I’ve decided to leave the Straight Dope. This board used to be a fun place where ignorance was fought and entertaining, intelligent discussions took place. Nowadays, it seems like we have the same discussions over and over, and people seem to be much less friendly than they used to be. I visit the SDMB mainly out of habit and routine, rather than because I enjoy it, and the experience is frustrating, not amusing or satisfying.
Also, I can’t stand how one-sided the politics of this board have become. The SDMB has always leaned toward the left, but there used to be a real diversity of opinions here, and the type of enlightening discussions that accompanied such a diversity. Nowadays, anyone who leans conservatively gets treated like shit, until they finally get fed up and leave. I’ve resisted leaving out of pure stubbornness, but I know that my kind isn’t wanted here, and since the I don’t really get any enjoyment out of the place any more, it’s time for me to pack it up.
I’m a married man now, and within the next year my wife and I hope to have a family, so I’m not really going to have much time to spend on this board anyway. My internet usage is probably going to consist mainly of light entertainment.
I am not a conservative (not at all socially, at least; fiscally I’m somewhere in the middle) but I know what you’re saying about the politics here. This board has become maddeningly, sometimes delusionally left-leaning.
Re: Everybody being so rude. Yeah, I’ve noticed that too and yeah I’ve been guilty of it in the past. I’m really trying to be nicer on here and not argue so much or at least not so angrily. I think a lot of other people have noticed too and I’m being positive and hoping that the pendulum is swinging back towards a friendlier attitude around here.
As far as the same discussions popping up over and over, yep, frustrating too. I wish they didn’t have a ban on “zombie” threads so we could keep perpetually repeating topics under control in a few threads. I have never even heard of another board discouraging the resurrection of old threads; quite the opposite most encourage it in lieu of starting a new one. There’re always going to be current events, new books, new movies, new breakthroughs in science and medicine, etc to talk about, though.
Leave if you must but you’re right about the board leaning to the left and you could mitigate some of that. I’m very left leaning but I like having some conservative posters here to bring some balance and opposing (relative to mine) viewpoints to the discussions. Just saying, some left-leaning members are listening, though maybe not agreeing, to what the conservative members are saying. If you don’t enjoy the place any more, of course, it’s not worth your time but you really can affect some people’s opinions.
No matter what, good luck on starting your family.
Ugh. How come these posts are always an either/or attention grabbing pity party? Things ebb and flow, and change. Every forum on the internet has a post like this, “Hey everybody, it’s not what it was <some time long ago…even if the board’s only a few months old> so I’m giving up and going away forever…now everybody say goodbye and give me a big hug”. Not quite up there with the regular stream of “suicide” posts, but it’s close on the attention-whore spectrum.
It’s a forum, you don’t need to be on it every hour, day, week of month. Just, when you feel like it, browse, say hi, jump in when you want, and go back to your regularly scheduled life. If you’re a paying customer it’s a more important decision, but not exactly of Wall Street Bailout proportions.
I suppose it’s nice to say bye if you’re a regular, but the whole whiny bit about forums not living up to whatever misguided expectations gets old after a while. Plus it smacks of “you guys suck, I’m going home”.
That said, it’s nice to see that you’re not going to throw away your family for a forum. :rolleyes: Perhaps a bit of time with the family will remind you why you chose to immerse yourself in the imaginary world of the internet in the first place.
(Okay, sorry, minor uncalled for, moderately hypocritical, spastic griping complete.)
This is a shame. Take a hiatus, and see if that makes a difference.
I agree it has gone more than a bit over the edge, but I blame that on the election. And I derive considerable amusement from laughing at the extremists, so I think my experience here is different from yours.
Best of luck with that. A man who raises his children responsibly has done more for the world than any number of posts to a message board.
I think the conservative views have been getting a drubbing because that’s who have been in power all this time, and while there have managed to fuck everything up from here to breakfast time. It’s no surprise that the majority voice will be people wanting the other side to have some power for a change.
Eh, in my view, there is about the same small number of obnoxious jerks on ‘left’ and ‘right’ who spend most of their time boring the rest of us to tears with their political views. If there happen to be fewer conservatives overall on this board (and I am unconvinced that this is really the case), then, a greater proportion of conservatives who happen to post seem to be unable to restrain themseves from hurling snark at persons who don’t share their beliefs. Likewise, there most certainly are specific posters who seem to think the only purpose of this board is to post their political opinions over and over and over and over again, when anyone who has ever been here longer than a month can pretty much guess what they are going to say before they ever say it. Sometimes I wish they’d all just piss off.
In any event, it doesn’t matter. Firstly, IMO most of the political content on this board is a tedious sideshow, not the main event. Secondly, why the hell would anyone expect that a particular political forum would ever be perfectly split between left (or what passes for left in US politics) and right? Where else does such a perfect split exist on the 'Net? Lastly, and admittedly a cliche; Christ, almighty, its just a message board. There’s no obligation to participate if one doesn’t like the content.
I am a conservative doper who has taught himself to just tune out the crap thrown from the other side (but still enjoy the good stuff posted by our left-leaning dopers).
Politics aside, I do believe this board is actually less snarky than it was in years gone by. Go back to 2002 or thereabouts and you had self-appointed Pit Kings and Queens, Pit threads that were valued only on the amount of sheer, brutal anger in them, legions of fly-by-night snark boards off-site, pile-ons that went unchecked, and a Great Debates forum that was incredibly dull in being guns, abortion, Bush, and pretty much nothing else. It was also much more clique-y then: nobody would even respond to you unless you have a couple of thousand posts to your name.
The rose-coloured glasses are a bit out of focus, IMHO. It’s still an imperfect board, but it’s much better now than it has been at any time in the past.
I completely understand how you feel. Still, it doesn’t need to be an either/or proposition. When the fanatical sentiments or incivility ratchets up I find it real easy just to walk away and occupy my time with plenty of other pursuits for awhile and then, after a week or three, wander back around. It’s pretty easy really to avoid the threads and assholes that make this place unpleasant because there’s far too much good here, far too much wit and wisdom to be missed out on.
Good luck with the family and don’t forget this place is a potential treasure trove of experience in that regard as well.
I’m not sure why you posted, since presumably whatever we say you leave, but I would like to point out that by European standards this board is somewhere between centre and centre-right.
We’ve got Socialists!
We’ve got Communists! :eek:
We have National Health schemes, gun bans and the Government intervenes in the Market.
I can understand it, I guess, but this board is far and away the best one out there for finding answers and for educated opinion. I started participating in a local message board sponsored by our newspaper. My intent was to inject some SDMB sanity into a forum that was waaaayyyy over on the right and frequented by slack-jawed droolers who couldn’t get their letters printed in the paper. I only lasted about a month, as the vitriol and vicious personal attacks were more than I could take.
There are a finite number of topics on the planet that are worth discussion, so I’m not sure what you are expecting to crop up here that is “new”, unless aliens invade. I suppose there could be more meaningful discussion about cultures, environments, etc., but it’s asking a lot for people’s attention to remain with such topics in an election year. We’ve largely been consumed with this, as the past eight years has been one long litany of failure and so is fodder for discussion and anger. Hopefully the tone will become more positive once the present gang of thugs is out of power.
I must commend you on your masterful restraint in keeping this delight you get from laughing at people who disagree with you so completely private until now. It’s that sort of malevolent glee that is so deeply upsetting to the late, great Diceman when he gets the smallest taste of it from his adversaries here, and I’m always amazed at how the rightwingers never indulge in this foul and offensive practice. You, Shodan, in particular have been a paragon of rectitude, a saint, really.
