Bah! You just need to be more broad-minded :D.
- Tamerlane
GAHHHHH!
My fantasies have been shattered!
:eek:
I don’t asume that I have ever had any impact on anyone. I have always leaned to the invisible and don’t often feel like I have enough to contribute to even post. I just lurk most of the time.
You Never know when I am watching a thread.
I’m thriving in the anonymity of the SDMB.
Well, if it makes you feel better, I always thought you were a big boob.
I kid! I kid because I care!
Back to the OP, I’ve also participated in many online forums over the years and in a lot of them I was treated as a kind of “star poster”. People would often say things about how nice/smart/funny I was. No, really. In one group a poster even lied about having my private support on an issue, because apparently I was considered so popular that it was worth lying about having me on your side!
By SDMB standards I am nothing extraordinary, and I think I prefer it that way. I haven’t made any real friends here, but I haven’t treated this board as a place to make friends. Some people do, and it seems to work well for them. I’ve done the same thing on other forums, but for some reason the SDMB was always different for me. It’s a great way to learn new things, be exposed to a wide variety of opinions on almost any topic, and it helps keep me from becoming mentally lazy, but it’s not really a social outlet for me.
That said, there are a couple of posters who I have occasionally exchanged e-mails or IMs with. We’re not on each other’s Christmas card lists or anything, but I rank them among my friendly acquaintances. There is a larger group of posters I have no off-board interaction with but who I enjoy discussing things with here, and I hope they feel the same about me. Maybe some people even look forward to my posts, or at least have a positive association with my username. I’ve been mentioned once or twice in those “posters you think are cool” threads, but I know I don’t have a fan club or anything.
I’m sure there are posters that think I’m a real bitch, and some not without justification. Since I’m not here to make friends or impress anyone with how nice/smart/funny I am, I usually don’t post without motivation…so that’s either going to be about topics I’m really interested in, or because someone said something that I feel I must correct or argue with. So some people probably cringe at the sight of my username, but not a lot I think. The only serious personal ugliness I’ve ever gotten into on the boards was worked out comfortably through e-mail, admittedly due more to the efforts of the other person than myself! I’m pretty sure that person doesn’t bear me any continuing ill will, and was probably never as upset as I (unreasonably) was in the first place.
To most of the SDMB though, I’m probably just another vaguely familiar poster and they’re not really sure who I am! A few times people have posted things that suggested to me that they actually did have me confused with someone else. I also get the wrong gender pronouns more often than I’d expect if people paid much attention to me! I always think this is funny because my username is far more feminine than my real first name.
No, no and uh…no.
(in that order)
I don’t think I’ve made any impact here – people still call Thomas Kinkade an artist – but it’s sure been a lot of fun.
That worked for Handy–for a while.
My God. I’ve never seen your name before in the last 4 (nearly 5!) years.
Some ignorance just can’t be fought;)
I have no way of guaging what impact I do or do not make. I’m afraid my motives for participation are largely to entertain myself and get some answers to niggling questions, and if others get something out of my own ramblings, that’s peachy. I’ve yet to see a question I’ve attempted to answer that couldn’t be as or more capably answered by any number of other dopers, so I must conclude my level of importance, in terms of uniqueness, must be very close to nil.
Which bothers me not at all; nor should anyone worry if they matter or not. I am grateful to those who do contribute truly unique knowledge here, and hope they know I appreciate their generosity. I also hope they’re having fun while they’re at it.
I see very little evidence of having had any impact. People seem to remain convinced of absolutely goofy stuff about the oil and gas business.
But then, I guess I don’t try very hard.
[QUOTE=Mr Jim]
When I post I sometimes secretly wonder " Does anyone see my name and think ‘Oh there’s Mr Jim posting I should go read it’?"QUOTE]
Who’s Mr Jim? 
I kid I kid.
Why not start a thread in IMHO with the purpose of un-goofifying the rest of us?
I couldn’t count the oil and gas threads I’ve posted to. Another one? Eh…
I like how Algernon (who, er, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve been at least lurking since the AOL boards) put it - I’m not gritty, or witty, or shitty. Nobody really knows me here.
I do post on things I know about - librarianship, some aspects of preservation, gay anime porn, etc. (And, of course, lots of things I know nothing about.) I’ve sunk quite a few threads, started some that sank with nary a ripple. My most successful thread was a “what the hell is that thing that just came out of me” TMI thread, which tells you that on the SDMB, it isn’t precisely sex that sells. Oh well, I’ll never have to look any of you guys in the face right? 
I try to add value to the board when I can, but I can’t come close to the value the board gives to me - it’s told me what some crazy Irish sport I saw on TV was, that it was not abnormal for something like that to come out of me, and that fish dig sperm. Pretty good value for money, I think.
For the purposes of this reply I would like to define having an impact as being a “celebrity” on the message board to the extent that one can be a celebrity on a message board. I would have to say using that as the standard for making an impact then yes I have made an impact.
I am known enough to be pitted
and be praised for being unique,
get my name confused with an already “famous” doper.
also to be imitated
People at least wanted to know what I looked like
Even my stupid threads get a decent response.
I have a few threads with over 2 pages worth of replies which is always a pleasent surprise to me.
Bottom line like me or hate me I have made an impact on the Straight Dope Message Board.
Umm… who… are you again?
…
Good lord, it’s like high school all over again. I don’t want to care what the cool kids think of me, but deep down I want ever so badly to be popular. How pathetic of me!
To a few people here, yes. (And they’ve impacted me as well.)
Overall? I doubt it. Just one more voice in the wind…