I pay to post here because I haven’t found any free message boards that offer what I get here- lots and lots of entertaining and informative posts from a whole lot of people who are well educated, thoughtful, come from a wide range of perspectives and experience, and can spell.
I pay to post here because I’d miss it if I couldn’t.
But if what is here- erudition, expertise, highbrow as well as lowbrow humor, and a stimulating exchange of real ideas- isn’t all that valuable to you, then you definitely shouldn’t pay for it. It’s stupid to buy things you don’t want or need.
Well, one bit that has improved is that we tend to get a better quality of posters who want to stay and are willing to pay. They’ve got a stake in the boards running well, being interesting, offering variety and diversity, perhaps even being thought-provoking.
But, speaking generally, our sponsor the Chicago READER tried the experiment for the first few years, to see if people were interested. It was very costly for them. Once they saw it worked, they thought a pretty minimal cover charge would help them defray expenses, and so it has been.
The analogy to a neighborhood bar is inappropriate. Think, perhaps, instead, of a local high school or college having night classes, open to the public, to discuss the Great Books, say. (I’m not sure if they still do it this way, I’m many years out of date.) The first session is free to anyone coming by, to get a taste of what it’s like (and they read something short, like the Declaration of Independence.) After that, you need to buy the books and pay the discussion leader some small fee if you want to continue.
And rude behavior is not tolerated.
All analogies are simply analogies, of course. These boards are what they are, and not something else. But perhaps an analogy can help with understanding.
Ah so the answer is you get nothing except the feeling that you have paid
Interesting. :dubious:
Perhaps you may be interested in my friend Mariam Abachi from Nigeria who is looking for people just like yourselves. She on the other hand is prepared to give you millions in dollars if you pay a small fee aswell.
Your guest membership is valid for a month. So far, half of your posts have been spent complaining about the board. If it is so tiresome to you, why bother?
Either it is worth it to you or it is not. The only way to find out is examine it with all the critical tools at your disposal and make your decision.
However much you complain, at the end of your guest membership, it will still cost the same to join.
What in the world gave you the idea you were entitled to free speech on a privately owned message board? There is no illusion of free speech here; you must pay for the privilege, and if your speech is found to violate the terms of use, you will be banned with no refund. Don’t like that? Bye-bye.
I like to complain. Perhaps you just mumble to yourself and quietly hand over your money, but I don’t. Complaints get things done. Sitting around looking at your feet hoping someone else will make the point wont
However, you can get banned for nothing on this board, if you play your cards right.
In addition, anyone can read all the messages here, so they can get advice – unsolicited or not – if they want it, for free. You pay $15, if you:
(1) want to post messages (either to be an attention whore, or to help others – take your pick)
(2) want to search messages
(3) want to ask questions, in the hope of more finely directed advice
(4) just have fun (perhaps because the people here have similar quirks to your own)
The point is not to cover the costs completely or to make a profit, but to merely defray the costs to some extent. The Reader has at some point decided how much it can afford to sink into these boards, and when the actual operating costs began to exceed that, they began charging the subscription fee to bring the costs back in line with their allotted budget.
Server maintenance, bandwidth, personnel, and hamster food, to name a few. What these actually cost, specifically, has not been forthcoming and the PTB have made it clear that we should not expect this to change any time soon. As a private organization, the Reader has no obligation to divulge its costs to us.
It’s a joke… There are no real hamsters involved. Hamsters enable us to post, is the joke.
And you don’t have to pay. No one is expecting you to pay. What is hard to understand when we say - if you look around and like this place, then you have found something worth paying for. If not, then not.
Some of us have found something worth paying for. It isn’t tangible. It’s a community of people who talk rather than post stupid avatars and giant flashing banners, who try to “fight ignorance”, who have a good sense of humor and many of whom are very bright. They help each other.
There was a Doper a long time ago who asked how to survive for two weeks without food. The outpouring of support, advice, and money in that thread made it worthwhile for me ever since to join up.
Plus I learn about new movies, books, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment. I get to discuss with erudite, intelligent people, different ways the same thing can be interpreted. And they helped me figure out how to change my headlight, too, and what could be wrong with my car.
Only you can know why it’s worth your paying. It doesn’t matter how much it costs to run the service: it whether it’s worth it to you. And you can find out if it’s worth it to you by having a free trial.
The hamsters that work night and day to keep the SMDP servers running demand in return very expensive hamster food, only available at the most exclusive pet-food shops on North Michigan Avenue. Offered ordinary lettuce and carrots, they turn up their little noses, and refuse to run in their little wheels.
