I am still very much a newbie here, but I’ve wanted to tell all of you dopers how much I love this message board.
Let me tell you how I came to find SDMB. I am a member at another MB and had started to become consistently frustrated with that board b/c the members are discouraged from debating issues or from, frankly, being brutally honest. Additionally, the subject matter of the other board is really limiting.
Well, one of the members of above mentioned MB posted a SDMB link to a joke. I totally fell in love with this board from the first and now just trying to not sound too stupid or ignorant in my posts.
Bottom line: I DIG this place and what it represents. I love the diversity. I love the seriousness/goofiness/cut-to-the-quick of it. The art of being matter-of-fact is greatly underrated in this world…but it is wonderfully alive here.
**I WAS really pissy drunk one night and irresponsibly came on here to shoot off at the mouth. The thread was locked and I’m so thankful. Apologies. Won’t happen again.
Hi DEVA…welcome…I’m still a newbie too I think? lol…I agree about this board being a wonderful place. Plus, it’s great for an insomniac zombie girl such as myself!
It sure is one of a kind. I’ve never met a group of people who were so intelligent and yet so kind. Aw dammit, I’m getting all misty now. Look what you people made me do!
Glad you like it, I also think this place is pretty cool. If you can write software you may wanna write a program to eliminate the word “fat” from all your posts. You’ll get into lots less trouble here.
Or else just do what most people do: follow the Don’t Be a Jerk rule. Some people have more trouble with that then others, though.
Glad you like it here, DEVA. I owe this board my wonderful husband, not to mention amusement, thought-provoking reading, information, and companionship.
Wasn’t sure if it was appropriate or good use of message board etiquette to discuss this point. No biggie though. I still participate in a nominal number of threads on the other board…but I usually end up so frustrated that I have to spend several hours on THIS board just to feel better
I work for a couple of direct sell companies (VERY part-time) and the other MB is mostly dedicated to the direct sell industry…but it has MANY forums that also deal with topics outside of direct sales. Problem is: the board is mainly comprised of females who have fragile egos and rose colored glasses surgically implanted into their heads. While I still enjoy some aspects of that board, free-speech is virtually non-existant there unless what you say is 80% sugar coated. For example: curse words are NEVER allowed and are automatically filtered out (even “damn”) and the number of smilies on that board are approximately around 100 (not exaggerating).
NOW do you understand why I love this board so much?!
Thanks for the responses and thanks bunches for the warm welcome!
DEVA, this board was once compared to cybercrack, and that’s about the best description I can think of. I swear we’ve got some of the smartest and most fun people on the planet here (along with a few jerks for seasoning).
Hi, Nikki. A suggestion – hopefully folks here will be nice about this because you’re young, but you might want to start practicing using upper and lower case, and also spelling words out fully. I think my favorite thing about this board is the INTELLIGENCE of the people here, and that means we get to write real sentences using real words like real grownups! You can be one of us, too, and your English grades will probably go up as an added bonus!
And, perhaps surprisingly, spelled-out words read faster than IM code. We are a broad group here, both in age and first language, and IM code doesn’t scan easily for old farts like me or somebody who is hoping to practice her English, as sometimes happens here. If you make it too hard for people they will not take you seriously, but we have many young members who are as respected–or more–than some of the older members so PLEASE do not feel we do not welcome you.
Yes, Nikki, please don’t think I was being critical; I was trying very hard not to, and I sure hope it didn’t come across that way. My old brain just doesn’t process IM code very well. I actually LIKE to read things that are written in complete sentences with correct punctuation. And a wonderful feature of this board is that most of the people here feel the same way, and yet are available to help you out with stuff if you’re not sure about it. We were all young once, too – and as dropzone said, some of us still are!
