# 20 Years on the SDMB - almost half my life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602 "2020-04-26T12:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/21 "2020-04-27T21:41:48Z")
Ah, it was 4/24/2000. I wasn’t sure of the exact date! ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/22 "2020-04-28T02:16:39Z")
For me it’s 21 years, and nearly 1/3rd of my life. Honestly, it’s been the best era of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/23 "2020-04-28T02:28:18Z")
March 27, 2000 for me, which puts it at a third of my life. I don’t remember much of the previous two thirds. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/24 "2020-04-28T03:11:14Z")
I’m shocked- shocked I say! - that I was on the dope for at least 3 years before joining! I can’t even imagine this - I chose my name while in Mississippi, yet they date is when I was in Washington. There must be something weird about joining times. I’m very confused- I know I joined in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/25 "2020-04-28T12:03:41Z")
I’ve got a couple months to go yet. Remember when dopefests were a big thing? There seemed to be one going on somewhere nearly every week. I’ve managed to make it to one in 5 different countries. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/26 "2020-04-28T15:14:33Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > I’m shocked- shocked I say! - that I was on the dope for at least 3 years before joining! I can’t even imagine this - I chose my name while in Mississippi, yet they date is when I was in Washington. There must be something weird about joining times. I’m very confused- I know I joined in 1998. The current message board only dates from March of 1999. If you were on before that, it was the AOL predecessor. I joined right after New Year in 2000. I lurked for about 4 months before that. I never even saw the AOL version. In those days, I thought AOL was lame, so I avoided it. Also, even though I knew of the Straight Dope newspaper column since the early 90s, I never actually saw one of them in a newspaper. The local alternative paper didn’t carry it; I learned of the column online. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/27 "2020-04-28T15:39:03Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The current message board only dates from March of 1999. If you were on before that, it was the AOL predecessor. Weren’t there Straight Dope Usenet newsgroups up by that time too? ISTR browsing those back in the day too, as Y2K approached us in the near distance. I got turned onto the SD back in the late 70’s when it appeared in Baltimore’s “City Squeeze” alternative newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/28 "2020-04-28T16:11:03Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Weren’t there Straight Dope Usenet newsgroups up by that time too? ISTR browsing those back in the day too, as Y2K approached us in the near distance. > > I got turned onto the SD back in the late 70’s when it appeared in Baltimore’s “City Squeeze” alternative newspaper. Does watching _The Straight Dope_ (starring Mike Lukas) on TV count (A&E Channel)? If so, then I can back-date my Dope-ability to 1997. > [@kferr](#): > > I’ve got a couple months to go yet. Remember when dopefests were a big thing? There seemed to be one going on somewhere nearly every week. I’ve managed to make it to one in 5 different countries. **BomTek** and I did one in Afghanistan. Although we couldn’t call it a “Dope-_fest_” since there were only two of us. I think we settled on “Dope-_shin-dig_” due to the limited planned attendance. Tripler I’ve done a handful–at least 3 that I can recount: NYC, Georgia, and Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/29 "2020-04-28T16:41:06Z")
My 19-year anniversary will be on Dec 3, 2020. I joined when I was 26. I remember reading the 9/11 posts as it was unfolding, but I didn’t join until a few months later. Not sure how long I lurked, but it was at least three months. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/30 "2020-04-28T18:42:32Z")
I joined in September '99. I was 37. 🙂 I miss the Dopefests as well. I went to a few in Toronto, though I seem to have missed the early era of healthy debauchery at them. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/31 "2020-04-29T14:45:26Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > March 27, 2000 for me, which puts it at a third of my life. I don’t remember much of the previous two thirds. May I ask why you don’t remember? > [@dtilque](#): > > The current message board only dates from March of 1999. If you were on before that, it was the AOL predecessor. Yes, and I was definitely on AOL even though it apparently took 13 months for me to register here. I remember the announcement of moving here and I remember the move, but I apparently didn’t make the move right away. Must have lurked. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/32 "2020-05-04T02:18:51Z")
Geez, I lurked for years before I joined. But I’ve been lurking since 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602/33 "2020-05-04T02:48:07Z")
I didn’t join until 2003, but that’s still makes just short of 1/3 of my life spent here. I coulda done worse… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-years-on-the-sdmb-almost-half-my-life/852602.md?page=1)