# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/41 "2009-10-10T02:37:21Z")
I posted a few times on the AOL board, then joined the web board in july of 99 ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/42 "2009-10-10T05:47:19Z")
Like some of the others I started on the AOL boards in (I think) '96. So something over 13 years I guess. I’ve been a steady if not very prolific poster for pretty much all that time. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/43 "2009-10-10T05:48:24Z")
Started lurking in '99, got up the nerve to post in… I can’t remember without looking at my join date! Um, 2000? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/44 "2009-10-10T06:07:20Z")
test ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/45 "2009-10-10T15:49:11Z")
I can’t believe it’s been more then nine years for me. Time just flies, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/46 "2009-10-10T16:05:21Z")
Less than 1 year of actually being a member of the board and posting, but lurked occasionally before that. I will add that I’ve been reading “The Straight Dope” since it appeared in a now-defunct weekly newspaper (a temporary competitor of the original _Creative Loafing_) in Atlanta around 1984. I also own the first three books, purchased soon after publication of each. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/47 "2009-10-10T16:41:06Z")
I have just come up on my 10th anniversary. Lot of 99ers here. 🙂 ---
**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 10, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/48 "2009-10-10T17:12:03Z")
> [@RJKUgly](#): > > Like some of the others I started on the AOL boards in (I think) '96. So something over 13 years I guess. I’ve been a steady if not very prolific poster for pretty much all that time. Do you know if the AOL board was around in '95? Would there be any '95’ers? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/49 "2009-10-10T17:36:24Z")
I first read and enjoyed Cecil’s columns in 1974. ---
**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 10, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/50 "2009-10-10T19:27:17Z")
I’m not sure how much of a conclusion I can draw from the non-scientific sample here, but, while I knew things would skew towards the top end, I didn’t guess it would skew so lopsidedly, esp. given the now-free posting we have. I’d imagine that 99% of all message boards would skew heavily the other way. ---
**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 10, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/51 "2009-10-10T22:35:42Z")
Is being a regular on a message board for 10 years unusual? I wonder how many other message boards are older than ours and still very active? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/52 "2009-10-10T22:41:51Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > Is being a regular on a message board for 10 years unusual? I wonder how many other message boards are older than ours and still very active? Plenty, and some famous ones too, but I won’t name them. And yes, judging by the member-base of your typical MB it _is_ quite normal to have been a regular for ten years. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/53 "2009-10-10T22:51:12Z")
Well, there’s The Cellar, which has been around since September of 1990. Not as large a membership as the SDMB, but just as active. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/54 "2009-10-11T09:43:54Z")
With lurking? - 10 years - as a member, a little over 9. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/55 "2009-10-11T10:16:11Z")
There may be a little self-selection bias. Some people seem to take pride in how long they have been a member (see the occasional wailing and gnashing of teeth when someone lets a charter membership lapse), so longtime members may be more motivated to respond to the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/56 "2009-10-11T11:07:21Z")
7 years. My first post I put in Great Debates, but it was moved to Cafe. Although I understood the difference, I thought my post would generate a debate and figured the lines were a little gray. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/57 "2009-10-11T12:35:40Z")
Officially since Spring of 99, but I’ve been a doper since at least late 96, that I can remember. The things I could have accomplished in my life if I didn’t have the Dope would be staggering. The things I have learned from this place are staggering. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/58 "2009-10-12T01:49:44Z")
```auto Join Date 10-25-2000 ``` IIRC I had registration issues that I waited for a while before ironing out, but surely not more than 10 months. So 2000 seems right for me. I’d have been 17. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/59 "2009-10-12T03:01:54Z")
I can remember reading the boards on AOL during my sophomore year of college, which was '95-'96. Exactly what month I first started, though, I no longer remember, so it might possibly have been '95. I too remember the Titanic Wallpaper thread. But I’ve almost entirely lurked all those years…I think I’ve posted more in the past few months than in all those other years combined. I have no idea why…maybe staying home with a small child all day has made me hunger for adult conversation like never before. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196/60 "2009-10-12T03:56:54Z")
I’ve been on _this_ board since 2001. But I used to post on the AOL boards (albeit infrequently) back as far as 1998. I was 15 then. I’m now 26. Kinda scary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-have-you-been-a-doper/513196.md?page=4)