How do you personally derive value from the SDMB?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I wanted to present a personal case for the value of the unofficial “services” the SDMB has provided me over the past 4+ years. Because it’s not anything sanctioned or advertised that has the most value on this board – it’s the uses I have been able to made of the SDMB that’s made it so valuable to me.

Here’s a sampling of the valuable information I’ve been able to ask for and receive:

a) Several auto repair questions have been answered for me, helping me diagnose the problems for myself and talk to the repair folks on a more equal level. This has saved me quite a bit of money.

b) Fellow Dopers helped me diagnose a computer problem I had (viz dead fan -> overheating). The symptoms were confusing to me, but others here contributed valuable advice that helped me resolve the problem myself for a small fraction of what I would have paid a professional.

c) I asked for and received great advice on how to properly claim deductions from my federal income tax. In short, I passed up a lot of stuff in the past … but now I get just about all of what I’m eligible for. More ducats in my pocket, thanks to the SDMB.

d) I got great advice from many Dopers when I raised concerns about our dog’s possible reaction to a new baby into the household. Lots of folks here have walked in those shoes, and were happy to cordially allay my concerns.

e) Real live HR professionals who frequent the SDMB lent me helpful advice in improving my professional resume … just for the asking.

f) Dopers were quick to offer advice on purchasing a digital camera for my wife’s grandparents. This saved us a lot of research time and saved us a lot of hunting around blindly.

…

Now it’s true – I could get a lot of this information elsewhere on the Net. But for me, that would be a lot more trouble. I like the “one-stop shopping” here at the Dope. Plus, a website’s static content may not be exactly the information I need. The SDMB allows dialogue–I can give and take with responders, to better clarify my concerns and to better focus the advice given.

All of the above doesn’t even address my lust for trivia–both learning it and dispensing it when I have the Dope. Heck, interest in trivia is what got me into Cecil’s books in the first place. Sure, Google can take you pretty far when you want to find out something. But there are times when nothing can beat someone’s personal experience on some topic or another. So many people in one place are willing to seriously share the contents of their brains … it’s really an awesome thing for the knowledge-monger in me to contemplate.

The quality of this board’s interchange of facts and ideas alone impresses me greatly, and has kept me hooked until the present day. Such interchange allows at least one humble user – yours truly – to make the SDMB into something of great value to me. I’d go so far as to say that something transcends mere entertainment. It’s a lot more valuable than that for me. I wonder how others feel?

2

[ul]I’m a stay-at-home mom and this board has very often been the only contact I’ve had with other adults, besides my husband, for days at a time. Especially during the first month I was home, just reading the words of other people helped me maintain my sanity and not get depressed. It helped me to focus on stuff going on outside of my own little realm.[/ul]

[ul]Since I’ve been a member, the contributions people make in GD and even the Pit have helped me to really think about my stand on a lot of issues and to better articulate why I have the opinions I do. I’ve learned so much from the arguments of others and I’ve been able to use a lot of the information I’ve learned here to debate intelligently with people IRL. My friends all think I’m a genius (it doesn’t take much to impress them) - and I have you all to thank!![/ul]

[ul]Almost every time I log onto the SDMB, I read a thread that makes me laugh out loud. [/ul]

3

I’m not a stay-at-home mom, but like C3, I often go days without talking to other humans besides my husband (I’m self-employed and work at home). The SDMB is my water cooler – a place to chat, ask and answer questions, and just take a break now and then. I really don’t get involved in the politics and meta-discussion of the board too much.

I also enjoy the diversity here, which is something I just don’t get locally.

Worth paying for, IMHO.

4

  1. I posted this in another thread, but I had a job interview coming up and wondered about the questions they’d ask in the interview. I wanted some good questions for when it was my turn, too. I searched and, boom, couple dozen threads full of good advice and questions. I have my second interview this week. :smiley:

  2. If I get the job, I’ll have to move, and you can bet I’ll be polling the Dopers for advice.

  3. I get hours of entertainment on a daily basis.

  4. This is my major form of socializing. My girlfriend has to work and works a weird schedule and I’m in classes. And we don’t make a ton of money, so we don’t go out too much. And I like the people, too. :smiley:

5

  1. Hours of entertainment, like GMR

  2. I’ve learned a lot, about the world and myself in particular. The boards have definitely made me a better and more rounded person.

  3. What price can you put on friendship? I have made several good friends during my 5 years here. I can’t imagine not talking to people on a regular basis and I have found a level of camraderie here that has been wonderful. It’s great to be able to find people who share similar interests and worldviews.

6

Like others, the SDMB provides me with hours of entertainment at my otherwise very boring job- It helps the time pass pretty quickly.

The SDMB has exposed me to current events in other parts of the the US as well as the rest of the world that I may not have otherwise known about (thru local area news links etc…).

I like being able to see a wide variety of opinions on different subjects.

I like being able to get a laugh at the funny stuff that happens and I like being able to share when I can. :slight_smile:

It has helped me develop a better style/approch at debates and such.

7

The Board kept me sane when I was about dying from homesickess (see location). I felt connect with people and some of the stories made me laugh so hard I cried. Excellent medicine all around, and easy to take.

8

It’s a home for me. I have other homes online, but this one was the first one. No matter where I am in this world, as long as I can log on at a terminal and see “Straight Dope” up there on the screen, I know I am not alone.

It took me ages to get that sense of belonging, but I have it now, and I aim to keep it and treasure it.

The SDMB mob here have entertained and informed me, challenged long-held beliefs, and renewed my faith in my species time and again. The SDMB was there for me when to crawl out of this house was a hellish effort for me. Such I will not forget.

I’ve come to know folk here, and they’ve come to know me. T’is a special place indeed. :slight_smile:

9

Great testimony here … it’s reassuring to read that others feel the same way.

With recent forum-related events, many have said that the SDMB is essentially valueless. That take disappointed me, and made me really reflect on what this board’s value really is – because it’s obviously (to me) not nothing.

It seems when folks focus on what they post on the board, the perceived value seems less than when people appreciate what other bring to the SDMB. The give-and-take is what’s important, IMHO.

10

I’m another who works from home. Because my wife travels a lot, sometimes the only daily interaction I have with others is here.

(Perhaps I should say, the only non-work interaction–I do communicate with my clients, but its always business. The SDMB is, for me, indeed the water-cooler, where topics other than work are discussed.)

Certainly, I’ve learned a lot from the other posters, especially in GQ and GD. The level of intelligence is quite high and the posters are articulate and capable of answering questions clearly, and making and defending their points. I find the Mods, in spite of the occasional complaint, do a good job at keeping things in hand before they escalate out of control, which I’ve seen happen at a few other boards I’ve frequented. For all these reasons, I find this to be one of the best boards on the 'Net.

But it’s entertaining too. My monitor has had its share of coffee spat on it when something strikes me as gut-busting funny. Some of the mundane and pointless stuff is reassuring (“Hey, So-and-so has to deal with X too!”), and trivia is always fun. The latter is, to me, useful too–I’ve been able to use some of the trivia I’ve learned here in pub trivia competitions.

And sometimes, I can share and contribute. When a question is asked about something in which I have some knowledge or expertise, it’s kind of a proud moment to be able to answer. When I can contribute something else in a more general thread (in IMHO or MPSIMS, say), it’s fun to check back and see what others have to say.

So yes, I find the SDMB to have value. I don’t know if I could measure it in dollars and cents, but I could certainly measure it in knowledge gained, information shared, and sanity saved from spending so much of my workday alone.

11

I could put in a lot of mushy stuff about friendship and entertainment, but it looks like that ground’s going to be covered!
I get most of my book recommendations here (and I need a lot)! Also, thanks to other Dopers, I’ve been able to identify and re-read books I’ve spent years searching for, and that’s meant a lot to me!

12

Funny quotes that I have made my friends almost hysterical.

Hours of entertainment, like others have said. I have never laughed so hard at one website or message board.

Random questions I needed answered. Cecil is wonderful and great and the founder here, but it is nice to get an answer right away, and not have to wait a while.

I am still growing up, so I hope to stay here a while, and get all of my questions answered such as “what to do when the snotty girl at school trips me”, “how many hits is to many hits.”, and of course “what do do when you are susepnded from school.”

P.S. Dung Beetle , read *The Lake of Dead Languages * by Carol Goodmen.

13

  • I live overseas and most of the people I work and hang out with are Japanese. the SDMB is my main outlet for communicating in my native language.

  • I’ve had more than a few questions answered for me, mainly pertaining to computers, but also a few other matters.

  • The newspapers and TV news in Japan are extremely insular, so the SDMB has become my source for news from the US and elsewhere. Generally if it’s important, somebody will be mentioning it here.

  • As above, but for entertainment. Some movies and TV shows start here almost as soon as they do in America, some take years to make it over (Ally McBeal is just starting its third season). Some really fantastic movies make it over here, but don’t spark any publicity and just drop out of sight. If it weren’t for the SDMB, I probably never would have heard of Memento, for example.

  • I’ve learned a lot, and not just from GQ

  • Lots of good book and movie recommendations.

  • Lots of good jokes and good writing

  • Lots of great people, as I learned when I was going into the hospital.

14

Will do, flamingbananas!

15

I really like the idea that I can receive expert advice on any subject just by posting. No matter how arcane the subject matter, some Doper will come up with the…well it has to be said…Straight Dope.

16

I have read for years writing from people whom I probably would have never met in real life, or, had our paths crossed, probably not invested in a lot of time getting to know them because of preconceived thoughts I had on what they do for a living/their past/and other anal retentive stick up the ass prejudices I’ve had.

As an example, one of our most venerated Dopers use to work as a stripper. I have and have never had anything against strippers. You do what you gotta do to pay the bills. (If I had that body now, I’d be stripping.) I’ve just always equated this particular type as being rather dense. This doper in particular is one of the most intelligent posters in a common sense way, coming up with excellent realistic answers or questions that I could never come up with a lifetime. I always open her posts.

As a SAHM, the people that I meet are into: Work, Kids, God, Home, Home Parties,
Sleep. It is frustrating as they seem to missing the Stuff In Between. Y’know, what use to make them light up. Now they are too tired or too apathetic to learn something new. I use to think I was the Last One To Know Anything Important. Now, I seem to be on the Front Lines of Giving News Stories and Knows What’s Going On. ( Marvin Gaye you are still missed.) or What’s It All About, Alfie?
I have learned tolerance and kindness here that redeems my faith in humanity and then I go to the Pit to see it is all a wash. But in a funny, well deserved way or sometimes not. There is alot of ignorance, hatred and basic human stupidity out there and it is frightening, people. It is clear we all need a place to vent our frustrations at the Man, The Instution and the Injustice of it all.

( I wish I had excellent pitting skills. Great Googly Moogly, I wish I could actually be smurt enuf - or cared enough - to stay in GQ or GD without feeling like I rode the short bus my whole life. ) :::::wipes drool of my chin:::::::::

The fact that I babble on like some drunk cheerleader and the fact that I haven’t been run out here on rails shows me either you guys like me or are lulling me into a false sense of security so that I may be slaughtered for a future sacrifice at a future DopeFestOrgasmarama. Whatever it is, thank you.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again *This place has made me a better person and a much funnier person and I have stolen all of your lines for my own evil porpoises. *
The subscription cost, whatever it will be in the future, is well worth the admission just on the " Whatcha Reading" and " Recommend me a book." threads alone.

The rest is just gravy, baby.

17

Well, it still says “guest” under my name, but the money order really is in the mail, if it’s important. My favorite thing about this site, is that I usually really do learn something new on a regular basis. Learning how to correctly pronounce “quay” and “victuals” are two that exemplify that. I laughed, reading how many other people were pronouncing them the same way as me (incorrectly). I also felt glad to know I wasn’t alone, and even better, there were a lot of people just as interested in the subject, in the first place. There’s lot’s more than that, but that’s a pretty typical experience for me. We laughed, we cried, we learned.

My latest word I’ve been misspelling, “stationery”. I’ve always spelled the holding still - “stationary” and the writing material - “stationery” the same, with an “a”. It’s really only here I find people interested in that sort of thing, though it’s not the only reason I come.

18

I come[ul][]to find questions I hadn’t realised I’m interested in.[]to appreciate the diversity of American opinion. The US is important, very foreign and quite diverse.[]to learn about rhetoric - what loses, what engages and what divides.[]to savour opinions opposed to mine.to be with other people who haven’t given up fighting their own ignorance.[/ul]I get most of this at work and at home too, but there’s never enough.

19

Absolutely … no place on the Web is better for that then this MB.

20

The Search functionality alone is worth the price of admission.