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.
Help Me Pitch Ricochet
Many of us are quick to tell friends about a great book, movie, or restaurant we’ve discovered. So it is with Ricochet. I want others of the center-right persuasion to experience the awesomeness of this site. So, I’ve made the sales pitch for Ricochet to five people in my area and either gave them a Ricochet business card, or followed up with an e-mail with a link to Ricochet. To the best of my knowledge, none of them have even looked at the site (to their loss).
I may have convinced a cousin to sign up for The Daily Shot. I’ve got one friend who I thought would love Ricochet, so I bought him a one-year membership. Unfortunately, this was just before the conversion to Ricochet 2.0 and Max’s hiring, so the site wasn’t working properly. I couldn’t even get him to come to the Fargo Ricochet Meetup, and he lives closer than every member (except me) who did come. I always tell people about the free content — Main Feed, The Daily Shot, the podcasts — hoping that they will check out that stuff and eventually decide to join, but I don’t think anybody even looks at the site.
I am obviously a terrible salesman for Ricochet. So I want to hear from those of you who have talked somebody into joining. How did you do it?
[Editors’ Note: Do you know someone who craves intelligent, civil conversation with fellow members of the center-right? Ricochet is the place for it. As Randy mentioned, you can give a Coolidge-Level membership as a gift to whomever you choose. And yes, Randy will get credit for the assist.]
Published in General
Really? It is hard to tell when we refer them here and they are greeted by Robert Zurbin.
Yay! So we can post even longer comments in response to the free for all of insults taking place around here that the editors may selectively redact depending on what time of day it is or what mood they are in.
Randy, I love you, and you know that, but in Ricochet’s current state it is hard to recommend it.
Well there are all those great posts filled with helpful advice on the Member Feed.
But only if the membership fee is a tax.
“Tired of Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg busting your chops for your political beliefs? Join Ricochet.”
My brother-in-law, a committed and intelligent liberal, actually introduced me to Lileks when his column was appearing in our local paper maybe 20 years ago. (I was still liberal myself back then – he gave me the 1990s version of a trigger warning.) I’ve encouraged him to check out Ricochet a couple of times – I really think he would like it and you all would like him. I’ll keep trying.
Gentlemen, can we take the scuffle elsewhere?
I bought my wife an account in the hopes that she would log in and maybe write some things from the perspective of a female, Native American, used to be a democrat perspective. But she’s too busy. My kid had an account for a while but never used it, and couldn’t afford it, so his expired.
I’ve doled out the free passes a few times which, to my knowledge, went completely unused.
I met a kid online once who seemed pretty sharp and wanted to get into writing for online sites such as The Federalist. I suggested he join Ricochet, and he thought it absurd. “They should be paying me to write for them!” Which is when I realized he wasn’t as sharp, nor as conservative, as I had thought.
So, I wish I could say I had convinced folks to join Ricochet, but I just haven’t. I don’t really know why, either, because Ricochet is great, warts and all.
These people. You can’t take them anywhere!
I have spread the word pretty widely, and I also share good posts with a wide email list; some of the recipients have become customers. And I have bought more than a few memberships for others over the years. And I know they like and use the site!
I am burnt out politically, and so want to spend time on non-Clump discussions. I keep getting sucked back in, and resenting it. Frankly, a pornography addiction would probably be more productive than yet another Clump argument. Anyone for a Ricochet-without-Clump filter?
You should have told him that Ricochet is the farm system for The Federalist.
/me reads post, looks at his inbox for an invite to write for them.
Dang, not yet.
How about now?
Nope.
Must be doing something wrong…
Well it’s because you don’t write well. <- kidding!!!!
Join or be Trolled.
I haven’t been a good Ricochet evangelist, in part because I treat it as my own personal political outlet separate from my work and church communities. (We make a conscious effort at church to let people find Jesus without voting Republican. Posting a lot of political junk on Facebook spoils the atmosphere). I’m thinking of going back to pseudonym, too.
That said, I personally came for the podcasts and stayed for the member conversations. Even with the current, erm, schism, Ricochet is still a couple orders of magnitude better than any other online community. Heck, the best posts I’ve read on the Big T have been on Ricochet. Have you read the rest of the internet lately?
Edit: By the way, Rob can have that last line for free. “Ricochet: Have you read the rest of the internet lately?”
Ricochet needs a telethon. Where’s Joe Escalante when we need a band?
Maybe when you tell people you want to pitch Ricochet, they think you mean out the window.
Web-a-thon maybe, although I’m not sure exactly how that would work.
Exactly the way it sounds-
No new members. When I first became a member, I was so excited, I told everyone about Ricochet, for about the first two weeks … then the topic of what is a marriage began … and I stopped talking about Ricochet. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered so much open bullying, nastiness and rudeness in my life. I cannot in good faith recommend Ricochet; I would be seriously embarrassed by what passes as thoughtful, respectful discussion. The unpleasantness continues to this day. I don’t see why people who write anything close to “anyone who thinks A is a jerk; or is an idiot; or is insane” or refers to entire group of Christians as smarmy should be taken politely at their word. Where I come from, those are fighting words. And that’s what happens.
For some people here the thought they should be holding close before posting their comments is not to pretend they are at a dinner party, rather it should be: pretend the conversation is in-person and the person you are talking to has a longer arm reach and is twice as fast. Bullies will tone it down with proper encouragement.
Nonetheless, I admit Ricochet is a habit of mine; I don’t post much; I like conversing, not pretending to. I cannot imagine leaving; but I do take breaks. Mostly because Ricochet does not seem all that conservative to me anymore. And, too often it feels more like a cock fight than a conversation.
Very true, Ryan. We’ve scuffled a bit, and of course you are misguided (insert virtual snicker), but I do credit you with being sincere so I read your comments and replies, and you don’t lob grenades like some others do.
Pendulum effect. Perfect. That being said, I do love me some good hyperbole…
Well said.
My way to remain positive is to keep a mental list of those who are tyrannical, smug or smarmy, and I simply don’t read their comments.
me too. Heck, I can’t even get anyone over at the federalist to respond to an email – and Mollie used to work here!
What makes it difficult is it ends up being kind of introverts vs extroverts. There are some people that avoid conflict at all costs, and other people that like when things get heated and argumentative. There will always be people advocating for calm placid waters, and others that welcome the storm. I suppose no one will every be entirely happy, but when you go to meet ups and get to know people the sense of community is waaaaay better than what you get standing around the water cooler.
It’s because you’re not a hot chick.
hah! I loves me some good hyperbole, too. That’s pretty much the problem in summary. Of course, that’s also why nobody argues at meetups. We generally do a good job of everyone remembering that we actually get along quite well outside of whatever argument seems so terribly important at the time. It’s much more difficult with this election, but contrast even the hottest debate here with some of the cesspools we’ve all waded in … and it’s pretty hard to deny Rob’s pitch of intelligent and civil, even given some of the complaints listed above.
No, but I’m a danged sexy young man!
er… YMMV, but some of my best friends assure me that this is the case.
How many beers have they had when they tell you this? ? J/k
I dunno, I think either the SSM wars or the post 2012 circular firing squad were worse. This it nothing when compared to that.
It only seems to happen when I’m the one buying the beers. Pure coincidence, I’m certain.