Can anyone say . . . SmickD ??
This is my first MB as well. I found the board through one of Unca Cecils fantastic columns and lurked for about three months (which is why I know the above information). Then in March I finally saw a few posts I felt compelled to reply to . . . and have felt that same compulsion ever since.
As that pain-in-the-ass Smick once said, “this board is as addictive as caramel covered crack.” I concur.
Yours,
First and only.
And, I am not sure how I even ended up here. A friend sent me a link to a column that he thought I would enjoy, and I ended up reading several of the archival columns that night. I think I was just tired and clicked in the wrong place and sort of accidentally ended up here.
I never even knew message boards existed until I found you all and experienced instant addiction!
Although, I have heard it said that there is no such thing as coincidence…
Scotti
This is my second message board, but my only right now. I also posted at a BNL board. As beakerxf said, it gets dull talking about one topic all the time. No matter what the thread topic was, the conversation always would drift back to Steve or Ed or the next CD. I haven’t posted there in months.
Nah, I used to post to an MB on AOL dedicated to fantasy writers. It was pretty cool, and I met some great people through that, some of which I still email and IM with now, even though I haven’t have AOL in years. I stumbled onto the SDMB on AOL kind of accidentally in 1997 (it was Halloween, and they had links about gross stuff - there was a link to one of Cecil’s columns about someting nasty). I think I spent like four hours reading the entire MB in one night, and then I read the entire archives. I was completely addicted, immediately.
I miss the old MB. I should start a nostalgia thread, where we can reminisce about Mr. Ruda Duda. 
I was hooked on the AOL SD after I found it on accident. I never used the AOL SDMB because, at that time, I didn’t know how a message board worked. :o Right after the AOL SD shut down, I went to the SD website and they were plugging their new web message board. I took a look at it, laughed at the jokes, learned much from everyone, and after that, decided to join in the fun.
Not the first one, but definitely the first one I’ve posted regularly to. The few others I’ve tried, I’ve gotten bored with rather quickly.
Not the first. Not even the second. I’m a regular at a very active skeptic’s board. I found this place while searching for related boards when we were having a lot of troll attacks. I just needed a rest from that and looked for an alternative. I’ve been lurking here for about two weeks, but so far haven’t gotten anyone to talk to me (only a few posts…and I’m patient). The trolls at my regular board have calmed down considerably now…so that’s good.
All in all…I find this board to be a refreshing read…with a good share of intelligent posters and just the right amount of wit. I really like the way it’s categorized so you know where to look for the serious debate, the mundane crap, and the flames. Cool!
I’ll be around…and try not to make an ass of myself (no promises though since that is entirely subjective). In short (he says), I’ll be losing even more of my valuable time than I have in the past. Thanks a lot guys and dolls. 
I’ve read a few others, and posted a couple times to one, but this is the first and only board where it could be said I’ve actually participated to any extent.
As for how I found it…a friend of mine turned me on to The Straight Dopebooks in college (only two of them then), but it never occured to me to search for a website later in life. I had AOL for some time, but I never stumbled across it.
Then, some months back, I was doing a search for something or other (I don’t remember what now) and one of the returns was to a Straight Dopecolumn. “Cool!” I said, and came in to read Cecil. Then I checked out the messageboards…and here I am, blowing far too much of my time and losing sleep.
It’s the first I’ve been involved in for years, but for a while I was in some pointless boards in AOL, before I wised up. 
This would have been around the time of AOL 1.1 or 1.2.
First and only…
as for SmickD…
SMOOCHES
Nope- I started at the nameless Christian board, probably the one mentioned above. Then signed up with snopes, and ended up here.
I have several that I read on a regular basis- not necessarily post to though. The Auelboard, the philotic web forum(Orson Scott Card), ladies of lallybroch.
I remember the old BBB systems… was on auggie, one at case western and the mars board at mississippi state…wow- don’t believe that I remember all those…amazing.
anyway- time for work…uggg
-Lsura
This is my first 'net mb. I too was heavy into the BBS’s and ran one for several years, back in the time. Start a thread, ship it off into Fido land, and when the reply comes back, you’ve forgotten that the thread was about. Ahhh the good old days.
V.
80s BBS veteran here, too. But this board is by far the most intelligent I’ve ever been involved with, with the occasional disappointment, of course. And it’s the only one I frequent now.
I also started out on BBS’s. Moved to the Net in '92.
My first message board was the old quake2.com. It is now q3arena.com, and I administer that MB.
By far, this board is the most delightful group of people that I have yet to encounter. Kudos.
O
vidi vici veni
Yep. First and only “recreational” message board. I was on some BBSs, and I participate in another message board (Northeast Paddler’s Message Board), I participate(d) in those primarily for information. I come here because it’s fun.
My brother (Billdo) was here for a couple of months before I was. He tried to get me involved–sent me links for threads about evil Nazi groundhogs, etc. I didn’t bite. Then he was over at my house (as usual) and he showed me a thread related to a conversation we were having. That thread was neat, but nothing really special.
He clicked over to MPSIMS, and there were a whole bunch of threads on the stupidest topics you ever heard of, all posted my someone called Michael Masterson.
“Who is that idiot?” I asked.
My brother said “Oh, never mind him. He’s a troll.”
“What’s a troll?” I asked.
So, he explained, and showed me all those threads as examples of troll behavior…and I was instantly and totally hooked.
I, too, lurked for about 5 minutes. I saw a thread in Comments on Mailbag Answers that (IMHO) desperately needed my input.
And here I am.
Yet another old 80’s BBSer standing to be counted. Didn’t get any kind of steady internet access until a couple of years ago, so I was still posting to WWIV (ugh ugh ugh) boards for a while there. Since I’ve found MB’s on the net, I’ve hoboed (is that a word?) from one to another…posting a while and then abandoning each as I discovered that they weren’t much fun or very informative…
A parenting board! And they’re mostly Christians. <strike>
Open forums! Woo! Frequented mostly by a bunch of women who whine too much. <strike>
Forums for the Entertainment Whore in me! But most of the posters think Justin Timberlake is a musician and Adam Sandler is a serious actor. <strike>
So…y’all are stuck with me until my inner Elitist Pig gets sick of you. Aren’t you proud?
Well, I think it is–a MB just set up by my friends so as to have a way to mass communicate over the summer doesn’t count–I already knew everybody on it. I will see them in a month…so yeah, this can be my first…
Nope, I have been a part of a lot of message boards on AOL, though AOL is more an email service for me than anything now. But members of several web design and graphics forums. In fact, I ran into my step-uncle’s best buddy (they live in Mexico) in the Adobe Photoshop forums about a year and a half ago. Small world.
Yet another 80’s BBS vet here. I posted tons on our local Commie64 BBS. (I really should get Dabney here… Nah.) Got on the net when it came to town in 1994, discovered Alt.Callahans. Posted there three times. This is the First MB I’ve posted to since. I think I lurked for about two seconds before commenting on something, and I’ve been going ever since.
Oh, and Techchick talked to me once on IRC.
In the dark dim days before http and html, I was asked to subscribe to a moderated mailing list that was full of argumentation and debate, and quickly became addicted to the whole process. (It was WMST-L@umdd.umd.edu which has since then been closed off to participation by anyone other than current instructors of women’s studies courses).
In my AOL era, I started off in Feminist Theory discussion then found a little board called Periwinkles and stayed there until AOL killed off the entire posting area (“The Exchange” I think it was called?) and dispersed us all. Found SDMB when rummaging around for somewhere else to hand out online, and when AOL aimed its wrecking ball there as well, I followed the exodus to this place.