Follow up question: how influential is the SDMB among subscribers?
The SDMB is the only reason I have any political awareness at all. If I hadn’t whimsically decided to click that link in my inbox about evil nazi groundhogs six years ago, I probably wouldn’t know who the US president is right now. And yes, I’m a US citizen.
So there’s my answer to Brainglutton’s question and yours, Walter Windchill.
No, and it’s little more than vanity to think otherwise.
The SDMB may be the center of *your *internet, but the internet is vast, with millions of users, most of whom have never hear of - much less care about - an increasingly irrelevant newspaper column and the BBS realted to it.
Duh. Make that related, not realted.
SDMB has little impact outside the SDMB. It’s tiny compared to things like Slashdot, and, in general, the debates are far too careful and considered (! whoda thunkit) to really fire things up like some of the more political blogs (DailyKos, LGF, etc.) out there. The reason I spend all my time here is the same reason why it’s a pretty bad meme-generator: the participating community is relatively small, and just about everything someone posts requires some solid cites to back it up, lest the hellfire rain down. I just don’t think you can get away with as much crap here.
I agree with the others that it’s probably negligible. How many times in your real life comings and goings have you heard anyone mention the SDMB? Don’t include people who know you’re a member here. Me, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone mention it. I occasionally visit and participate in some other message boards, and I’ve only very rarely seen another poster mention it; often when they DO, it’s only because they happen to also be an active member here. I’ve seen Cecil’s columns, as well as Staff Reports cited fairly often, but very rarely the message boards.
Is this a joke? No, I kind of doubt they do. Sorry, BrainGlutton, but I don’t think the world’s movers and shakers are all at the edge of their seats watching discussions on an internet message board. Seriously, get some perspective.
There’s always a few lurkers. But most people don’t find conversations that interesting if they’re not taking part. The idea that there’s any significant following for this place beyond the participants is silly. It’s a tiny community, after all.
I totally agree with this. Fanatics tend to become circumspect here after their first exposure to a debating pile-on (from both sides, no less). It’s just so hard to BS here, not with the threat of brilliant posters armed with superior knowledge and skills bringing you to task.
If I were a Hollywood writer or director, I would spend a lot of time on the SDMB and on more specialized message boards devoted to the film industry. Gets you right to the fanbase. The Hollywood magazines, I would mostly ignore.
The question is whether that would help you become a successful director or not.
But, why? What is here that you believe would prove so useful to a director? Look, I love this place, I really do, but it’s not going to solve world hunger, it’s not going to bring about global peace, and it’s not going to help Quentin Tarantino refine his latest masterpiece. It’s just not. As Excalibre said, there’s really nothing here which would help a director or screenwriter become more successful.
I started reading the SDMB when I was 14 or 15 years old. I honestly believe that it helped shape my young mind into a more tolerant and critical machine.
A little tongue in cheek, but i’m a victim of the LAUSD school system, if it weren’t for this place I might not have even gone to college.
No kidding, you really think that the SDMB would do your career more good than Variety? Ignoring the trade in favor of fan chatter seems like a recipe for failure; fans endlessly hash over the past - doesn’t seem like you’d have any new perspective.
What will Variety tell you about what the public actually wants to see?
You don’t think the movie industry has ways to figure things like that out? They’re only too successful - I may personally think most movies are awful, but the movie industry has very little difficulty earning money. Why in the world do you think you could find anything useful about things like that through reading idle conversation?
You seem a bit naive about how marketing works.
Unless with change SMDB’s robots.txt, this message board may as well not even exist for the rest of the world.
What I find really interesting is the number of Non-Americans on these boards… I’d never even Heard of Cecil Adams or the Chicago Reader until I came to this hallowed cyber-halls by way of bored.com many years ago.
Even now, I’ve never come across anyone in RL who has even the foggiest idea who Cecil Adams is, has heard of The Straight Dope, or would appreciate what goes on here even if they had. Yet there are quite large numbers of Aussies, Kiwis, Britons, and Others 
on the boards, adding their 2 cents/pence/euros/roubles/goats to the discussion at hand, which is a minor miracle when you consider that the Straight Dope isn’t in syndication anywhere outside the Americas, AFAIK.
On that note, have the Chicago Reader tried getting The Straight Dope syndicated in Australia or the UK? I’m sure someone reputable would run it…
And what does the SDMB tell you about what “the public” actually wants to see? First of all, message boards aren’t really a representative sample of the moviegoing public. There’s also the issue of how much chatter goes on about past projects. I guess it would be valid if you want to try to justify making an endless stream of knock-offs of Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and Buffy.
You oughta stop over at the library sometime and thumb through a copy of Variety, since it’s pretty obvious you’re a little out of the loop. And while you’re at it, check out a biography of Ed Wood. Sounds like he might be your kind of director.
While I have not had any life-changing epiphanies, my politics and outlook have drastically changed since I came here. I’ve seen a lot of things I took for granted literally shredded before my eyes and had no choice but to admit that I was wrong. I have logged on feeling one way about an issue, only to log off with my opinions shifted 180 degrees. (Sometimes 90, sometimes 123), and on more occasions than I can remember, I’ve been in conversations in which I’ve said “huh…that’s interesting; I was just reading about this very topic on this message board I frequent.” I tend to learn and hear about issues and facts much earlier than I would if I relied on the mainstream media, and issues are discussed in much greater depth. Sometimes, too much depth (pan-fried semen, for example).
Word-changing? No. Ripple-effect? Assuredly.
I’m not as certain about screenwriting. If you are already familiar with the territory, SDMB might be a quick source on some information. It might be helpful in understanding a character’s point of view. It’s good for odds and ends like a “recipe” for a weird sandwich. Bits and pieces.
People do change their minds over time, but in my opinion it’s usually a cumulative effect.
Yes, some of you have made a difference in how I see things. Some of it is still working on me.