I voted “no” before reading the thread, but I haven’t been here so long. I will admit that the ridiculous partisanship is bringing equal doses of crazy from left and right.
Trust me, it’s coming from both sides.
Believe it.
Actually, “stupider” is perfectly correct usage. Or did I miss a joke here?
Definitely not stupider, but less fun, IMO.
Somewhere along the line, the moderators cracked down pretty heavily on a lot of the sillier flirting and sex related threads, and (I think) drove away a lot of the other sillier threads about body functions by association.
Also, sometime around 2001, the political BS ramped way up, and hasn’t let off since. I don’t recall their being nearly as much in 1998-2001 as there’s been ever since.
:compares join date with that of OP’s:
Nope!
I forgot to mention that I blame it partly on the DUI laws. The guys that used to sit around in bars running their mouths on all sorts of subjects, where they were clueless, now have to stay home. Anybody with $1000 dollars can buy a computer, bring it home, plug it is and be on line in minutes. 10-15 years ago you had to have a bit of geek to get online. And dial up slowed things.
Teeny boppers are a problem too, maybe not here.
Yes, growth can be a problem too. I got in early on one site. I went there to answer dog questions, an area where I have had some real training and experience plus tons of reading, books, not internet kook sites.
But there were a lot of DIY questions where I was less qualified, but could give better answers than people were getting. How much do you need to know to tell people you connect the red wire to the R terminal on the thermostat? Before long there was a wave of people came in that knew more me, and I was happy to leave them answer the questions. That didn’t last long. The next wave didn’t even have a clue how little they knew. How about saying a home water heater needed #5 wire? Aluminum doesn’t conduct electricity. The terrifying part was that several of them were working as handymen.
I wouldn’t use the word stupid.
I have noticed some of the GQ experts aren’t posting as much. A few years ago there were more academic professionals posting in GQ. Very helpful having people in the sciences answering these questions.
The othe sections Cafe, IMHO and MPSIMS are still very good and fun.
Time does make a difference on this one. I think from your standpoint your perception is probably correct. But there were virulent debates on race when I joined this board back in 2000. And I remember well the S****front invasion back in the day that quickly fed into a few of them. Believe me we had open racists galore at that point.
If I was one of the Big Brain posters, maybe I would notice it more, but it doesn’t seem stupider to me.
You joined in 2009. Trust me; by the standards of 10 or 11 years ago, the SDMB today isn’t cliquish in the slightest.
And nut jobs? Oh, man. We had trolls that could pick up the Brooklyn Bridge.
I think it has certainly become meaner. It has always been cliquish, but in the past 3 years or so it has become much meaner. It usually goes like this: someone new posts something kind of off, or worded poorly; the mob waits to see if one of the older bullies makes a mean comment and a pile on ensues.
Since I joined in 2003, I was the stupid one. But as the years went by, I believe I became less stupid by reading what the more intelligent posters posted. And the newer members seem to be alot like me when I joined; so now I could claim that the SDMB is stupider, when in fact, it was me becoming schmarter.
…Or at least I am smart enough to know when to post and when not to post.
i’m hesitant to ask but, cite?
Yes and I joined at the beginning of August.
I hope there’s no connection.
Bri2k
I’m not sure if this would necessarily require a pitting, but comments like BobLibDem’s are they type that I feel have lead to the degradation of this board.
I’m really sick of partisanship. I expect it from politicians (although I wish they’d all knock it off), but I expect more from the people on this board!
Can’t we stop with the name-calling and idiotic generalizations? “X-party always does that” “Y-party never follows through on anything!” “Z-party is responsible for everything!”
Christ!
Type with your head instead of your spleen, fer chrissake. Just because so many elected officials have chosen to go down the moron path doesn’t mean we have to.
We’re better than that.
At least we used to be.
I think there are a lot more mean spirited smart-asses around here than there were 10 years ago but it’s not stupider.
There are some subjects that civil, rational discussions seem impossible. Also, could we stick with the facts? On a good day, I skip all the religious and political threads.
Bri2k’s join date: July 2011.
You were saying? :dubious:
