# Guests vs. members **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341 "2006-05-26T17:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/1 "2006-05-26T17:40:16Z")
How many of you are like me: you read a particularly inflammatory post, contemplate a withering reply, and then, after noticing the poster is a “guest,” decide to forget it. I just had that experience with [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7430885&postcount=110) post. I was going to write something about Republican hubris and how it could easily swing around to bite them in the ass, but then I though, “why bother, it was posted by a guest. Probably just a troll. Move along.” Anybody? ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/2 "2006-05-26T17:56:26Z")
I’m not much on the withering replies anyway, but I have to agree. And while your link did seem troll_esque_, the idiot factor isn’t my main consideration. It just seems that a lot of guests post once or twice and vanish. It could be they are just testing the waters. In most cases, I think they find that they are expected to back up their crap with something substantial and so they run. ( I got past that phase when I realized no one _really_ has to back up their crap!) ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/3 "2006-05-26T18:37:24Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > How many of you are like me: you read a particularly inflammatory post, contemplate a withering reply, and then, after noticing the poster is a “guest,” decide to forget it. > > I just had that experience with [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7430885&postcount=110) post. I was going to write something about Republican hubris and how it could easily swing around to bite them in the ass, but then I though, “why bother, it was posted by a guest. Probably just a troll. Move along.” > > Anybody? I probably wouldn’t bother at all with someone who just thinks they are being funny, but doesn’t seem to have anything of substance to say. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/4 "2006-05-26T18:58:06Z")
Same as you. I won’t get worked up about anything coming from a “guest.” I figure they are just going to do a drive-by post and not come back, so why bother? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/5 "2006-05-26T19:23:28Z")
I was recently taken to task in a Pit thread for giving a guest a dressing down for an obnoxious post. I was told that “all here are equal” and to “respond to the post, not the poster” by some. But a jerk is a jerk, be they new or not. But in general…yeah. Guests usually aren’t worth the bother anywhere other than GQ. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/6 "2006-05-26T19:55:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Guests usually aren’t worth the bother anywhere other than GQ. Interesting… I would tend to give a little more weight to someone posting in CoCC. I’m not sure why exactly. I guess because I think of new members being people who want to respond in some way to something Cecil has written. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/7 "2006-05-26T20:40:27Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > I won’t get worked up about anything coming from a “guest.” This is my thinking on it too. I’m not going to discount anything anyone has to say, just on their status or number of posts. However, I’m not going to get into some big argument, or get into it with someone who’s possibly going to be gone for good in 30 days. Not to say I always pay that much attention, sometimes I don’t even register who the poster is. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/8 "2006-05-26T22:04:44Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > How many of you are like me: you read a particularly inflammatory post, contemplate a withering reply, and then, after noticing the poster is a “guest,” decide to forget it. > > I just had that experience with [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7430885&postcount=110) post. I was going to write something about Republican hubris and how it could easily swing around to bite them in the ass, but then I though, “why bother, it was posted by a guest. Probably just a troll. Move along.” > > Anybody? I wouldn’t have had any problem with this thread had you not linked to a specific post. **Knorf** , do not state or imply that another poster is a troll. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guests-vs-members/358341/9 "2006-05-26T22:27:03Z")
Perhaps we should have an intermediate status between “guest” and “(Charter) Member”. To me, guest implies someone ‘testing the waters’. The trouble is, it’s hard to separate the one-or-two post drive-by (or sock, or tr\*ll) from the person who is serious and actually interested in becoming a member (or perhaps they used to _be_ a member). I think the intermediate status should be called “Pupae”… OK— but seriously… it could be called “Initiate” or some such because to many people (including myself) one’s early days on the board are a bit rough. It’s rather like a hazing. If people just knew \*ahead of time \* about the slightly scary acclimation period then the _serious_ guests would bear down, think a lot before hitting ‘Submit Reply’, and grow some thicker skin. The \*non-serious \* clowns might just assume the whole thing isn’t worth the trouble since they actually have to back up what they post lest they suffer the intellectual equivalent of a Columbian Necktie. The ‘guest’ free period could be shortened to a week, while the ‘Initiate’ period could be the free 30 day trial.