# An Open Letter to the Moderators and Administrators of the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 18, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596 "2012-07-18T04:17:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/21 "2012-07-19T03:54:44Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > You could be a Charter Member once again. Write me for more details. I received a response from **TubaDiva** regarding this matter, and I have to say that the terms are quite reasonable IMHO. I’m both surprised by the rational policy from a semi-corporate entity, and not surprised by the fairness that comes from such a group of people that have spent countless hours in a forum dedicated to both fighting ignorance and doing the right thing. Kudos. I kinda think it’s a bit of a shame that overt praise for the people that make this site function, is tantamount to being a sycophant in some peoples eyes. Appreciation for the Mods is I think a given, but it’s just not talked about. Thanks Mods. Because of your facilitation, I now know the best way to pan-fry seminal fluid, what happens when aircraft land on my treadmill, and for that I will never, ever burning your dog. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/22 "2012-07-19T15:03:35Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > …(with it’s fair share of hypocrites and douchebags;… Glad to be of service Sir. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/23 "2012-07-19T16:40:26Z")
It’s not just us local yokels that like this place. Google loves us. The SDMB regularly appears very high in searches for the sort of things people like to post about here. (E.g., I just Googled “decreed value of pi” due to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659006) thread and that thread, with just the OP posting so far, came up first.) And when Google loves you, $ is sure to follow. Right, $ is rolling in, isn’t it? Isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/24 "2012-07-19T17:09:56Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It’s not just us local yokels that like this place. > > Google loves us. The SDMB regularly appears very high in searches for the sort of things people like to post about here. > > (E.g., I just Googled “decreed value of pi” due to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659006) thread and that thread, with just the OP posting so far, came up first.) > > And when Google loves you, $ is sure to follow. > > Right, $ is rolling in, isn’t it? Isn’t it? Try googling the same term from the computer of someone who _isn’t_ a frequent visitor to the SDMB 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/25 "2012-07-19T20:23:46Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I just wanted to say thank you. Dude, there’s something on your nose. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/26 "2012-07-19T22:13:02Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Try googling the same term from the computer of someone who _isn’t_ a frequent visitor to the SDMB 🙂 I was aware that Google did customizations, but I think it holds to some extent. So I did run the recommended check: And my post was the only hit. I have just checked Bing as well: The Pi thread is the first hit there. On a machine that doesn’t seem to have used Bing recently, if ever. We’re gold. Or would would be if … ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/27 "2012-07-20T00:43:09Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > This truly is one of the best communities in the world, **and a message board community is really defined by the moderators, terms of use, and administrators.** > . As \*\*Vinyl Turnip \*\*alluded to, this is really some sort of middling satire, right? Don’t get me wrong. I love this place and the vast majority of mods and rules it contains, but I for one would claim that a message board is primarily defined by the general awesomeness of its members. And, for what it’s worth, the Straight Dope is definitely the awesome-est place on the interwebz. I can honestly say I have found no better place for fun, productive, and enlightening discussion. But, and here I will repeat myself and claim that while the mods here certainly are fair and just, enforcing rules from an administration that is rarely wrong, and generally self-correcting even when it is, the core reason the SDMB is so wonderful is the posters. It’s all about the posters. While this may seem over the top, in my experience, the average doper is a paragon of wit and social grace, whose every post is a delight. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but when I post something in a thread, I honestly feel ashamed at times, knowing that my contributions pail in comparison to the average genius here. Of course, it goes without saying that intellect in a vacuum is meaningless. What also always amazes me is the fluid grace of how posters defend their ideas here. No matter how passionately a poster advances his or her cause, on the dope one will never find any goal-post pushing, strawman-making, or scotsman-kilting. There is no ad hominem flaming, arguments from anecdote, arguments from authority, and, (it almost feels silly to even type this because of how obvious it is), there is never, never, any woo. Really, considering the density of erudite yet urbane discussion on this board, I am constantly surprised that our fight to eradicate ignorance is taking longer than we thought. In the end however, it’s not just about the general doper’s intellect. The social factors are the grease that makes our collective hamsters spin. Never have I found a board that is so friendly and so adept at calmly dealing with the peculiarities and peccadilloes of Joe Q. Public. Through all the pleasant discussion here, nobody ever picks nits, (at least not un-warranted), nobody ever is rude or overly judgmental, and certainly nobody ever posts any tired memes in some pathetic attempt at humor. You know, with the internet being what it is, I was worried at first that this board would be full of awkward weirdos, but I have never been so relieved to be wrong. I guess, what I’m trying to saying with all this is… thank you. Everything; every post, every mod, ever poster, all the way down to the newest July 2012 arrival, is wonderful. Thank you for making this board the internet paradise it truly is, a place of which one cannot conceive any better. For giving me a place online which I can fit in and say I’m proud to be a doper… thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/28 "2012-07-20T00:44:35Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > As \*\*Vinyl Turnip \*\*alluded to, this is really some sort of middling satire, right? Don’t get me wrong. I love this place and the vast majority of mods and rules it contains, but I for one would claim that a message board is primarily defined by the general awesomeness of its members. This is some sort of parody, right? I, for one, think a message board is going to be mostly defined by whether **AClockworkMelon** posts there. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/29 "2012-07-20T02:37:09Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > This is some sort of parody, right? I, for one, think a message board is going to be mostly defined by whether **AClockworkMelon** posts there. I was going to post this in the “Why do you come here” thread, but I didn’t think people would understand. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/30 "2012-07-20T06:04:53Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > As \*\*Vinyl Turnip \*\*alluded to, this is really some sort of middling satire, right? Don’t get me wrong. I love this place and the vast majority of mods and rules it contains, but I for one would claim that a message board is primarily defined by the general awesomeness of its members. > > And, for what it’s worth, the Straight Dope is definitely the awesome-est place on the interwebz. I can honestly say I have found no better place for fun, productive, and enlightening discussion. But, and here I will repeat myself and claim that while the mods here certainly are fair and just, enforcing rules from an administration that is rarely wrong, and generally self-correcting even when it is, the core reason the SDMB is so wonderful is the posters. It’s all about the posters. While this may seem over the top, in my experience, the average doper is a paragon of wit and social grace, whose every post is a delight. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but when I post something in a thread, I honestly feel ashamed at times, knowing that my contributions pail in comparison to the average genius here. > > Of course, it goes without saying that intellect in a vacuum is meaningless. What also always amazes me is the fluid grace of how posters defend their ideas here. No matter how passionately a poster advances his or her cause, on the dope one will never find any goal-post pushing, strawman-making, or scotsman-kilting. There is no ad hominem flaming, arguments from anecdote, arguments from authority, and, (it almost feels silly to even type this because of how obvious it is), there is never, never, any woo. Really, considering the density of erudite yet urbane discussion on this board, I am constantly surprised that our fight to eradicate ignorance is taking longer than we thought. > > In the end however, it’s not just about the general doper’s intellect. The social factors are the grease that makes our collective hamsters spin. Never have I found a board that is so friendly and so adept at calmly dealing with the peculiarities and peccadilloes of Joe Q. Public. Through all the pleasant discussion here, nobody ever picks nits, (at least not un-warranted), nobody ever is rude or overly judgmental, and certainly nobody ever posts any tired memes in some pathetic attempt at humor. You know, with the internet being what it is, I was worried at first that this board would be full of awkward weirdos, but I have never been so relieved to be wrong. > > I guess, what I’m trying to saying with all this is… thank you. Everything; every post, every mod, ever poster, all the way down to the newest July 2012 arrival, is wonderful. Thank you for making this board the internet paradise it truly is, a place of which one cannot conceive any better. For giving me a place online which I can fit in and say I’m proud to be a doper… thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!! This is a great board, and IMO you’re a really good guy, so can you pass me some of what you’re having there? I like optimism, but damn, you left out entire forums, let alone prolific posters that violate most of your statements daily. Not trying to be a downer, but reversing most of your statements would result in a few, if not many, accurate descriptions of actual posts. I love this place too, but let’s not deify it dude. It makes for unrealistic growth goals. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/31 "2012-07-20T11:00:21Z")
Many 10-Qs. Now I’m going back to sleep. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/32 "2012-07-21T18:34:14Z")
I feel lucky. This is the first message board I ever belonged to. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know what a message board was before I stumbled across this place. Having nothing to compare this place to, I figured all boards were pretty much like this one. You can imagine my surprise when I started to browse other message boards and you would see idiots posting shit like “First!” “Second!” “Third biatches!!” So yeah, 10 years and this place is still doing me just fine. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/33 "2012-07-21T23:21:26Z")
I think the fact that so many people do take the time to criticize the mods is evidence of the good job that they generally do. Bear with me on this. 😉 If the mods truly did a shitty job and made the board a bad one, people would just quit posting here. Most unhappy people simply walk away rather than complain. The mods have allowed this board to be, IMO, the premier message board for discussion on the intertubes. So, when something controversial does happen, we have a vested interest in seeing a desired outcome, so we start threads and put some heart and soul into our arguments. Bottom line to mods: Calling you an asshole simply means we care and appreciate the job that you do. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/34 "2012-07-22T02:52:51Z")
I agree wholeheartedly. This is one of the best places on the internet, in large part because of the hard work of the moderators and administrators. The board attracts high-quality posters because of the high-quality moderation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/35 "2012-07-22T02:56:46Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > This is a great board, and IMO you’re a really good guy, so can you pass me some of what you’re having there? I like optimism, but damn, you left out entire forums, let alone prolific posters that violate most of your statements daily. > > Not trying to be a downer, but reversing most of your statements would result in a few, if not many, accurate descriptions of actual posts. > > I love this place too, but let’s not deify it dude. It makes for unrealistic growth goals. 😉 He’s either whooshing you, or you’re whooshing me. If the latter, congratulations on the meta-whoosh.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/36 "2012-07-22T07:12:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > He’s either whooshing you, or you’re whooshing me. If the latter, congratulations on the meta-whoosh.🙂 Neither. I think he was genuine. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/37 "2012-07-22T07:21:04Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Neither. I think he was genuine. Well then, he’s clearly talking about some other board. I mean, for one thing picking nits is a way of life here, innit?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596/38 "2012-07-22T10:14:10Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for helping to create and maintain the most awesome message board I’ve ever had the good fortune of coming across. My only regret is that it took me until the year 2011 to find out about it. A belated ‘welcome aboard’ there, **drewtwo99**. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > This truly is one of the best communities in the world, and a message board community is really defined by the moderators, terms of use, and administrators. Agreed > [@drewtwo99](#): > > So, call me a suck-up, a bootlicker, a sycophant or an apple polisher if you must, but this is something I’ve wanted to post for a long time and I finally just decided to do it. You donut! ::flaps wings and flies away:: > [@drewtwo99](#): > > Of course, all the posters here who have been here for years, who have added so much to eachother’s lives, thank you too. Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘all posters’. A select few, like me, are awesome though. 🙂 > [@drewtwo99](#): > > short, thank you to everyone here who makes it such a great place to spend online time. I know I’m still a relatively new poster around here, not even having a membership yet or having been here for a year, but I really have enjoyed my stay so far, and look forward to many more years. Yeah, wait until you’ve been here a few years, after the optimism-choking epiphany that the world is generally worse than you thought slams in to your quivering brain, leaving it an almost lifeless husk. There is such a thing as learning too much for one’s own good. 😉 Good luck, mate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-moderators-and-administrators-of-the-sdmb/628596.md?page=1)