# Has this Board Changed?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 31, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035 "2014-08-31T09:33:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/141 "2014-09-10T16:00:13Z")

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Naturally the political discourse of this board will vastly improve upon the evaporation of all lingering reluctance to recognize that Canada is the best nation on Earth.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/142 "2014-09-10T16:15:59Z")

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> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Naturally the political discourse of this board will vastly improve upon the evaporation of all lingering reluctance to recognize that Canada is the best nation on Earth.

Was that ever in doubt?

I mean by anyone whose opinion actually matters.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/143 "2014-09-10T17:32:22Z")

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> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> Was that ever in doubt?
> 
> I mean by anyone whose opinion actually matters.

You’ll have my Central Heat when you Pry It From My Cold, Dead Hand!

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/144 "2014-09-10T17:42:52Z")

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Just be grateful we haven’t declared war on you for Celine Dion and Justine Bieber.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/145 "2014-09-10T18:01:36Z")

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> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Just be grateful we haven’t declared war on you for Celine Dion and Justine Bieber.

And both Thickes.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/146 "2014-09-11T04:23:42Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And both Thickes.

I hadn’t thought of them.

:: begins packing for a trip to Capitol Hill ::

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**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/147 "2014-09-11T04:28:46Z")

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> [@Cyros](#):
>
> I think Roo is off playing with Piglet. I can call Kanga if you’d like?😛

I thought she died in the first movie…

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/148 "2014-09-11T15:15:08Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And both Thickes.

TBH, throwing them into it crosses the line from “[Just War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war_theory)” to “[Good War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_War)”.

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**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/149 "2014-09-11T15:44:12Z")

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> [@Giraffe](#):
>
> Maybe, but the number of posts has been steadily declining for years now:

I’ve been _BUSY_.

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**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/150 "2014-09-12T06:24:35Z")

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> [@Absolute](#):
>
> From my perspective, the board has certainly changed, but not in the way you suggest. I think the board has actually gotten a lot _less_ snarkier, overall.
> 
> The major difference is that the volume of posts/members is down, and for any given topic, it is now less likely that you will find a knowledgeable and polite person who is interested in having an extended and thoughtful discussion (in GQ) or debate (in GD). The snark and uninformed morons have always been there, and remain so, but the pool of valuable participants is smaller and so the snark is more prominent by comparison.
> 
> I blame the ill-fated pay-to-post experiment, I don’t think the board really recovered after that. There used to be a huge pool of lurkers who would read the threads in GQ and GD and only rarely post, when they had something constructive to add. You’d post an esoteric question in GQ and within an hour get a response from an expert in the field who had been a member for 6 years and had 20 posts. When the board went pay-to-post, it seems a huge number of those people left and never bothered to return since.

I fully agree with this statement.

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**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/151 "2014-09-13T12:24:39Z")

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> [@TubaDiva](#):
>
> The Straight Dope is in competition for your time with many other opportunities, including movies and TV shows, items that were not so much on the scene in earlier times.

\<--------- Damned proud to be a '99er. 1899, that is.

Why, back in the day, Uncle Beer would fire up the Magic Lantern and we’d all sit around, sipping hot cocoa and watching the latest offerings from [Slug](http://clclt.com/imager/when-secretaries-switched-from-manual-typewriters-to-electrics-did-they-ty/b/original/2465996/fd50/bad_dope1-1_28.jpg) [Signor](http://www.straightdope.com/art/1984/840511.gif)[ino](http://pbmo.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/bananadine-by-slug-signorino1.png?w=370).

Then Pappy Gus would read the latest column by Cecil Adams, famed wit and omniscient, from The Chicago Tribune.

😃

( d&r )

ETA: I actually agree with this theory. As is the case with a LOT of other areas of interest, we are slicing and dicing our time and attention more heavily than ever before. The Dope is but one small victim in a vast ocean of splintered attention. When’s the last time you saw a parent pushing their 6 month old in a stroller and actually talking to them, opposed to pushing with one hand and buying things on Amazon Prime from their iPhone™ with the other? ☹

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**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/152 "2014-09-13T12:35:51Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And both Thickes.

Let us not forget [William Shatner](http://sleeplessthought.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/header-william-shatner-reads-where-the-wild-things-are-to-kids.jpg).

😃

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/153 "2014-09-15T18:38:57Z")

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Shatner IMHO is one reason we _haven’t_ declared war on the Great White North.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/154 "2014-09-15T18:53:26Z")

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> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Shatner IMHO is one reason we _haven’t_ declared war on the Great White North.

We didn’t do so well last time.  
:rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/155 "2014-09-15T20:32:45Z")

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Pjen, I don’t really have an answer for you, as everything’s subjective. Your background and your experiences give you a different world view than others, and what seems obviously repulsive to you is not always an issue that others will identify with. They’ve learned to live with the “devil you know.”

One thing I’ve always admired about the humor of the British is that they can sound and seem polite and cheerful, yet manage to deliver deeply penetrating snarks. Every time I try that, I get frozen out. Maybe the Brits are brought up with a more ingrained sense of civility and artistic expression than Americans, because you’ve had royalty that goes back thousands of years. We’re infants compared to you, but because of that, we think nothing of bypassing barriers and assuming equal footing with whoever claims to be in charge. We are taught to respect our elders and so forth, but at a certain age we determine the old ways no longer work. Maybe that’s what you’re seeing.

There’s also the adage, “Americans think a hundred years is a long time. The British think a hundred miles is a long distance.” Geography has a lot to do with it. We have enough land to develop every need or want. The Brits don’t, and built empires based on the concept that they were bringing civility to the savage world. They still carry that attitude to some degree.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/156 "2014-09-15T20:55:52Z")

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> [@Knowed\_Out](#):
>
> Maybe the Brits are brought up with a more ingrained sense of civility and artistic expression than Americans, because you’ve had royalty that goes back thousands of years.

😕:):D:p

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**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/157 "2014-09-15T21:40:47Z")

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> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> 😕:):D:p

All the way back to the Ming emperors and Genghis Ricardo Montalban KHAAANNNN! the 1st. While what do we poor benighted USers have? Why, nothing before Germany bombed us at Pearl Harbor, that’s what!

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/158 "2014-09-15T23:05:48Z")

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I came here a long, long time ago from Usenet, which was a mess even in 2001. This board was much better than that (and back then only moderated places like talk.origins and places no one bothered to spam were readable.) If anything SDMB is locked down tighter now than then.  
As for the world outside, the mass media has just recently discovered that trolls exist on the interwebs. Oh, the humanity!

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/159 "2014-09-15T23:10:41Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Yes, the USA is significantly bigger than all of Europe. News in CA for example that would cover occurrences in NY is equivalent to a Portuguese news item covering Sweden.
> 
> Same with vacations. Note the USA includes Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. We have Tropics, we have Arctic, we have rainforests, we have two Disney park complexes and so forth. A Swede who travels to Ibeza for the beaches is about the same as a New Yorker going to Hawaii- but travels far less distance.

My daughter spent a year at a university in Germany. During that time she and her friends visited somewhere over a dozen countries without spending a lot of money. My wife and I spent five days driving and made it from California to Missouri.

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-changed/697035/160 "2014-09-15T23:55:01Z")

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> [@VinylTurnip](#):
>
> I remember those days. We’d promenade about on our penny-farthings, occasionally stopping to enjoy a chocolate phosphate. Fashion then meant one thing only: pinstripes, and plenty of them! The tinkle of the nickelodeon always in the air, above the squeal and clatter of the streetcar. Ragamuffin newsboys crying on every corner.

You left out: Strolling into the PSA terminal and hopping on to the next flight to SFO…Flying within California used to be as straightforward and convenient as getting on a city bus.

> [@](#):
>
> Then 9/11 happened, and everything changed.

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