Damnit, I love the SDMB but.....

The BBQ Pit
1

I am not in a pissy mood mind you, even on my period – piss off if you have something to say about that, it’s life. Going through threads and to go beyond Esprix’s thread, I am shocked at the amount of shit being spread through this board.

Yeah, it’s being brought up again and again, but when is the time these little assholes (trolls, sock puppets, whatever you wanna call them) let the fucking board go?

Unfortunately, this has led to people that should not be banned, to be banned. waterj2, glad you are back!

I mentioned this frustration I have in chat…it seems this shit keeps coming up more frequently and people tend to agree.

This place is becoming more and more of a chore to come to…even MPSIMS, also noted with others that frequent here. I rarely post like I used to, I read but find very few threads that spark an interest anymore.

General Questions seems to have too many bodily functions crap in it (no pun intended)…MPSIMS is more about announcing how many posts you have and the fact that Cecil answered a thread or having another Doper make some prediction or lame thing…sorry folks that’s how I feel.

The GD has more questions about homosexuals than a gay bar next to a church. What about other topics? Yes, there are others, but the content is lacking.

As for the BBQ Pit which I used to dig looking through, it seems a bunch of trolls, ex posters with new names and sock puppets have taken over. I love a good flame but the fucking assholes that are new here and have no fucking clue (unless you are under cover) should stay out of here until you get the gist of the SDMB…I learned the hard way and you shitheads continue about in your merry way like you have been here for months.

Shit even the crap has invaded ATMB, I can’t imagine what Tuba thinks of the turn her forum has taken.

Yo, Straight Dope Admins, I have a question for you, are you advertising the board elsewhere? If so where? The reason I ask is the amount of crappy and non-productive posters that are signing up. Fighting ignorance is one thing, but inviting those that can’t hold a cohesive conversation in a thread is another.

I like the idea of fighting ignorance but if it means that assholes come in here and screw up intelligent posts I wonder if it is really worth it. You can’t teach an idiot to think, you can teach a thinker to ponder the world around them.

BTW,I have seen many a boards go by the way side with crap like this. The more the idiots that are on the boards the more the boards are shunned by those that are there for the good of the the people that care.

Sorry this is so long, but I am concerned and worried about the influx of idiots that are making this place less than a place to enjoy good “conversation” and more like places that are seedier than your local dive bar.

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2

Well said, tech.

3

Thanks Anti Pro.

I can only hope that other SDers, the real ones not the new assholes in here, can back me up here.

Keep in mind I do think that there are a lot of good new posters. I mentioned that in Esprix’s thread.

In addition, I see more and more long time and even well respected short time posters getting a word in about all these assholes in here…

Yes I also see newbies taking advantage of things that were fun things, and yes we lose “priviledges” because of it. I do believe that Satan knows his copyright laws and wouldn’t jeapordize the SD unless he had honest proof that the images he used are of legal content. He is in an industry that looks hard at copyright issues so I would assume that he is very sensitive to this.

In addition, it seems to me that another new person fucked up our ability to use HTML coding when the fuck face changed the banner in certain posts. Anyone remember that?

A lot of this happens because of new people that are assholes. That’s it and there is no better way to explain that.

Because of a few bad apples the rest have to suffer…and it sucks damnit.

To all you new people on the boards…would you act this way in real life? If so, you might rethink your interactions with people and rethink the people you hang out with.

The SDMB is not about being stupid, it’s about being smart enough to know that you are wrong. It’s about trying to open yourself up to a thought that may go against your own beliefs. It’s about having fun in MPSIMS. It’s about creating a community. The world does not revolve around you nor does it revolve around me, it revolves around life and all of us trying to understand and being open to new ideas that are not moronic.

It means that you try to contribute, much like I would hope you do in real life.

In short, the SDMB means to me that you are honest in your postings, what you post is passionate or pondering.

If you can’t give us that, then I ask you to leave because you don’t give something for us to give back.

< again not edited for typos, grammar or spelling

4

Yeah. That’s a drastic change from what MPSIMS used to be. Ha.

Out of the 50 topics seen on the first page of GQ right now, there’s one anal sex question, one semen question and a pregnacy/breast size question. Other than that, it’s rather free of literal crap. Compared to aha’s poo poo post-a-thon a few months back, this is nothing.

And a month ago it was all Libertarianism threads, before that it was creationism up the wazoo. Before that it was Contestant#3 and his Little Green Men. These things happen in waves. And how would a spike in gay threads be correlated to your proposed invasion of schmuck posters?

Trolls in the pit? My God! I also heard there are rats in the subway tunnels too. Remember PitBullDawg? Phae-Phae? MarkieSerlin? MisterRogersAWC? “Sandycane”? The tools currently infesting the Pit now are lightweights in comparison.

You are blaming the Admins for the presence of lame posters? Oh puhleeeze.

So contribute interesting content yourself. In the end that’s all that keeps any board going.

5

Alphagene,

Get off my ass over this okay?

So fuck me up the ass for having a fucking opinion…now that’s PIT SHIT aint it?

I have “spoken” to a few of the SDers and many feel the same as I do…I refuse to name names because it’s up to them to voice their opinions on the content of the SD as of late.

I do notice a serious shift of what the SD was versus what is is now and it disturbs me…you completely took a lot of the things I said out of context.

Did you read my post as a whole? This is one thing that pisses me off about people, they look at only parts of a whole and fuck up the entire meaning…trust me, I despise my step-mom over the same kind of picking and choosing.

You can’t take only one part of a thought and make it for what you want it to be. That shit only shows your lack of understanding or willing to understand.

I try real hard to take the entire thought and then disect it when posting, but I don’t see that with you in this post. You harp on me over the nit picking I did, but failed to see my over all bitch about what is happening the board as a whole.

I am shocked Alphagene at your response to my post. I realize that I gave some thoughts upon the reality of this board, but I was trying to make a freaking point. Must you as an old time poster pick it apart and be an ass about it?

I realize this is the PIT but there is never an excuse for over looking the meaning of the post and picking it apart to suit your needs…so as I see it.

< not edited for typos, spelling and grammar >

6

YOU said that I didn’t…I never called anyone schmucks…that is your word, don’t even place that on me. Alpha, don’t EVER put words in my mouth I never ever said. That is the worst thing a person can do. I made a point about it…I spose I could have gone on about all the other stuff that makes little sense to me but my post would have been way too long…now I am posting and posting you butthead.

On the freaking contrary…I asked where they were advertising. I am asking them where they are advertising and questioning whether or not where they are advertising is a good idea…big difference.

You don’t advertise a dirt bike in a high class home magazine…even if I would dig that dirt bike and love having a 9,000 square foot home with two, two car garages and a view of the golf course…I would rather get that from a respected dirt bike magazine. Got it?

Good, I hope you do cause you took my post and ripped it apart worse than a dog on meat.

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7

going to bed now…so fucking flame me over what I said…

No wonder I get pissy with people that pick shit apart. It’s like trying to figure out what you had for dinner the night before. Think about it.

8

Alpha obviously did understand your point, he just picked out some stuff in your post to refute what you were saying.

I agree with him on this issue. The current crop of trolls on the board is no different than any other infestation, they come in rouse some stuff up, then go away to rouse stuff up elsewhere.

As proof that the current crop of crazy newbies is nothing new I would like to submit this well worn classic. You might remember listening to it back when the message board was young, and Dick Clark was not: Blando’s Nature

Different threads are popular at different times. Some of the popular threads right now you might not like, a few months ago you might have loved the populars. Its a fickle crowd and if you give it some time the board will probably change to something you like again in a few weeks time.

The bodily functions questions are neither new, nor are there a great number more than ever before. Remember this board is based on Cecil Adams’ answers to questions, which of course, included the question that vexes all dieting prom queens, How many calories in the average male ejaculation?.

No, your memory is a bit wrong about why HTML was disabled. HTML was disabled because,when HTML was turned on UBB had a huge security hole that allowed a hacker to access passwords of the administrators of the site, and eventually hack into the system. Gloworm covered the ad before this happened, and HTML privileges remained. It was the hacking incident that took down the Reader’s web server that revoked HTML privileges, for good reason.

One “newbie” didn’t take away the right to post images, it has been something that has been discussed for months, and they finally decided to get rid of them. Whether you agree with the decision or not, to blame the new people for this decision is rather unfair.

To sum it up. Yes, trolls are bad, but, the problem is no worse now than it was four months after the board opened. Yes, some threads might be boring to you now, but that doesn’t mean a few new exciting threads will pop up tomorrow, or the next day.

I really want to repeat the most imporant and glowingly intelligent thing Alphagene had to say in his post:

The trolls can’t kill the board. Everyone suddenly losing their minds and posting inane unintelligent things could. I don’t see that happening.

And thats pretty much how I see it.
pat

9

This is partly a result of success. If (let’s just pick a number out of a probabilistic hat) 1% of all posters are trolls, idiots, sock-puppets, and their ilk… and if we have 1000 posters, we expect to have about 10 trouble-makers. As we grow to 6000 posters, the number of … um… difficulties grows. The percent ain’t higher, but they may seem more visible.

My suggestion: grin and bear it. Life’s like that. If everyone were right-thinking, we wouldn’t need jails, either.

10

Yeah, techchick, everybody in this thread is basically right. These things go in waves, try to focus on the good parts, don’t let yourself get sidetracked by the bad stuff.

I too am feeling a little bit discouraged, and I’ve only been here 6 weeks. But I tell myself, “Hey, this too shall pass.”

But I also would like to know whether the SDMB is being advertised somewhere, or maybe Cecil’s column got added to some particular newspaper that’s attracting a slightly different clientele. Or did somebody add straightdope.com to their website as a click-through?

Also, techchick, bear in mind that probably 90% of the current crop of sock puppets/trolls are the work of a single person who has run amok. It’s not a generalized invasion, I don’t think.

11

Oh, for Christ’s Sake, people.

It’s an Internet message board. Get over it. If you want to come here and get questions answered or participate in some lively debate or whatever, that’s fine. But remember that it’s a public message board, and you have absolutely no right to claim that somebody else is “ruining it” for you just because you don’t like the way they post. If there are too many of one type of thread in a forum, WHO GIVES A SHIT? If that kind of stuff is getting on your nerves this much, it might be a sign that it’s time to start backing off and getting on foot back in reality.

12

Fine, you used the word “assholes” rather than “schmucks”. Apparently there’s a subtle difference. I was inquiring why in your list of things that would lead to the downfall of this board, you included the prevalence of gay threads. Just seemed weird that’s all.

Mmmmmmmm… tacos…

13

I don’t spend much time in this particular forum, and I don’t recall ever posting in it, but I have to throw a comment or two in here. The gist of this tread, and a couple others I’ve looked at, seems to be this:

(1) New people here are generally “assholes” who are too ignorant to pound sand, and they should keep their stupid mouths (or fingers, in this case) firmly shut and defer to the Wiser And More Experienced Members (WAMEMs). “New” is someone who hasn’t been around for “months,” which seems a bit vague as a standard. Maybe it’s like Potter Stewart’s famous definition of obscenity–the WAMEMs know it when they see it.

(2) The new members are not generating enough interesting threads to keep the WAMEMs amused. In point of fact it’s hard to do that while keeping one’s mouth/fingers firmly shut and deferring, but never mind that.

(3) New members who don’t have some arbitrary number of posts (this is from a different tread, which set the number at 50) cannot possibly have firm opinions or dispute the views of a WAMEM–if they do so, they are most likely a “sock puppet” or a “troll.” (I understand the sock puppet reference, but I have to confess that I’m still a little hazy on what constitutes a troll. Must be because I’m an ignorant asshole who’s been here less than a month and has fewer than 100 posts.) Since us newbies are busy deferring, I assume we are supposed to build up this post count by making inane comments (for which we will then be slammed, on the grounds that we’re making inane comments) admiring the bon mots of the WAMEMs.

(4) We are not supposed to Feed The Trolls–ie. we are not supposed to respond to them at all. Since newbies are too ignorant to pound sand, I assume this means we must heap poo on and ignore those who the WAMEMs tell us to.

(Yes, I know, I’ve ignored techchick68’s slight pat on the head–she thinks “there are a lot of good new posters.” Gee whiz, I’m relieved–not all us new assholes should be summarily booted from the board. Some of us may even grow up to be worthy members of the community…though I get the definite impression this isn’t considered real likely.)

This, then, is how I interpret what I’m reading here and elsewhere. I strikes me very much as a line of complaints about “them” moving into the area–some of “them” are ok, but a lot of “them” are undesirables. Get too many, and there goes the neighborhood.

I won’t presume to speak for the new members as a whole–especially since I’m not completey sure who qualifies as such–but I’ll tell you what I think of it all.

(1) Yes, I’m new–I believe I registered on April 8, and I have 70-some posts. I nevertheless refuse to regard myself as an inferior being because of that. I’ll sit in the back of the bus if I choose to, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let anyone tell me I don’t belong up in front.

(2) I’ve started a few threads, one of which has been mildly successful. It’s on the Stanley Cup Playoffs–if you’re not into hockey, it’s not gonna interest you. I’m sorry if you feel I’m not doing my part to entertain you–I didn’t even know that was one of my duties.

(3) In the other threads I’ve participated in, I suppose I haven’t done much in the way of Deep Pronouncements–mostly I just try to be funny, as a way to amuse myself (I have no idea whether anyone else is amused). For the most part I stay away from the really deep/important/your term here threads–in part because I would find it necessary to write huge posts supporting my conclusions…and in part because some subjects cut a little too close to home, and I don’t have a lot of urge to parade my particular hurts in front of strangers. If this makes you conclude that I’m not a worthwhile poster, well, hey, I’m not gonna throw myself in front of a moving truck because of it.

(4) I feel no need to reply to every thread on the board to inflate my post count. I read more than I write here. I guess this means I will never qualify as WAMEM. Ah well.

(5) I will decide who is and is not worth the effort of a reply based on my experiences with them. If I see them being jerks, I will conclude they are jerks–but I will not so conclude because somebody else tells me I should. If the WAMEMs want to shun somebody for whatever reason, that’s fine…but I’ll make my own decisions in that regard. If they haven’t been banned, I have to assume they have the potential to make worthwhile contributions–and I’ll treat them as such, until they show me otherwise.

For that matter, I’ll feel free to respond to a jerk if I feel like it. That’s not “feeding a troll,” that’s sharpening my own claws on them. If it gratifies them in some way, tough.

(6) techchick68, or anyone else who dislikes me for whatever reason, real or imagined, is cordially invited to ignore my threads and posts completely. Or they can flame me, fight with me, or declare me to be a troll/sock puppet/idiot/etc.–whatever floats their boats. Maybe I’ll get tired of the attitudes and go away–the SDMB is only one of many ways of avoiding productive activity. Or maybe I won’t. I’m gonna guess that everybody involved will live either way.

Alright, I’ve had my say. You can go back to what you were doing.

14

MysterEcks, that is probably the most spot-on post I’ve read in a while. I don’t think there’s a point in there I disagree with.

I’ve been here since November, and there’s many posters who’ve registered since who can express more original thoughts, express themselves more fluently and argue more cogently than I. I have a low post count because I don’t feel qualified to speak on every matter I see; if I post a seemingly “trivial” question it’s because I’m genuinely interested in the answer.

I agree with techchick’s sentiments; trolls do seem to garner an inordinately large amount of attention (which probably says a lot for the people responding to them), and it is annoying wading through tedious self-referencing threads.

On the other hand, what I think of threads about old threads about older threads is neither here nor there, and there will always be trolls. There’s certainly nothing anyone can do about that. Without wishing to complain about cliques or New Message Board Orders or flame anyone in particular - because that is certainly not my intention - there does seem to be an attitude of “two posts bad, four posts good” (with apologies to George Orwell).

15

To underscore Dex’s point, when I registered there were almost exactly 200 posters registered. Now there are over 6000. That’s a 300 percent increase in eight months. Now admittedly, many of those have fallen by the wayside for whatever reason, but jeeez . . .

17

Yes, I agree with you Techchick. I never thought possible I could agree with a women while she’s on her period. Another first for me :wink:

I really think if people just ignored trolls, idiots…whatever you wanna call them,
they would go away.

18

MysterEcks I agree with most of what you said.
Although I am new on this board (actually I lurked for nearly 6 months before my first post) I was one of the Net old timers. I was on USENET in Reagans first term, and it wasn’t a whole lot different in some ways than this board. It does make me smile when some 18 year old who has been in the SDMB for 4 months and has 1000+ posts is referred to as an “old timer” by others.

Boards in general are not “open smile” organizations, no matter how much they protest they are. They instead are very cliquish and elitist to “newbies”.

I do not believe this board to be any worse about this than others. In fact, I respectfully believe it is better than most as there is a high level of intelligence and maturity displayed in many of the “WAMEM’s” and the moderators. I think people like you and I just have to bite the bullet and do the following:

  1. Read many more posts than you write (100:1 posts is a “golden rule” used by some boards. Back in the old days it was sometimes given as high as 1000:1).
  2. Be polite, and post clearly and intelligently.
  3. Always contribute to subjects that you actually do know something about.
  4. Don’t respond to flames or pokes from the “WAMEM’s” with anger. Instead, try to completely ignore their posts and continue to politely present your views.
  5. Ignore troll posts completely. Don’t read past the OP. There’s nothing whatsoever to be gained.
  6. Encourage, respond to, and help other “newbie” posters that display intelligence, maturity, and constructive behavior. They will be our peers when we are someday, somehow, elite.

Eventually, if we keep this up, we may be accepted and occaisionally be referred to if we actually DO possess knowledge and opinions which are constructive and meaningful.

19

Sir:

I respectfully believe you have made a small error. I believe increasing from 200 to 6000 posters is a 3000 percent increase, not 300 percent. This even more supports your point about the growth of the SDMB.

Regards.

20

200 posters to 6,000 posters is a 493.75% increase. And that’s the bottom line cause Michael Masterson said so.

Uhh. 200 x 2 is 400 (100% increase), 400 x 2 is 800 (200% increase), 800 x 2 is 1,600 (300% increase), 1,600 x 2 is 3,200 (400% increase), 3,200 x 1.875 is 6,000 (187.5/2 is 93.75 so 493.75% increase).

21

Anthracite: there are actually two math errors being made, and alas, one of them is yours, too.

I believe I am also a September 1999 registrant, and IIRC, the number of members was closer to 2000 than 200 (I do not, needless to say, fault you for not being aware of this). I suspect Andros’ first error was in neglecting to proofread his post. But that would not make his math any more accurate.

As you pointed out, the numbers Andros put into his post put him in error by an order of magnitude. However, the fact remains that we are talking about a percentage of increase, not a percentage of comparativeness (what an inelegant looking word that is. Oh well). The increase is equal to the difference between the current number of members and the number of members when Andros registered (4000 in real life, 5800 using the numbers he actually typed in). When you divide this difference by the initial number (result: 2, or 29), then multiply by 100, you have the percentage of increase (200% or 2900%).

I don’t consider myself to be an accomplished mathematician, BTW (or an accomplished grammarian, for that matter, in case it should ever come up). It’s just that when errors so glaringly obvious that even I spot them are perpretated and perpetuated, I get an itch to drag out a soap box and start testifyin’.

Try to be a better person in the future.

Oh, and just so you know that I’m not targeting you for abuse on account of your “newbie-ness,” so to speak, allow me to be among the first to welcome you to the of SDMB.

Now you may adjust your .sig line to reflect that you are one of the few posters to have been personally welcomed to the board by kaylasdad99. Everyone will be impressed, I assure you.