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.
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).
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.
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”.
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!
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.
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.
