I don’t frequent many BBS’s. So I am curious about others who do. How does SDMB compare to other boards/forums? What are the pros & cons?
I’ll kick it off with some of my observations. SDMB, while not moderated to the hilt (VB has an option that sends each new post to a moderator for approval before it actually gets posted; thank goodness this option is not activated), it is moderated enough that discussions are kept in the right place and language. I think that’s a good thing. I have seen boards where everything goes, and maybe that’s why I don’t go there often.
Also, I think SDMB has a pretty good collection of intelligent, witty & educated people (never mind the few dipsticks). But how does this compare with other boards?
For a general interest board, this is the best I’ve run across. There are others that are good for a narrower range of discussion, but they are almost all much slower paced.
The moderation here is about right - the dipsticks can pop their heads up for a bit, but they get closed down soon enough, and the rest of us can post in near spontaneous mode. Vetted boards tend to be quite dull. And unmoderated boards that I’ve visited have a low signal to noise ratio.
The high traffic here helps as well, although it seems to me that it was quite a bit of fun even when there were only a few hundred members.
That’s pretty much what I was going to say when I saw the title. I’ve posted on other boards where I could come back 10 mins, 1 hour, 12 hours later and still be at the top of the list with no replies. On this board if you’ve had no replies your likely to be on the second page within 12 hours.
The main difference with SDMB is the higher level of intelligence among the posters. I don’t just mean the pleasantly low amounts of ‘n00b’ and ‘l33t’ -type words which seem to infest every other board. The people here actually know what their talking about when they post. I remember asking a question in GQ about Rilkean angels and getting a very helpful answer in the very next post. I don’t know, I was just really impressed by it and I decided to stick around after that. I’m glad I did too.
The next biggest difference (at least for me) is the quick turnover time. For example, at the Adom forum I frequent, it can take 1 - 2 days just for a single response. Here it seems like threads are OVER within that amount of time! It’s because of the large volume of traffic here. When they say teeming millions, they really mean teeming millions. At least this has the advantage of many different points of view. Many interesting debates have been had here. Many interesting pit threads too.
Mods here are better about being fair and unbiased. Plus they say the funniest things when they close a thread.
Not to say this board is perfect. People post things without reading the thread first, just like all other boards. Sometimes people with start a argument over apparently insignificant things, just like all other boards. SDMB still has some of the minor pitfalls common to all boards but they are not as much of a problem here. It’s easy to overlook them when I know they are the minority. The majority of people here are great (at least online, I wouldn’t care to speculate on their real life personas).
I post on several boards, have been an extremely loyal poster of one board in particular. This board is nice for the numerous topics and the number of members who post. The smaller board is nice because of the friendships I’ve formed with the members. Sometimes those friendships can stifle. So, I like both the closeness of that board and coming to a huge board like this one where few know me.
I haven’t spent a great deal of time on other boards, but I think this place has spoiled me. Smart, funny, knowledgable people making at least an attempt at proper grammar and spelling are everywhere, newbies don’t get roasted alive unless they do something spectacularly stupid, and there’s currently a 3-page thread over in MPSIMS that has gotten complete strangers all over the world to stick stuff up their nose. What’s not to like?
The only problem I see with SDMB are the times when the page takes 3 min to download. By then, the thread you’re posting has fallen off the bottom:)
This is really the first board I’ve posted to, and I’ve been spoiled. I’ve looked for other boards with this kind of community, and haven’t found them. And few boards have the kind of subject matter as here.
The snopes boards are nice too, but they don’t have the same volume.
In my opinion this is the best general interest board on the net…there are some comparable boards that have narrower focus though
I think also the decision to not allow edits to your posts of one reasons why this board is so good…you live or die on what you post so you better be damn sure you really want to say whatever your saying because no do overs
I’ve been a member of a couple boards that because of flame wars the owners just gave up and shut the board down rather that deal with the problem…so while I might not always agree with the mods here…they are easily the best of any board I’ve been a member…especially on a board this size(must be an incredibly difficult job trying to satisfy everyone)
I am amazed by this board. I was just thinking today that this board is one of my favorite things in the world.
Recently I have participated in discussions about musical notation, military tactics, the trashy TV show “Paradise Hotel,” the slightly less trashy (IMO anyway) “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy,” how to declutter my house, inter-racial couples, removing fake woodgrain trim from the interior of my car, the California recall election, the code of federal regulations, the best way to run down a pedestrian while driving a speeding car (it was a game theory discussion, ok), and winter cocktails, just to name a few.
In every one of these threads I was extremely impressed with my fellow posters, and, with scant few exceptions, happy to be in their company. It is extraordinary the wide range of topics that discussed here. And it is inspiring how often people really know what they are talking about.
It’s kind of funny to think that this great board started from a newspaper column, albeit a great one. I remember when I first ran across the first Straight Dope book in the late eighties. I thought it was fantastic. I know it’s been said before, but I think it’s a great thing about the Internet that it turns essentially a one-way discussion (people would write in questions, and Cecil would decide which ones to answer) into a many-to-many discussion.
I also think it does not get said enough (or at least I don’t say it enough) how wonderful the Chicago Reader is for hosting this site. I mean, they don’t make any money (or at least not much anyway) on it, and its a great service they provide for people all over the world.
BTW, I didn’t plan it this way, but this is also my 100th post!
