Have you noticed every other message board is populated by idiots?

[BiblioCat]

Thanks for the explanation, Chronos, and thank you, Sailboat, for giving it a name.

[FairyChatMom]

I occasionally surf a local message board because I can find such things as recommendations for restaurants or pet groomers or other services. However, spelling and grammar aside, nearly every thread on that board, whether in the social forum or the specialized ones, devolves into snark-fests or flirt-a-thons. Plus there are the animated gifs and avatars. Bless our admin for not allowing those annoyances!!

Heaven help you if you post a question that has been dealt with in the past! Or if you post a non-ultra-conservative observation or opinion. Or if you say something positive about an area that has been declared to be “ghetto” (yeah, they’re ever-so-slightly racist.) Or if you offer an opinion that has been labeled “ghey” at some point in the past.

It’s easily the most petty board I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. The only value it serves for me is as a reference or to get a quick source of local news - they’re big on discussing auto accidents almost as they happen.

I won’t post a link because I respect you all too much to expose you to it.

But it sucks.

[silenus]

**Have you noticed every other message board is populated by idiots? **

So’s this one, but we try harder to not let it show.

[D_Odds]

@What Exit?

This board is very good for the very reason that so many users do crack down on those of us that have poor spelling and grammar skills. The strong moderating fully supports reasonable writing skills and the system of expecting cites and being cynical reduces the misinformation on the SDMB compared to any non-technical board I have seen.
Basically, I am saying that the users that demand good writing and information are the ones that made this board great and useful and keep it so.
I apologize that I drag the writing level down, but I am working on it.

Jim

Our next big push, after spelling and grammar, is to have people properly separate their paragraphs. Don’t make me pit you over this, Jim!

[Morgyn]

@Der Trihs

Good, as long as you avoid the Politics forum; lots of rabid rightwingers. The sort who say that the CIA is sabotaging the war in Iraq because it’s full of Democrats, who want us to lose the war as badly as possible.

They don’t know anyone who works there, do they? Based on the (admittedly small sample size) of people I met while interning there, lo these many years ago, people at the CIA are generally Republican in sympathy.

[What_Exit]

@D_Odds

Our next big push, after spelling and grammar, is to have people properly separate their paragraphs. Don’t make me pit you over this, Jim!

I am open to suggestions and criticisms. My post seemed to have three different ideas and I broke up my paragraphs accordingly. I am ignorant of what would improve my post, and I am eager to learn.

Jim (Yes, I realize I am probably being whooshed, but in case I am not)

[Spiff]

Psst, Jim…

I think one extra space between paragraphs was being implied by D_Odds.

Or so I gathered.

[Der_Trihs]

@Morgyn

They don’t know anyone who works there, do they?

I never asked ( I wasn’t in the mood for a half dozen pages calling me a traitor ), but I never noticed anyone providing evidence, or even arguing the point. It was just . . . assumed.

@Morgyn

Based on the (admittedly small sample size) of people I met while interning there, lo these many years ago, people at the CIA are generally Republican in sympathy.

Which is what I’d expect, especially after years of Bush driving the more liberal and/or competent people out of the federal government.

[Chez_Guevara]

@Eve

Have you noticed every other message board is populated by idiots?

No, not every other message board.

[jabiru]

@Ethilrist

People are lazy…

I admit to being lazy. I’m far too lazy to be bothered trying to decipher posts without punctuation, which use SMS ‘words’ or those where the individual hasn’t fathomed the use of the Enter key and/or doesn’t know the purpose of paragraphs.

[D_Odds]

@What Exit?

I am open to suggestions and criticisms. My post seemed to have three different ideas and I broke up my paragraphs accordingly. I am ignorant of what would improve my post, and I am eager to learn.

Jim (Yes, I realize I am probably being whooshed, but in case I am not)

@What Exit?

This board is very good for the very reason that so many users do crack down on those of us that have poor spelling and grammar skills. The strong moderating fully supports reasonable writing skills and the system of expecting cites and being cynical reduces the misinformation on the SDMB compared to any non-technical board I have seen.

Basically, I am saying that the users that demand good writing and information are the ones that made this board great and useful and keep it so.

I apologize that I drag the writing level down, but I am working on it.

Otherwise, it looks like you are manually adding line breaks for all but the first line.

[What_Exit]

@D_Odds

Otherwise, it looks like you are manually adding line breaks for all but the first line.

Noted and I will incorporate this into my future postings.

Believe it or not, I actually had someone complain that I was adding blanks to break up paragraphs. This was last year and I believed the person that complained. I reviewed this thread and see what should have been obvious before, I should space paragraphs with blanks.

Thank you very much,
Jim

[D_Odds]

You sure know how to ruin a good Pitting, Jim. Now I’ll have to take you to task for being to damn polite!

[Baron_Greenback]

Your thread title is simply wrongEve. The boards at snopes, JREF, Infidels, Arstechnica, Urban75 and Bad Astronomy/Universe Today (for example) are about the same level as here. Even Fark has plenty of intelligent and witty people on it (and a load of knob-ends, obviously). This is a great MB, but it isn’t the only one.

[Mister_Rik]

The various Dungeons & Dragons boards are reasonably literate.

[Ignatz]

@silenus

**Have you noticed every other message board is populated by idiots? **

So’s this one, but we try harder to not let it show.

And then there are those who (or is that whom?) split infinitives.

[joazito]

Also, on virtually every other message board, looking at threads’ titles you wouldn’t guess if the OP is running for president or trying to get his cat down from a tree (meaning very general and uninformative titles are used).

[OneCentStamp]

@joazito

Also, on virtually every other message board, looking at threads’ titles you wouldn’t guess if the OP is running for president or trying to get his cat down from a tree (meaning very general and uninformative titles are used).

Average front page from one of those OTHER (read: free) message boards, sorted by thread title:

>> this sux (about his take-home chemistry exam)

>> does ne1 know who wrote this? (text of a Robert Frost poem posted)
**
>> I’M TEH r0XX0R$!!!111111!!!1** (the OP is running for president…of his sohpomore class)

>> kanye west (roolz)

>> W1N A FR3E iPOD!!! (obligatory undeleted spam post - no mods on this MB)

[UntouchedTakeaway]

@Eve

Not their opinions so much (well, that too) but their utter lack of writing skills? Not just the sad, brain-damaged sprites who belong to the IMDB and Amazon boards, either. I’m on a message board for people with family members who have a certain medical condition, and good night nurse! how they butcher the English language. These are supposedly educated adults, yet they have not the vaguest comprehension of spelling, grammar, punctuation . . . It takes all my self-control (of which I have very little to begin with) not to break into someone’s story of illness and death and heartbreak and go, “for goodness sake, I’ve seen goldfish crackers with better writing skills than you’ve got!!”

And where did all the Upper-Case Letters go? Why does everyone write like e.e. goddam cummings?!

One of the things I like about this joint is we can josh each other about even minor spelling and writing errors . . .

I lurve the SDMB and give thanks every day that no one has discovered yet that I am a maroon

I frequent a board for gastric bypass surgery and while I wouldn’t say they were “idiots”, there is a lack of critical thinking there. I’m certain it’s because of the emotional aspects of the surgery, so I do try to be diplomatic. My fingers sometimes do itch when I see things like “I’m 3 weeks out from surgery - how soon can I have a double Martini”? :eek:

VCNJ~

[Lobelia_Overhill]

Have you noticed every other message board is populated by idiots?

Mine isn’t.

I freely admit to being the dumbest person on there, but I pay the bills so I’m allowed.

Nerr

No one on my board uses txt spk or l33t or whatever - if they did I’d edit their posts and translate them into “proper english”. It’s in the Roolz. (Or it will be when I edit them). You’re not allowed to flame people, or anything of that ilk either.

(and you can have an avatar a 1000 character sigline and there are loads of smilies)