Written by
In what this RantRaver hopes will not be a blow to rantravership, FOXNews unveiled today a new "opinion site" called The Fox Nation (1) as reported in the Washington Post, 30 March 2009 in an article by Howard Kurtz. (2) The site is apparently an, "...attempt to emulate the social aspects of Facebook -- as well as MySpace, which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch -- by encouraging readers to post comments and argue with one another." (3) The hook according to the same source is supposed to be the columns by such lofty right-wing neo-conservative radio and tv talk show hosts, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly as well as others such as Karl Rove and Michael Steele.
Perusing the topics of the opening day revealed such things as "Rush Says Hillary Twice the Man Obama" (4), "Obama fires GM CEO" (5), and "Scary Obama nominee wants new world order" (6). When you visit these pages, you will usually find a snippet and then a page load of comments for people to read and digest. Sound familiar?
The biggest difference, of course, between The Fox Nation and Rant Rave is that content on Rant Rave is generated by the users as per their interests and political leanings rather than it serving as a site where the right preaches to its own choir. Nonetheless, one has to wonder how much of the impetus for this Fox Nation site came from the obvious success of RantRave.com and how many other sites will be built to follow suit. Personally, one of my favorite things about RantRave is the user community of people who have gravitated not to be spoon fed by our NRJ masters but to hold lively debates and discussions with people from all walks of life, parts of the country, and political views. It's a true national town hall meeting. The site also serves as both a litmus test and lightning rod for what's on people's minds. The site doesn't cater to one political ideology. Not to mention that there's no revenue sharing involved in the Fox site, certainly no surprise there, right?
While it behooves RantRavers to be aware of the existence of competitive sites, it also then behooves we RantRavers to do an ever better job of ensuring our Rants and Raves are of the highest quality. The site hinges on our contributions and all that we can do to attract commentary and viewership.
___________
(1) http://www.thefoxnation.com/
(2) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/29/AR2009032902102.html
(3) ibid.
(4) http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/03/29/rush-says-hillary-twice-man-obama-0
(5) http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/03/29/obama-fires-gm-ceo
(6) http://www.thefoxnation.com/politics/2009/03/30/global-court