Poll on the SDMB community.

In My Humble Opinion
61

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
I found Cecil’s books in the 90s and sought a website from there. I really enjoyed his perspective and found that I enjoyed the phenomena of a message board and specifically SDMB.

What do you keep coming back for?
The information and interaction. There is a ton of knowledge here, both overt (i.e. responses to queries) and occult (i.e. what people are thinking about, willing share, how they interact.) I find both arenas facinating. Plus, there is no other place in my life where I would even hear the term “butt crack bleaching” (which is good.)

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
It has been very important in my education. I am here only a few hours per week.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Well, I am pretty sure that was more of a logo than a goal, but I love the fact that some folks take it seriously. If the goal is to fight ignorance then any mechanism that disseminates information is meeting that goal. That SDMB does it with structure, humor, and grace makes it more effective.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
The aforementioned structure, humor and grace. Plus, we’ve got Unca Cecil so we are light years ahead.

What other MBs do you go to?
None. I am very limited.

Which forum do you go to first?
IMHO or MPSIMS

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
I am a lurker. I have asked some questions and responded a few time, but I am too new and too non-interactive to be a good participant.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
Heavens no. I hate confrontation and even nice debating makes my stomach tighten.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
38; F; Portland, OR; school admin; reading; gardening; long walks on the beach; skinny dipping

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I am a non-entity on SDMB. I am a sizable entity IRL.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
Completely

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
Only because no one but Large Marge knows me at all here.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
It is 50/50, which is the cool thing about it.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
Nope.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
Cecil, admins, mods

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
I don’t know that I look up to anyone, but I appreciated Cervaise’s writing in his response and Large Marge very generously offered to help me identify some less-hideous photos of myself.

Have you made enemies?
I am sure not.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
Not yet, but I am very new. I am getting a feel for some folks.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Not particularly. I guess (I hope) I would be less likely to share about sex acts if my real name was attached to it, but I am not by nature secretive or very cautious.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
I have not had the chance but I would very much like to. Maybe one day I can go to trivia night up in Seattle. I would be very willing to travel to a Dopefest of size.

62

What first attracted you to the SDMB?

Intelligent and interesting conversation

What do you keep coming back for?

Intelligent and interesting conversation - which, unlike a lot of other boards, never descends into moronic name-calling and ‘nonsense posts’.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?

Not life-or-death but it’s fun. About 30 minutes per day when I’m at work. More at the moment bcause I’m off sick and bored.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?

I think so. Mainly by being well above the average intelligence of most of the web.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?

Intelligence, interest and restraint.

What other MBs do you go to?

Mudcat Cafe (folk music), Snopes (Urban legend), Fortean Times (strangeness) and The Guardian (left-leaning UK newspaper)

Which forum do you go to first?

Cafe Society

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?

I used to lurk more but now I’m getting positively chatty.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?

I’m not a great debater.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?

Male, middle-aged, tall, fat and bearded. I live in Gillingham, Kent, UK and work as a civil servant though I’m not at work at the moment due to severe angina (I’m awaiting an angioplasty, but the UK National Health Service is a bit slow…). Interests - birdwatching, folk music, film and reading (SF, fantasy and non-fiction mainly)

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?

I dont think I have a standing. In real life I’m a junior civil servant - pretty low-life I guess.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?

Very (I think)

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?

Doubt it. I’ve said several times that I’m a tall fat Englishman.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?

Agreeing, mostly.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?

I don’t think so - I’ve never fallen foul of any that I know of

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?

I haven’t really been here long enough to work out the heirachy.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?

See above.

Have you made enemies?

I hope not.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?

Not yet, but I’m getting to know them

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?

Not very.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
Not yet but I’d like to.

63

Paypal me $20 ( 300 pounds sterling) and I’ll set you up with The List and Official Handshake & Doper Fez.

:smiley:
Welcome to the boards and what exactly is a Boutler’s Canary?

64

It’s a canary belonging to a guy named Boulter, duh. :dubious:

I got nothin.’

65

Hmmmmm…we Limeys aren’t that gullible. :dubious:

A Boulter’s Canary is an entity (either alien or supernatural, it’s not made clear) in a short story by Keith Roberts of whom you may have heard…

But probably not. (He was a Brit SF/Fantasy writer. Born 1935 - died 2000. Vastly underrated)

66

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
Back in the mid-90s a grad school colleague lent me one of his *Straight Dope * books. I really liked it and bought others. One of them had a reference to the message board and I checked it out.

What do you keep coming back for?
I’ll go away for months at a time but then go through a period where I read through it daily. It’s a nice diversion.

How important is the site to you? How much time do you spend per week? day? I would not say it is “important.” It can be interesting and entertaining. Same as a DVD or something. No more, no less. Time? Maybe a couple hours on a slow day here and there.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How? I think so for the Comments and General Questions areas. Cafe Society to some extent. The other forums I do not think “fight ignorance” (and may even help to perpetuate it), but that is not their purpose so no harm no foul.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards? I’m not sure that it is. But I only partcipate in a couple and none of those are as wide ranging as this one so I really can’t compare.

What other MBs do you go to?
DVDTalk (international DVD forum)
DVDSpot
KoreanFilm
KungFuCultCinema
AsianDVDGuide
(sense the trend here?)

Which forum do you go to first?
DVDSpot. I’m an editor and moderator.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall?
Lurk much more than post

–in any particular forum?
Cafe Society first, then IMHO, then Great Debates and the Pit

–on any particular subject?
I’m mostly prompted to post in threads discussing Asian films and DVDs. But also opinion threads at times, or maybe a passing comment in the pit.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
I enjoy debating, but not really on the internet. This board leans havily to the Left and I have no interest in trying to take on the liberal group-think.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life? Male 37. Married. My wife is Korean. We live in Manassas, VA. I am a biologist and do environmental work for a Federal government agency in Washington, DC. My interests are Asian film and DVD collecting. First edition books. I follow my sports teams fairly rabidly.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life? I’m not sure what “standing” means. If you are asking whether I consider myself a leader of an internet clique, uh, no. But that’s not what I’m here for. My “standing” in real life is defined by my relationship with my wife, how well I do my job, and how well I get along with others. These things in no way correspond to reading or posting on a message board.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
I don’t see any reason to post lies or misrepresentations. If there is something I don’t want the world to know, I just won’t post.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
No.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects? Well, being a “red-state conservative” with some pretty old-fashioned ideas, I realize I’m a data point outlier on this board. So, sure I disagree with a lot.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
I guess I’d like to be able to edit posts. Typos and missing words bug me!

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
The moderators are the leaders, right?

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why? I don’t “look up to” other posters, but I appreciate the tenacity of some of the other conservative posters who jump right in and take their lumps (repeatedly!)

Have you made enemies?
No.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
No.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Oh, I don’t know. I don’t post my real name (but I do give it out in an e-mail exchange). I don’t keep my general information (location, job, schools graduated and years, etc.) a secret. I really have nothing to hide.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life?
Sure.

– have you?
No.

67

And of course if I could edit my post I could correct my misreading of a question.

I read that as which *message board * do I go to first, and answered accordingly. :smack:

68

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
Reading Cecil’s Columns, then Threadspotting, then I eventually got around to actually signing up to post.

What do you keep coming back for?
I like the community feeling and the wealth of information that everyone but me seems to have :slight_smile:

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
I’d say mildly important. I could live without it, but I like to visit regularly. I usually log on every day, but sometimes I’ll go over a week without visiting. Probably a couple hours a week, total.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Yes, because any time you have a question, there is somebody who knows the answer, or somebody who can at least point you in the right direction.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
Everybody uses good grammar and spelling, and cites their sources.

What other MBs do you go to?
Something Awful

Which forum do you go to first?
MPSIMS

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
I lurk a lot more than I post, but I post quite a bit, mainly in MPSIMS and IMHO, on any subject that happens to interest me or that I know about.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
No, I generally stay out of GD.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
Female, 19 years old, Kansas community college student. My interests are so varied it’s ridiculous. I love computers, the internet (obviously), being outside, hiking, camping, traveling, photography, animals, drawing, anything science related, school, and just about anythign else that anyone can possibly be interested in.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I think I’m fairly quiet, but speak up when I have something to say, and I’m generally well-known by a few people but to most people I’m just a random “other”. Sounds exactly like my real life.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
Pretty much exactly like my true self.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
Not in the least bit.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
I usually agree, thats one of the reason I like the SDMB so much - most people seem to share my general interests and ideas.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
They all seem fair to me.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
The mods, and some of the long-time posters like Eve and Rue DeDay.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
Anyone who takes the time to write a thoughtful and funny well-written post.

Have you made enemies?
No.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
In a way, yes. I feel like I know certain people’s online personas fairly well. However, I have never met anyone from the SDMB in real life and only talk to a few Dopers outsode of the SDMB.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Not very. I probably share more personal information than I should, and if anyone really wanted to they could look at my old posts, or find links to my MySpace page and figure out exactly what I look like and where I live.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
I would attend Dope Fests if they were in my area but no, I have never met anyone in real life from the boards.

69

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
I must have followed a link from somewhere. I inherited one of Cecil’s books years ago, and it has lived on top of my guest bathroom toilet tanks ever since. It was an old book and I assumed that the Straight Dope was a dead early-80s thing, so imagine my delight when I found this place.

What do you keep coming back for?
It’s stimulating and entertaining, and I learn something new most of the time.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
Fairly important as a constructive waste of time. I’d say 1-2 hours a day active, though I leave the page open on my desktop for much of the day.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
I think it tries, though a herd of intelligent people never entirely abandons the herd instinct.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
Good grammar, and a generally accepted code of etiquette conducive to good conversation.

What other MBs do you go to?
Something Awful.

Which forum do you go to first?
GD or Cafe Society.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
I lurk mostly but I post whenever I feel like it. I’m not shy or anything.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
I enjoy it in real life, but find MB debates to be more a contest of chopping up someone else’s posts and harping on semantics. If I post there it’s usually because I lost track of what forum I was reading, and I don’t like to do for free what others pay me to do.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
32, male, South Florida, bankruptcy litigator. I like to do lots of stuff.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I don’t think I have any SDMB standing of which to speak. Real life is not nearly as forgiving.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
I’m a “no filter” person, and whether typing or speaking, I usually communicate with horrifying honesty.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
No.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
I’m all over the map. Politically I think I’m more moderate than most of the more prolific posters here.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
Nothing springs to mind, though I’m sure I don’t know them all.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
The mods and admins. I guess Cervaise is the leader of the Battlestar Galactica fans since he takes the time to start the thread every week.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
No one, I’d think. I admit that I selfishly see most posters as an entertainment source; reading them is like watching a favorite television show. Or stumbling across a reviled television show, as the case may be. I particularly enjoy posts by Sampiro, Sam Stone, Rune, roger thornhill, Blake and Q.E.D., to name a few. I miss reading owlstretchingtime.

Have you made enemies?
I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve posted enough.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
As well as you can get to know someone by reading hundreds or thousands of words written by them. Different in every case, I suppose.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Very.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
Maybe and no.

70

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
I started reading the column in The City Paper in Baltimore in the 70s. After I moved to Ohio in 2000, I looked for The Straight Dope on the web, started reading the columns online, then was drawn into the messahe board by Threadspotting.

What do you keep coming back for?
Information and entertainment.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
Moderately important. perhaps an hour a day.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Yes. In GQ especially, but in the other fora fairly often.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
The rules and the culture promote relatively civil discourse, for the web. The intelligence level of the members is higher than average.

What other MBs do you go to?
None

Which forum do you go to first?
GQ

**Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?**I lurked for four years before I joined. I read much more than I post.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
I enjoy reading debates. If I post in GD, it’s usually to ask a question or provide some info, rather than to contest a point.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
52, male, Chillicothe, Ohio, USA, computer programmer, rock guitarist, reptile enthusiast, handyman, avid reader

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I don’t think I have any standing here, my impression is that I am unnoticed. In real life, I’m considered an expert at what I do for a living. Among my friends, I’m considered unusually well-informed. Not here.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
No lies, but not much personal detail.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
No

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
Disagreeing on politics, no trend in other areas.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
No

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
I haven’t seen any leaders.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
No one.

Have you made enemies?
I don’t know of any.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
Nope.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
A little.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
Possibly and no.

71

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
Someone linked me from a different MB.

What do you keep coming back for?
The laughs & the cameraderie.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
Depends on what’s going on in my life. I post in spurts. When things slow down in my life I post more. Don’t have a whole lot going on right now. Can you tell?

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Yes. I think there are people here who devote themselves to that goal, and people here who are interested in learning and discussing just about every topic known to man on any given day. OTOH, I’ve seen threads about the size of bowel movements, so you be the judge.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
The diversity. The intelligence level of the average poster.

What other MBs do you go to?
A baseball board and a very small, private board which is actually a spin off of this one.

Which forum do you go to first?
This one.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
I lurk a lot more than I used to. I run my mouth off less than I did, listen more. I skim through this forum, MPSIMS, GD, ATMB & GQ and occasionally post. Pretty much a denizen of the Pit.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
Yes, I do, and HELL, no. I’ve managed to embarrass myself a couple times, but I still enjoy discussing things with the people here.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
39, F, SF Bay Area, nurse, red hair, hazel eyes, temper, yada. My kids, my books, movies, killing myself at the gym, cooking, wine, poker.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I’m just this chick, y’know?
I consider myself a regular poster that some people recognize. It always humbles and warms me to see my name mentioned. (thanks, faithfool & What Exit?)

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
My views and opinions and feelings? Completely. I do keep certain things private, but just because I don’t feel they’re anyone’s business.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
Nah.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members?
Yes.
On what subjects?
Politics, parenting, cat ownership, you name it.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
I am on record as diagreeing with the “Don’t call anyone a troll” rule. In some cases, I think the embarrassment of being called out on trolling in front of your peers would be more of a dissuader than reporting to mommy and daddy.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
Oh, several who have been mentioned already. LHoD, Bricker, Sam Stone, Cervaise, RTFirefly, people who drive the board and challenge the rest of us to consider arguments in ways that wouldn’t have otherwise ocurred to us.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
Way too many people here to mention; I’m afraid I’d leave someone out. They all know who they are. But mostly NoClueBoy for the great sex.
I’m joking, it wasn’t that great.

Have you made enemies?
Oh, more than likely. If you’re not pissing someone off, you’re not doing it right.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
Some of them, yes.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Eh. Part of that’s on me. If I puke out every detail of my life, it’s hardly the board administration’s fault.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
Yes, and yes. Even marrying one of 'em.

72

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
Found it out of the blue. I was impressed with the goal of fighting ignorance, the vast number of posters and highly knowledgable people. What really hooked me tho, was the huge number of CRAZY funny posters. Good dry humor, or humor you have to think about for a second.

What do you keep coming back for?
All the above. A gauge on current events. Killing time. A juicy suicide by mod. Lots of reasons.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?
It varies. 30 minutes to 5 hours a day. Sometimes a week without even looking.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Yes and no. On more concrete issues, yes it really does. On politics or thorny social issues (like religion) not so much. If facts are involved, yes.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
The size and the number of expert posters. Also the Mods keeping it civil. Also you can find discussion about ANYTHING here.

What other MBs do you go to?
An Orioles board (2000 members)
A Nation States regional board (60+ members)
A private board spun off from here (20 members)

Which forum do you go to first?
Usually MPSIMS, then The Pit.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
Participate, I guess. Almost all in MPSIMS and The Pit.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
Don’t really enjoy it. Some posters are really good at debate and tap-dancing, and that really frustrates me.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
43, M, PA, Mechanical Engineer, short, fat, hairy. Interests include baseball, music, politics, science especially space, very amateur history buff.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
If anyone even notices me… I’m funny and an asshole sometimes. Jeckyll and Hyde-ish. I’m less volatile IRL.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
Everything I post is a lie. :slight_smile:

Seriously, I hold back a lot of details… but what I post is dead honest.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
Not really.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
My politics are pretty liberal. I agree a lot on those lines.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
Not calling a troll a troll. But only mildly. I see why they have the rule. It’s just in some cases it’s patently obvious, but if you say it, you get slapped.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
Mods of course. SDSABs and former mods. Diogenes, QED, Bosda, ETF, Marley23, Airman Doors, Bricker, What Exit?, Guinastasia, No Clue Boy, Maureen, Mangetout, lieu, Polycarp, Left Hand of Dorkness many many others.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
I’m not very good at matching names to posts. I’ll say Bricker because he’s a lawyer, well-spoken and factual, calm and impartial. Polycarp for those same reasons (hard to do when it comes to religious debate.) And of course Maureen cuz she’s dreamy. :slight_smile: Many others that their posts and names don’t click in my brain.

Have you made enemies?
Probably. More like a buzzing fly tho, if they notice at all.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
Only a few I feel I “know”. A few others I actually do know IRL.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
Only as it applies to identity theft, etc. If I met 20 random Dopers IRL, I would argue and talk the same way.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
Would like to meet NCB or ETF. Would be nice to meet many others.
Have met several IRL. Marrying one in particular.

73

Lies! All lies!

74

What first attracted you to the SDMB?
I’d been reading Cecil’s column for years and found it online. I found the message board, and it was the first one I ever joined. It’s still my primary MB, I guess.

What do you keep coming back for?
Variety of discussion and people. Anything is up for discussion. My other boards are more specific and not as interesting.

**How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?**I could live without it, but it’s fun. I check in daily, but only spend a lot of time here if I’m really interested in something that’s going on.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?
Perhaps not for the rest of the world, and not always for members, but sometimes! Generally by clearing up misconceptions.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?
Variety, (relative) civility while not being too sensitive, a lot of reasonably bright and articulate people of different sorts.

What other MBs do you go to?
One that debates my religion, one that is only for members of my religion, two on homeschooling.

Which forum do you go to first?
Depending on my mood, IMHO or GD.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?
It varies. I post most in IMHO, and gravitate towards books, certain religious topics, education and parenting, and the general state of society.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?
Not like some people. I generally only debate on particular subjects.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?
32-yo female, SAHM and librarian in Northern CA. I read, quilt, homeschool my children, and like the outdoors as well. I sub at the library when needed and run a program there.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?
I’m probably quieter here. I suppose some people recognize my name, but I’m not very well known, I shouldn’t think.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?
Very, I think.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?
I doubt it.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?
As one of the few resident Mormons, I find myself explaining that pretty often. My politics are more middling than the general left-leaning bent here (I dislike everyone).

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?
Can’t think of anything.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?
Oh, I dunno. I’m not interested enough in the political debates to care about who’s big in that area, and can’t think of anyone else particularly.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?
Goodness, I don’t know. Never thought about it much.

Have you made enemies?
I doubt that I’m exciting enough for that.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?
Only a few; I actually don’t keep very good track of member names, so it’s mostly only the other moms and a few others that I can keep track of.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?
I have some relatives who read this board, so I’m not sure it’s very anonymous for me. I would prefer that nutballs not figure out where I live, I guess.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?
I’m a little too isolated up here to have gone to any DopeFests, but I might be interested in one if I could. Besides family members who already read the boards, no.

75

Very droll.

Owl was your genuine English public school “anti-intellectual” eccentric.

This vanity search has ended so much more fruitfully than the others. I feel affirmed!

76

What first attracted you to the SDMB?

The Straight Dope books.

What do you keep coming back for?

Learning, fun, and time killing when should be working.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?

Probably an hour a day, maybe a bit less, depending how busy I am. It’s my all time favourite web site.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?

Absolutely; I know I have learned things on here, and I am certain others have too. We can’t make every dolt smart, but we can help some of us dolts.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?

The quality of the discourse is astonishingly high, higher than any other MB Ive ever seen. Partially this is because the original gang was self-selected from SD readers, and partially the strong moderation.

What other MBs do you go to?

Fanhome.

Which forum do you go to first?

GD.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?

As my post count suggest, you can’t shut me up. I’m in all forums but not MPSIMS very much. I opine on many subjects but my specialty is baseball.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?

Yes and yes.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?

34, male, outside of Toronto, Canada, a project manager in a quality auditing company. I like baseball, video games, and my daughter.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?

I don’t really know and couldn’t care less. I seem to be regarded as the leading baseball pundit and little else. Which, now that I think about it, DOES reflect my standing in real life. Which is jim dandy by me.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?

Perfectly.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?

Not in the slightest.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?

A little of column A, a little of column B. Nothing in particular stands out.
**
Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?**

The rule against discussing how to do magic tricks is retarded.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?

The moderators. To be honest I don’t remember usernames very well.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?

Look up to? No. Lots of people I admire, but that’s different.

Have you made enemies?

You’d have to ask them.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?

Not really. I know Sam Stone lives in Alberta, has a kid, and knows a lot about poker and stereo equipment, and he spent a lot of time and effort on his stereo listenin’ room, but those are details, five items out of a list of a million that make up a human being. You need to meet someone, IMHO, to know them.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?

Not really.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?

I really want to go to a Dopefest but dammit, I just keep missing them.

77

What first attracted you to the SDMB? Someone gave me a link to the “If LOTR had been written by someone else.”

What do you keep coming back for? I really enjoy my time here - and I do learn a lot.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day? Per day - 1 1/2 hours.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How? I do - since I’m learning.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards? Very wide variety of backgrounds. I like that. I usually post on an AfricanAmerican based board.

What other MBs do you go to? The HataBoards on Playahata.com.

Which forum do you go to first? The Pit. Then up from the bottom.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject? I lurk more than anything.

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there? It depends on the topic.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life? age 48 - F - atlanta - receptionist/admin. Quad adult roller skating, reading, writing, napping.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life? I’m not a lurker in real life.

How honestly do you represent yourself online? I’m pretty frank.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life? No.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects? Half and half. I’m a strong liberal anti gun prochoice anti war person.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with? Not yet.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board? I don’t know many names so I’ll pass.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why? Again - don’t remember names. Oh - Left Hand of Dorkness is pretty sharp.

Have you made enemies? Maybe. No one has told me.

Do you feel like you know the other members well? No.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you? Don’t need anonymity. I’m having a “family reunion” with my other board in July. I want to meet my friends. I would be willing to attent an Atlanta doper fest.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you? Not yet.

78

What first attracted you to the SDMB?

Read Cecil’s column in one of the local free weeklies and was a fan, found this place while idly surfing the web one day and quickly became addicted to the breadth of topics and erudition under discussion. Also the generally good manners.

What do you keep coming back for?

As above - I don’t know any comparable site where such a diversity of topics are regularly addressed, including the most mundane. It has stagnated some since going pay-to-play IMHO, but still attracts enough attention to be easily worth my while.

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?

Oh I dip my toe in pretty much daily, unless I’m on vacation. How often beyond that varies widely depending on my own schedule and how lively things are.

Importantance? Hmmm…I dunno. Depends how you measure such things. It provides a lot of entertainment value and distraction and I’d by miffed if it were to completely disappear. But it wouldn’t rate at the level of an emotionally crippling blow. Then again, maybe I’m just dead inside :p.

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?

More often than not. Though it does depend on the topic and the actors involved in the discussion, it consistently outpaces any other non-specialist site out there.

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?

Breadth and tighter than usual moderation ( which generally I support ).

What other MBs do you go to?

Varies. An offshoot or two of this one, an offshoot or two of another community ( largely defunct ) I used to belong to, specialty boards of various stripes as the mood strikes. None of them as consistently as this one, even now.

Which forum do you go to first?

No consistency, but generally GD, GQ or Cafe Society. I least frequently visit MPSIMS.

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?

These days I lurk more. I think everyone goes through stages where they burn out on particular topics. When I do participate it’s most often in the areas of history, natural history or media topics ( assorted CS stuff ). On the first I’m tending to stick closer and closer to just fact-checking ( pedantry is my curse and this board and the internet in general a terrible enabler ).

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?

Sometimes and sometimes.

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?

Male, 38, SF Bay Area, ‘light blue collar’ civil service job, former career student ;). Interests are fairly broad, but start with the topics I mentioned above and wander around from there.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?

I don’t think I’m generally despised, which, yeah, I suppose corresponds reasonably well to my real life :D.

I suspect I am usually categorized as a decent contributing niche poster, which suits.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?

Pretty honestly. I’m a bit snarkier and a little less gentle in real life, but not strikingly so. I am generally about as easy-going. I’m more articulate online, as are many, though I’ll happily talk the ears off small groups of 1-4, while often clamming up completely in groups larger than 5 or 6.

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?

Doubt it, but you never know.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?

Hard to say. I loathe shrill partisanship of any sort, hence I tend to avoid most political arguments, even though I am fairly opinionated. Otherwise it’s a mixed bag.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?

Actual rules, not really. Interpretation of rules, occasionally, but not usually.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?

I don’t know that any personality, even the most popular and knowledgeable, stand out enough to be considered true “leaders.” Nor would I throw the moderators into that category.

Like some others, I prefer that - in my experience “leaders” on internet communities tend to end up as polarizing figures, willingly or not.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?

Too many to list, so I won’t.

Have you made enemies?

Maybe at least one, weirdly. Others may be quieter about it. Nobody I respect, I expect. In general I try to maintain an even keel and not ruffle feathers ( a few racist trolls - genuine ones - excepted ), consequently I don’t tend to generate a lot of ire. No doubt at least a few find me an insufferable bore, rather than an out and out enemy.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?

On average, no. There are a couple of exceptions.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?

Hardly at all.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?

Sure. And yes, though not many.

  • Tamerlane
79

You are hugely underestimating your contributions to this board, sir or madam (as the case may be).

Regards,
Your fawning admirer,
Shodan

80

What first attracted you to the SDMB?

Read the books, had a question and signed on.

What do you keep coming back for?

Dunno

How important is the site to you?How much time do you spend per week?day?

Somewhat. About 2 hours/week

Do you think it lives up to its stated goal of “fighting ignorance”? How?

Not so much - GQ sure, but the other forums tend to be social (or antisocial, in the case of the pit)

What do you think sets the SDMB apart from other message boards?

size

What other MBs do you go to?

SNOPES

Which forum do you go to first?

SDMB

Do you lurk more or participate more overall? in any particular forum? on any particular subject?

both

Do you enjoy debating, and do you think you hold your own there?

not so much, but I usually do OK unless I really don’t know what I’m talking about

Describe yourself - age, sex, location, occupation, etc. What interests do you have in real life?

F, 33, Canada, Admin, Skiing, dogs, hiking, art, etc.

What do you see as your standing in the SDMB community? Does that correspond to your standing in real life?

Dunno. I do OK in real life.

How honestly do you represent yourself online?

What you read is what you get, baby. :slight_smile:

Do you think people here would be surprised by what you are like in real life?

Nope.

Do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing more often with other members? On what subjects?

Depends.

Are there any rules (official or not) that you disagree with?

Yep.

Who do you see as the leaders of the board?

No one in particular.

Who on the board do you most look up to? Why?

No one in particular.

Have you made enemies?

Not really, although apparently some people don’t care for me particularly.

Do you feel like you know the other members well?

No.

How important is the anonymity of the board to you?

Meh.

Would you want to meet anyone here in real life? Have you?

Yep - I’ve met a couple of people, there’s a couple more that I’d like to meet.