Are there other Message Board sites similar to Straight Dope?
Jorolat
Well, there’s at least one that’s extremely similar… Why not check it out?
Seriously, though, why are you asking? If you like this board, then stay here. If you don’t like this board, then why would you want other ones like it?
jorolat, you traitor! :mad:
OK, I was just kidding.
Do you mean boards similar in spirit?
Or do you mean boards that also use vBulletin or uBB software?
IIRC something in this same vain was asked a few monthes ago. I am having trouble finding the specific thread though.
I think the conclusionwas pretty much that there wasn’t any too close at all.
You may want to try this one.
Click on “Self-Service Science” when you get there (dang thing runs on frames, so it doesn’t really work to give the direct URL). It’s run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It’s kinda like GQ on a smaller scale, though with more of a science feel to it. You’ll find out about this guy, Australia’s answer to Cecil.
Good for a change, but it ain’t no Straight Dope.
We’ll see you back.
Guardian Online have long run an online version of their famed “Notes & Queries” page from the newspaper. It’s a bigger and less limited form of the random-interesting-question type thing that has kept the page going for so long, and spawned several collected books. Probably they got the idea from somewhere else too. I know New Scientist has a random-trivia page.
Only problem is, the site is very, very closely moderated. In other words, they decide what questions get asked and what answers get posted. Anyone can submit, but it’s up to the moderators. I guess a site associated with such a prestigious paper can’t really afford too much risk! That means there’s less rambling and flaming, but it’s closely bound to the aspirations and, frankly, the political and social biases of the newspaper. That’s just what newspapers are about. There’s no sense of community - certainly not compared to the Great and Mighty Dope.
I THINK I know why the question is being asked. It’s just because it’s good to spread wings occasionally. Fresh air. That’s why I came to the Dope in the first place. I’d love to be able to post often enough for people to know who I am, but I have no real chance of that. I like it here because I can ramble relatively insanely and haven’t yet been banned! That, if you ask me, is what community is REALLY about. Not keeping within guidelines - being unafraid to question them!
I’m assuming the OP means similar in spirit. The vBulletin site will yield a number of other vBulletin customers.
I asked the last time this came up, but I believe it was in ATMB, so as long as it’s being discussed here:
Has anybody ever subscribed to The WELL? Long before the commercialization of the internet, they had the reputation of being a very select crowd (as opposed to the hoi-polloi on USENET). But it’s a subscription based service.
In those days I used to inhabit alt.folklore.urban - there’s some definite overlap with here - but it’s USENET and unmoderated. I got sick of dealing with that, even with a good newsreader.
The cartalk site runs a board that can be interesting to cruise through. I have a feeling Click and Clack probably have some fan base here. On the off chance that you haven’t checked their site it’s at http://cartalk.cars.com. The board is called “Cafe Dartre” under “Mail and Chat”. Not a partricularly sophisticated interface - it’s clearly homegrown, and wouldn’t be able to handle a huge amount of traffic.
My candidate for the best HTML based board out there in terms of features and operation, BTW, is the Motley Fool boards. That’s a custom solution for their community that they put a LOT of thought and resources into: http://boards.fool.com.
The baby sister of The Well is Table Talk at http://www.salon.com . Kinda dead compared to SD, except for the political threads (where I don’t go), but might liven up if more people used it. Posting rules are more lenient, and you can play with HTML effects as long as you don’t screw up the page formatting. Do use a pseudonym, though- their advice to use real names is pointless and toothless.
One board that has potential, but isn’t quite there yet, in terms of topics, postings, and traffic:
DotComScoop.com
http://www.dotcomscoop.com/forum/YaBB.pl?board=general
One board that had potential, with tons of topics, postings, and traffic, but which has degraded over time:
Fuckedcompany.com (yes, that Fucked company)
http://forum.fuckedcompany.com/
Shame, as it was rather good once.
The main reason I go to these other boards?
By the afternoon (in NY), my attempts to access the Straight Dope message board just keep timing out - probably way too much traffic.
Thank you everyone for your replies and for the links.
I posted a question here a few weeks ago, was unable to find the info I was looking for, and just wondered if there were other message boards where I might have more luck.
Other than this specific need I am very happy with straightdope and will continue using it.
Thanks again,
Jorolat 
Or http://www.trekbbs.com if you’re interested in all things Trek.
There is always Fathom which has a large number of people from the SDMB, including many in exile (voluntary or otherwise). It’s a very nice community and has many very intelligent people there, and some similar forums. It is also a very “open smile” place as well. Of course, other than trying to clear up a slander about me, I do not post there anymore since the Admin and a couple Mods really really deeply hate me (when they can “remember who I am” :rolleyes: ). But don’t let that throw you - it’s still a great place.
The UnaBoard, when it goes up here sometime, will have at least 2 forums similar to the SDMB, and probably be made up of mostly SDMB people. And since it will have less than 5 or so posts per day, it should be pretty snappy…
You might try:
Abuzz is owned by the New York Times. It’s more complex to navigate than the SDMB, but it’s well worth a look.
http://www.snopes.com has a good message board.
This is really more of an IMHO thing. I’ll move it over there for you.
Jorolat - in my experience on the 'net, this is one of the best boards for general questions. The only place that might be better would be a special-purpose board (for example a Macintosh board for Macintosh questions, or a country-specific board for questions relating to non-US matters). Of course, you might get lucky and find on a certain board the one person who has the answer to your question.
On good example: An SDMB member (Colibri) found the answer to a radio contest that had lasted for months without someone solving the riddle.
Trash Talk from Junk Science.
This site is disimilar, but a hoot;)