# How long have you been a Doper? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196 "2009-10-09T15:27:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/1 "2009-10-09T15:27:48Z")
Rules: after going back and forth on this, I decided to allow you to count time periods when you did nothing but lurk without posting. Else I would have to make a two-tiered poll and it would get messy in a hurry. So if you’ve been lurking for 7 years, posting for 2, then that’s 9 years for you as far as this poll is concerned. Poll is Public. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/2 "2009-10-09T15:28:44Z")
Let me look at my start date… ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/3 "2009-10-09T15:29:50Z")
…just over 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/4 "2009-10-09T15:31:45Z")
Hey! You can’t post before I’ve finished making the poll part! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/5 "2009-10-09T15:35:45Z")
I lurked for somewhat more than a year before I joined. So even though I get to say “ten years” for the purposes of this poll, I can’t call myself a '99er. Oh well; at least I can say “ten years” in this poll. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/6 "2009-10-09T15:46:30Z")
'97er here. There are a handful of '96ers (including **Lynn Bodoni** and **TubaDiva** and **C K DexterHaven** (?) and **JillGat** (?)) some of whom might even be '95ers for all I know…I’m not entirely sure when the AOL board was born! ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/7 "2009-10-09T16:18:36Z")
Well, ten years on SDMB. I did visit the AOL board in 1997 with the cool graphic of Cecil’s pulsating brain in a jar but did not post. I am not a heavy poster although I did post all during the past decade it has only been in the past couple of years that I have started posting more often. It took me eight years to amass 800 posts, more recently about 800 in the past two years. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/8 "2009-10-09T16:22:03Z")
I lurked for about a day before signing up. Would have been July of '99, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/9 "2009-10-09T16:28:30Z")
Look at my profile. 8+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/10 "2009-10-09T16:31:57Z")
I’m one of those who can say, “Back in the AOL days…” I posted regularly as LauraRae from 1997 to 1999, when The Great Board Changeover occurred. In December 1999, I grew bored with using my actual name as a screenname, and went with the Ruffian avatar. Voila. I remember the “Who was Mr. Ruda Duda?” threads, and the “Manny peoples” threads, Melin-gate, and the mundane and pointless thread about Titanic wallpaper that would birth a massive MPSIMS thread–that became the massive MPSIMS forum. Aw. Are we old people cute? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/11 "2009-10-09T16:34:01Z")
I lurked in December '99 before registering in early 2000, but it’s still not been 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/12 "2009-10-09T16:39:17Z")
With lurking, just over ten years, I _think_. I pre-date Melingate, at least. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/13 "2009-10-09T16:51:43Z")
Huh. Well I guess I should’ve read the OP before I voted. I’ve been a member for 7 years, but lurked for two years before that. I started reading the boards by following the links at [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) for threadspotting. I had a young baby and was _starved_ for adult-type humor, and those threads really did it for me! Unlike watching a funny movie, I could just stop wherever I needed, when the baby needed me or was getting into something she shouldn’t. Plus I didn’t have to worry about her hearing anything inappropriate for a baby/toddler. I’d read, LOL a bunch, read stuff out loud to my hubby, and he’d say “Just join the board!” and I’d say “Oh, no, with the baby, I really don’t have time; besides, I don’t _do_ message boards”. After two years of saying that, I joined. For better or for worse, I’ve been here ever since. . . ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/14 "2009-10-09T16:53:37Z")
Multiple-year lurker. I was read-only for the longest time because I didn’t have the nerve to post from a work computer. (And, for some reason, the blocking software at the library branches in San Diego screened out the board.) I didn’t even have a computer of my own until 2006. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/15 "2009-10-09T16:55:48Z")
_waves hi_ Newbie here. I was at a different board for quite a while, but it just wasn’t “fun” anymore and there were strict rules about language, topics, etc. I stumbled across this one, lurked for a few days, LOL’d quite a bit, and decided to make it my new home. ---
**Author:** ![JoeBlank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@JoeBlank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeBlank)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/16 "2009-10-09T17:16:50Z")
With a join date of July 1999, I bet I have one of the lowest post frequencies, with the exception of lurkers who never post. Since I am listed as a guest, it does not show my post total: 167 including this one. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/17 "2009-10-09T17:17:00Z")
I rounded up. ---
**Author:** ![Jammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@Jammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/18 "2009-10-09T17:29:44Z")
I lurked for at least a year before actually signing up to say something. Having said that, I based my answer on sign up day, which was 9 years ago. Since then, I’ve dazzled the masses with over 200 posts, so I have that going for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/19 "2009-10-09T17:31:20Z")
Since the AOL days. I was 18 then, am 31 now. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/20 "2009-10-09T17:45:36Z")
I occasionally posted at the AOL board. I remember Cecil’s pulsating brain o’ goodness. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196.md?page=2)