I guess it would be more like, how did you find the Straight Dope and then get into the message board? I was bored one day at went to bored.com. I saw the Straight Dope on one of the links and clicked over. I read articles for about 5 hours. I was hooked immediately. This was back in the summer of my freshman year in high school ('99, '00?; I don’t know I graduated this year so you all do the math). I joined the boards fall of '02 because I had completely forgotten about this site until I was bored again in the computer lab at school. I registered and have been part of one of the greatest community of complete strangers I have ever known. So what about you all?
I’m not sure if this is better suited for MPSIMS. If it is then I beg forgiveness from the powers that be and request its relocation. Thanks in advance (if it’s necessary).
I honestly don’t remember. It was probably an internet search that led me here, though probably not Google. I rarely used Google until I came here, but now I use it more than any of the other major engines combined. I do remember chewing through the Archives for hours on end for several days before finding the Board and registering. I never bothered lurking, I just felt like I fit in from the get-go. That’s my story.
Was on a game message board for some game that ended up being vaporware, and they were discussing something related to marjiuana which one poster linked one of cecil’s classics.
I also came to the Straight Dope from bored.com. I read the archives for quite a while, kept up with the new articles, and finally came here after getting over my “MB’s are for geeks” phobia, lurked for a while, and here I am.
I was in withdrawl from getting the free e-mail of the weekly columns. I’m so glad! Y’all rock.
I was initiated into the World of Cecil when my husband bought me one of his books on a lark one year for Christmas.
Life has never been the same. 
The book referred to the old AOL board that had just been moved to here so with a little detective work, I found the SDMB and haven’t left since.
Oh my Q.E.D. you have so many answers in GQ I assumed you’d been around here forever, what with 5500+ posts… I never noticed you joined in January.
I’ve been lurking here too long.
I was talking to a friend of mine on MSN and told her I was bored. Since we know each other through a message board, she linked me to the SDMB knowing I’d probably like it here.
She was right.
No column here in Oz, so my experience over several years was book -> usenet group -> SD website -> SDMB .
IIRC the book belonged to a friend who was also interested in these kinds of debunking activists.
I used to watch the show on A & E with my brother (it was a bonding thing for us). The show was cancelled, a few years went by, my fam got net access, and one day I was bored so I was just typing in my interests with .com on the end (Hellokitty.com, Madonna.com FE) to see what webpages I got . I remembered the show and typed in “straightdope.com”. When I saw there was an MB, I went nuts (having recently become an MB addict) and lurked for a long time before I signed up.
I bought a couple of the books WAY back in the 80s, and one day at work I was really bored and thought “SaaaaAAYY?? I wonder if he’s got a website??? Surely so”!!
And he did, and I never called him Shirley again.
One of my friends used to get the Straight Dope in his local paper and he read me the column about Le Petomaine over the phone. Then I found the books and eventually the website, though it took me quite a while to get up of the nerve to deal with the wonder that is the SDMB.
I got into the SDMB when it was on AOL because some friends from another board I posted on highly recommended it. When the boards moved to the internet, I eventually moved over here too.
I was a fan of the books before I started posting, but they just sealed the deal. It probably never would’ve occurred to me to post here if it weren’t for the raves of those acquaintances.
I used to be a regular on the snopes board and all of a sudden, we had a “Doper” invasion when the boards here went down. I decided to check it out and see what all the fuss was about. Since that time, I haven’t hardly been back to snopes and, apparently, never leave here.
My aunt told me about this website last October I think. I guess she thought I might like it. I lurked for a long while, then started to post.
I saw a thread linked on Fark… I’ve been hooked ever since.
A few years back, I was a regular at the Bust boards. Some of the people there were apparently regulars here and mentioned it. Since I was a regular reader of the SD column in our local free paper, I was eager to check out the message board.
I found straightdope.com googling Lorum ipsum one time when I wanted to paste it into a document. (There’s a column about it) I wound up reading about half the archive but never really paid any mind to the message board link. Then a year or so later I saw a link to this board from a panic/anxiety board (tapir). The link to this board was to a thread about associating colours and numbers. After I read the thread I realized where I was and later I registered to search for something or other. I chose a stupid name because I just thought I would use the account to be able to do searches and didn’t think I’d ever post. Then some dumb TMI thread sucked me in and I started posting.
Standing line to buy college books in 1987, I saw the original, fat SD book. I bought it, have bought all the others, and discovered that there was a web site in the mid 90s.
I spend most of my net time here, because the content is so interesting, and it’s always changing.