# Does the SD have an attitude problem? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 11, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386 "2017-05-11T19:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/61 "2017-05-12T22:01:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I will admit that I think **Miller** is a bit meaner than he used to be, Ah, he has always been a big meany\* :D. Or y’know - could just be we’re all just getting grouchier with age. And as opposed to the above, I’m only being half-facetious here. This board has always skewed older, it has been around almost two decades now with a lot of long-term posters and as social media goes this is a dinosaur format. I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out that as a group the older posters here are just a lot less patient than they used to be back when every argument had only been hashed out 5x vs. 33x. To some extent it is just human nature - I cope by trying to avoid some of my bête noire topics, but even then I can’t help but impatiently engage once in awhile when people are wrong on the internet. - IMHO our Pit moderators as a group have over the years been on average our most even-keeled and generally effective at keeping a lid on things. I’m not sure if that is down to a lucky coincidence of personalities or it is just easier to moderate semi-organized chaos as opposed to dealing with rules-lawyers in other fora. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/62 "2017-05-12T22:26:49Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Yes, but that’s not just saying, “No, it isn’t!” [yes it is!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y) mc ---
**Author:** ![Unabashed\_Fascist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c2a13f/32.png) [@Unabashed\_Fascist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unabashed_Fascist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/63 "2017-05-12T22:35:45Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > The board used to be a lot more … friendly, for lack of a better word. But there were a series of rules changes that seemed to highlight divisions among the board population. A lot of them fled for the hills - this place is a shadow of what it used to be. The heightened polarization of the current political climate hasn’t helped. > > Everybody kinda just got bitter. Seriously, political division feels like it’s reached a fever pitch. I only recently created an account on the SDMB (though I’ve been a fairly long time lurker, at least since around the time this gem was posted: [I waterboard! - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448717)). My rule both on and off the internet is to not take any vocal political stance, no matter how innocent or how strongly I feel about it. Everyone seems to have an axe to grind, and the constant vitriol and abject hate is both stressful and exhausting. Of course people will get just as angry with you for being a fence-sitter, but as long as you don’t give them anything to work with, they’ll typically find something new to be outraged by. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/64 "2017-05-12T23:39:04Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I realise this is like waving a red flag in front of a furious bull but its something I’ve been thinking about for a while. [STRAIGHT DOPE]Um, I think you’ll find that bulls are actually colour-blind. And you left out the apostrophe in “it’s”.[/SD] ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/65 "2017-05-13T00:07:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So, is it [still September](https://www.google.com/search?q=usenet+endless+summer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=%22eternal+september%22)? Yes. Yes it is. Today is September 8655, 1993 to be specific. As for people just looking for something to be offended by . . . It just seems like the erudite denizens of The Straight Dope Message Board would have better things to occupy their minds with, than getting annoyed because of a poster who ends each post with “Regards”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/66 "2017-05-13T02:34:59Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I realise this is like waving a red flag in front of a furious bull… > [@Penfeather](#): > > [STRAIGHT DOPE]Um, I think you’ll find that bulls are actually colour-blind. And you left out the apostrophe in “it’s”.[/SD] [STRAIGHT DOPE]Alex never claimed that bulls could see red, he just described the color of the traditional figurative flag.[/SD] Its the first rule of SDMB nitpicking that any nitpick must be _flawlessly_ accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/67 "2017-05-13T03:21:50Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > This board has always skewed older, it has been around almost two decades now with a lot of long-term posters and as social media goes this is a dinosaur format. I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out that as a group the older posters here are just a lot less patient than they used to be back when every argument had only been hashed out 5x vs. 33x. To some extent it is just human nature - I cope by trying to avoid some of my bête noire topics, but even then I can’t help but impatiently engage once in awhile when people are wrong on the internet. I think this is the real answer. If this Board has an attitude, it’s a rather clubby, no newbies allowed attitude. Look at me for an example. When I joined here, I was in my 40’s. Now I’m on freakin’ Medicare. I can’t even count how many threads on the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, irrefutable arguments for and against the existence of God, TOS vs. TNG, and why nice guys can’t get women I’ve seen over the years. It’s really tempting to unload a big pile o’ snark whenever a thread comes around for the 33rd time – and I’m one of the NICE posters! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/68 "2017-05-13T14:50:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Now any monkey with an iPad can fling their shit over every corner of the internet. Indeed. And I sometimes see that here too. The OP mentioned “needlessly hostile and aggressive responses” and I do see that here. So can’t people disagree without being needlessly hostile? A better argument, a better discussion results from that. Let’s not resort to flinging emotional barbs The Dope might be better than it was in its early days. I’ve only been here five years so I can’t really speak to that. But that’s not the OP’s point. (Oh, and I’m a TOS guy, not a TNG guy.) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/69 "2017-05-13T15:45:44Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Or y’know - could just be we’re all just getting grouchier with age. I think you are correct (except in your case - if I ever saw you snark, I have repressed the memory.) Now get off my lawn. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/70 "2017-05-13T17:20:47Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > :\*\*points to ‘[Straight Dope Message Board - Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/)’ in the URL: > > _I came in here for an argument!_ > > 😃 But did you come in for a good argument? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/71 "2017-05-13T22:26:03Z")
I would say “yes” but other members would just argue that I’m wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386/72 "2017-05-14T02:13:02Z")
i used to post a lot, then I stopped. I probably went about a year without even looking at the board but when I popped back in I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of the more extreme posters were no longer posting and the board seemed much improved civility wise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-sd-have-an-attitude-problem/786386.md?page=3)