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Online Community
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22-July-1998
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College Station, Texas
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USA
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Brandon Jones, President
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is an independent
Texas A&M University fan website. It features articles, chat,
Forums , and recruiting information about
Texas A&M Aggies sports. Receiving an average of 500,000 hits per day,
1 as of June 2007, TexAgs is currently the sixth-most popular college sports website
2 and the second most-visited
NCAA Division I-A website.
3 From May
2006 to June
2007 , the website received an average of 196,000 monthly
Unique Visitors .
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When it first debuted, TexAgs only had 2,000-3,000 members, and forums only discussed
Aggie Football . Presently, there are more than 30 different forums and 60,000+ users. The website never used any form of advertising for promotion, as it grew popular via
Word Of Mouth .
Notable forum posters include "aggiegrant06", who disclosed that former
University Of Oklahoma Quarterback Rhett Bomar received payment for non-worked hours from a local auto dealership seven months before the
NCAA discovered the infraction.
56 Former University President and current
U.S. Secretary Of Defense Robert Gates posted as "ranger65".
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TexAgs has only one full time employee, the owner, Brandon Jones, and an intern. Message boards are moderated by twenty volunteers.
Some current and former members have criticized the operation of the message forums, particularly its moderation policies. Such criticisms include a policy of anonymous moderation by a staff of twenty, led by Brandon, who are allowed to post alongside regular members.
910 This is in contrast to similar websites that list their staff and moderators in an open fashion. Further, such moderation is often seen as inconsistent or partial to conservative points of view and those affected by it argue the consequences levied against liberal or moderate posters are harsher than those against conservatives.
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In response to the Texags.com moderation policy, former members launched spin-off sites such as
theResistance ,
AgTimes.com and
AggieFans.com .
