apt to result in truthful answers,” which is quite the tricky problem. But when thinking about it, imagine that you really (for some reason) want a truthful answer to the question, “But why didn’t you want to marry me?” Asking it in those words and taking the answer at face value probably isn’t going to be as effective as, well, “a better research strategy”–assuming, that is, that your goal in asking that is to get the real answer, as opposed to what almost any normal person’s goal would be.
And alas, if you want to sell things, you do need the real answer, not the equivalent of, “You’re wonderful, you’re everything any woman could want, I was just too immature, it’s not you, it’s me, etc.”
Seven cats. Or six.
Or maybe that should read “domestic help.”
Management isn’t so tough. You just have to
Foxfier is awesome. You, too, RushBabe!
Back before public comments made NRO less palatable, one could actually write an email to the folks at National Review. From time to time, I would drop a note to Jonah Goldberg, Jay Nordlinger and Rob Long. And every one of them wrote me back.
Astounding.
So when I learned of Rob Long starting Ricochet, I checked it out found myself wondering, “Where have these people been all my life?” I joined up shortly after.
Ricochet is civil, sane, smart and witty. It leans right, but never resorts to yelling. It is worth every penny of the modest subscription fee for the Main Feed alone. Or for the Member Feed alone. Or for the podcasts alone. Seeing as how one gets ALL those things for the price – it’s a real bargain.
Simple. To be informed, entertained, and have my voice heard by people I respect.
I joined because my mom made me. She told me about it, and so I read the Main Feed here and there. She gave me a copy of “Lion Eyes,” and mentioned that Claire Berlinski posts here. She sent me emails with Dave Carter’s latest. I heartily enjoyed all of that, but I’ve never bought a subscription to anything in my life, and never seriously considered joining.
So my poor, exasperated mother bought me a membership for my birthday last year. Best birthday gift ever! I think Ricochet attracts brilliant people, and I love spending time in their company. I enjoy the thoughtfulness, the humor, the kindness and generosity, the willingness to consider other points of view. I’ve recently spent some time on a homeschooling forum discussing politics with nitwits. It sure feels good to come home to Ricochet.
I have been a member since 2012 I believe, I joined as a refugee from a sewer of where I had been arguing politics for the 10 years prior. I am so sick of it, its just a river of poison, that tarnishes your mind body and soul. On ricochet I can scratch the itch without that river of poison that destroys your mental well-being.
I think it’s one of those big round tents Mongolian herdsmen live in. At least, that’s what mine is.
Rob, I first visited because you invited me to do so. You and Mark Steyn, may he rest in peace, were guests on Peter’s Uncommon Knowledge back in the summer of 2010 and amongst the things discussed was this venture of yours. I joined when Ricochet added the ability for members to post their own content and start their own conversations.
I happened to be somewhere else, and you found me there. As anyone who may knows my journey may recall, the timing was perfect as I needed a place to go and found a place I wanted to be.
I may not be here as often as I was, but I don’t stop returning, or renewing. I have skin in the game. It may only be Calvin thick, but someday it will be more.
I believe last weekend marked the second anniversary of the announcement you were closing your doors. ‘Tis a different place now than it was then. In many ways for the good, in others for the less. But its still a place to go…and remains a place I want to be.
It was the Goldberg-Steyn-Long podcast for me as well. I have renewed because level of conversation on Ricochet cannot be matched anywhere in the Interwebs.
Clearly, Ricochet needs a spy. Y’all need to be asking “Why not join?” everywhere except Ricochet.
Though it sounds like Rob’s guilt trips on the podcast occasionally work. Also, see Spin’s new conversation.
While living in Chicago, I found Milt Rosenberg’s show to be the most intelligent and entertaining broadcast on the radio. While looking for a podcast of his show, I came across Ricochet. Once I realized that I could hear podcasts from Milt Rosenberg and James Lileks I was sold. I signed up soon thereafter.
Me, I joined because I actually am the kind of person who makes more coffee when the office pot is empty. I don’t send money to Wiki, NPR, or the local symphony, but I’m a pretty soft touch for causes I believe in and people I support, usually before I’m asked.
Not my fault, I was raised that way.
That just made my day. What fun!
I wouldn’t have predicted the Member Feed to be successful either.
There’s some kind of magic over there. :)
I live in my home office where it used to be a dark solitary place. Now I am driving my husband nuts because I’m always chuckling in here.
It’s the Member Feed.
Please do thank her for me. Seriously.
I always wanted to join a gang, and this was a cool gang to join.
At the time of joining Ricochet was in crisis, about to fold, so I joined to support it.
I came to the site through either Lileks’ Bleat or the podcast which was about to become for members only.
One word: podcast.
or
Two words if you prefer: Pod Casts.
And by the way, the latest from the Brat Pack (JGold-RLong-JPod) was one of the best podcasts ever… all were in rare form, reveling in a week of gold plated, Libtard mayhem… razzing each other throughout… sorting through the not-so-rapey details of the Rolling Stone article (so I don’t have to!)… and the privilege of sharing in Rob’s touching confession of an ethical breach, well that wrapped it all up in a big warm hug (of the completely platonic, mutually consenting variety to be sure).
Bottom line: if you can’t afford therapy and don’t trust shrinks anyway, Ricochet podcasts are delightfully informative, entertaining and guaranteed to keep you sane. The new ones are great additions to the vintage old vines as well! Kudlow & Pawlenty… who’dathunk. But wow.
Short answer: The podcasts, which I became aware of via National Review. When the flagship podcast went behind the pay wall, I thought about joining, but money was tight and I have kids to feed.
Long answer: I kept mostly quiet about about my political views prior to the 2012 election (I’m a community college professor, so I figured it was better for my career to not be too open about voting Republican). I has assumed that the “silent majority” would correct the mistake we made in 2008. When it didn’t, I concluded that we all had to do our parts to oppose progressive lunacy, so I started speaking out, mostly on Facebook. I have followed the Ricochet podcasts for a long time, having discovered them through National Review. I would have joined Ricochet earlier, but I was still working to get on better financial footing. I used Christmas gift money in 2013 to buy a membership in Ricochet.
I agree! I’d like to do it more often, but John and Jonah are divas with busy schedules…
And yes, I miss Mark too. I wish he had stuck around. But Mark is mercurial — that’s the price of genius, I guess — and I keep hoping we’ll get him back…
Interesting. Thanks.
Me too!
That was always our sorta/kinda idea: that Ricochet Audio would be a conservative NPR, and that the site itself would be a national think tank, staffed by actual American people living in America — the members.
Can I add that to a resume? “and member of the Ricochet Thinktank”. I don’t have to tell them I’m the janitor.
Yes, well. We can’t afford data, Claire. So anecdotes will have to do.
But there are some interesting things here: a lot of people came for the podcasts, suggesting that podcasts are a gateway drug to joining. And a lot of folks came from NRO, suggesting that our deepening partnership with them will be fruitful. (A lot of folks came for Mark Steyn, who is someone we all miss and want back, but that’s another story….)
I wouldn’t bet the house on any of these little bits — and I certainly wouldn’t call them data, mostly because data to me is something that you or anyone else can measure and still get the same result, and everything else is fun little stories.
Not knocking fun little stories. That’s my day job.
But still: this is interesting stuff. And in the imperfect and unmeasured and inconsistent way in which we have to do business — and, to be honest, in which everyone everywhere in every business everywhere has to do business, it’s awfully useful.
Thanks, everyone, for participating.
Oh, and here’s a weird thing: we sold a lot of memberships yesterday. Which means, as I suspected, that the chief reason for joining is that the community and membership are so fun and passionate and smart and polite. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
I’ve been here so long, I don’t even remember anymore. I’m sure my wife had something to do with it, though.
You’re welcome!
I don’t remember how I found Ricochet (likely a podcast), but I hardly remember anything these days. Worn out with trying to persuade my offspring to do what’s best and sending them enticing books.