Longest Tenure?

About This Message Board
1

If this should go somewhere else, mods please move it.

I’ve been lurking here since 1999 (when we were on AOL) and joined up sometime in the 2000s. Some of the current posters and mods were there then, or at least have been around as long as I remember. Others have Charter Member or years in their profile.

Who’s been here the longest? Is there a prize? There should be!

2

@Cecil_Adams?

3

Ha, well yes, but I meant AFTER him…and Ed.

4

I think @Monty may have the earliest start date on the boards after AOL days.

5

I’m a 99er but from December. I remember when we were shut down for an hour out of the 24. It was early in the morning for North America, don’t know how much it affected the rest of the world.

6

(from a previous thread)

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Also this:

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Where does one find their member number?

9

That was part of the prior software, gone now.

The old software had tables of data tied together by a userid number. This number was visible on the URL of the user page.

10

I was active on the old SD forums on AOL, at some point in the '95 - '98 period, though I honestly can’t recall how active I was back then.

I joined the forum in May of 2000, so even though I’ve been around a long time, I’m not a “'99er,” and I know that there are no small number of still-active Dopers who have been around for longer than I have.

11

Yeah, I’ve only been around since 2000 myself, though I did lurk from earlier (my institutional memory extends back to at least Melingate, which a handful of old-timers will recall).

Only 2000. Just…a quarter-fucking century. A full generation. On a message board. Jesus wept.

12

I joined a few days after my birthday in 2001. Some people still think of me as a newby.

13

My join date is listed as September 2001, but I used to forget my password a lot and just start a new account (I’m sorry!). I started posting right when the whole Wally thing unfolded.

14

Just yesterday I noticed it was my anniversary on the board. Also 25 years, although I’d lurked for 3 or 4 months before joining. In fact, it came out last year that I joined at the exact same time (within an hour or so) as elbows.

15

My start date is Aug 3 '99.

I think my first thread was about Bobby Gentry’s song ‘Ode to Billie Joe’.

16

I know this is silly but where do we go to get our number? I’ve been poking around and can’t find it.

17

@Baker: answered above, by What Exit:

18

She’s still not forgotten, there is a thread about her in CS just started a few days ago.

19

Updated the data that @AHunter3 posted; names in bold have posted within the past year.

I count 17 out of 23 still posting, for a 73.9% retention rate.

Doper Number Join Date Last Posted Last Seen Status
Ed Zotti 6 February 18, 1999 August 2, 2024 December 10, 2024 Gormless Weenie
Monty 14 February 19, 1999 January 4, 2025 January 4, 2025 Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Eutychus 22 February 20, 1999 April 24, 2024 April 24, 2024 Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
TubaDiva :cry: 32 March 10, 1999 June 28, 2020 June 28, 2020 Capo di tutti i capi
GusNSpot 33 March 11, 1999 July 17, 2020 June 14, 2020 Charter Member
DougBowe 39 March 11, 1999 December 27, 1999 December 27, 1999 Guest
gotpasswords 41 March 11, 1999 December 13, 2023 December 18, 2024 Charter Member
AskNott 45 March 11, 1999 January 4, 2025 January 4, 2025 Charter Member
PunditLisa 46 March 11, 1999 February 23, 2021 November 22, 2021 Member
KCB615 47 March 11, 1999 December 7, 2024 January 4, 2025 Charter Member
tomndebb 82 March 12, 1999 October 13, 2024 November 7, 2024 Mod Rocker
Whitetho 114 March 12, 1999 November 23, 2024 January 4, 2025 Charter Member
Enright3 157 March 14, 1999 December 22, 2024 December 22, 2024 Guest
Jophiel 199 March 15, 1999 January 3, 1999 January 4, 1999 Guest
Doctor Jackson 215 March 16, 1999 October 8, 2019 October 8, 2019 Guest
Revtim 300 March 20, 1999 October 28, 2024 January 4, 2025 Guest
cmkeller 366 March 25, 1999 March 7, 2024 March 7, 2024 Guest
Skywatcher 387 March 27, 1999 January 3, 2025 January 4, 2025 Charter Member
kunilou [now Clark_Kent] 535 April 6, 1999 January 4, 2025 January 4, 2025 Charter Member
RealityChuck 630 April 13, 1999 January 3, 2025 January 3, 2025 Charter Member
Czarcasm 774 April 23, 1999 January 2, 2025 January 4, 2025 TIME Magazine’s 2006 Person Of The Year / Chicken of Bristol
furt 877 April 29, 1999 November 4, 2020 November 4, 2020 Guest
Motorgirl 879 April 29, 1999 October 23, 2024 November 25, 2024 Charter Member
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Just noticed a typo: Doug_Bowe’s last post / last seen were December 27, 2019, not December 27, 1999.