I owned all of the the Straight Dope books published to date, and visited the site weekly to see the newest question that Cecil would tackle. As far as the message boards go, I lurked on and off for about a year before I registered and started posting. (If I posted a few months earlier, I’d be a '99er, which is apparently something of a status symbol in this online community.)
Because I like it? After being on the Internet for so long, I now do far less random surfing, instead spending more time visiting a select number of sites. I never got into surfing blogs or journals, and a site with mostly static content can only holdkeep
I belong to Something Awful, but the demographics there are much different; the dominant group there is twentysomething males, as opposed to the SDMB where it’s hard to define a typical Doper. I lurk fom time to time on the SDMB spinoff sites - Unaboard and FFF. There’s also my message board, but it’s not really a general interest site, and no Dopers I know of are members.
“a site with mostly static content can only holdkeep” = “a site with mostly static content can only keep my attention for so long.” I previewed, too, damnit … two or three times! Back to the short bus with me … durrrrrrrr!
I signed up in 2000, took a long break when I didn’t have internet access until about a year or two ago. Now I’ve got my own computer.
1.) I’m a huge Cecil Adams fan. I’ve been reading him since the eighties. One of the first things I did when I went on the internet was seek out his webpage. I found the boards one of the few places on the net where you had a good chance of intelligent discussions and correct answers to difficult questions.
2.) It’s informative, entertaining and cheap at twice the price. I’ve had math concepts explained to me, philosophical views expounded and debated, and all sorts of questions answered and thoughts provoked. Even the most cliche ridden political shout-fest in GD is still better than you’ll get on most media. At least people have cites here. I honestly don’t get why people get in a huff and leave.
Someone gave me a link to Scylla’s Evil Nazi Groundhogs thread. I read some of the old threadspotting threads, then eventually slid into reading the columns.
It’s low-key and reasonable. The political debates here have gotten nastier in the last few months, but the political debates everywhere are getting nastier so I’m not prepared to count that against the SDMB. Anyway, no one invites anyone else to fuck themselves with a rusty shovel anymore, so politeness-wise it may be a push anyway.
A few special-interest boards. This is the only board I check every day, though.
1.) Why did you think this would be a good place for you?
I’d read all the books, read the site on AOL when I could (I did not have AOL but my sister did) and read the site religiously when it moved to its current address. I’d read all the archives, and wandered to the message board, which was full of fun and witty folks. I wasn’t entirely convinced that it would be a good place for me when I signed up, but I became pretty quickly addicted to it. Partly for the same reasons Larry Borgia mentioned. (For questions #1 and #2 actually.)
2.) Why are you still here?
Mostly sentimental reasons. I met most of the friends I have now in the SF Bay Area (and all over the place, actually) through the board. And more importantly, I met my sweet husband here. I’d stopped frequenting the board almost entirely for a couple of years, though I’d pop back in from time to time. Over the last year or so I’ve found myself here more frequently. It’s still full of fun and witty folks.
3.) Are you a member of any similar but non-SDMB related message boards?
No. Livejournal is my other main online activity, and more than 80% of the people I interact with there are either members or former members of the SDMB.
1.) Why did you think this would be a good place for you?
I enjoyed the books and the TV show, and when I stumbled across this place, I found a goldmine of book recommendations. I lurked a long time before I felt worthy of joining in, but now I feel pretty cozy here, as long as I stay out of GD.
2.) Why are you still here?
My name is Dung Beetle, and I am a Dopaholic.
3.) Are you a member of any similar but non-SDMB related message boards?
No, this takes far too much of my time already.
1.) Why did you think this would be a good place for you?
Posters seem to be more informed than what you would find in other forums. And I like learning new things. The various boards on SDMB are also very well moderated so that the discussion stays civil.
2.) Why are you still here?
Still learning.
3.) Are you a member of any similar but non-SDMB related message boards?
A few, but mainly user forums where I can get and offer some technical advice.
1.) Because I really liked the paperback collections of columns I found on my college roommate’s bookshelves. That and the fame and fortune, of course.
2.) I like the discussions and finding out the answers to questions I sometimes didn’t even know I had.
3.) No
4.) Isn’t it interesting that people here are so thorough they’ll put a . and a ) after the numbers of their questions?
1.) Why did you think this would be a good place for you?
It’s the only place I’ve found on the web that I can read without being irritated by bad spelling, grammar, and sloppy thought. The posters are intelligent and actually have something to contribute to the conversations. It just feels like a group of people I want to talk and listen to, rather than avoid.
2.) Why are you still here?
I’ve never found anything else on the web that can hold my attention as long. There’s always some interesting conversation going on punctuated by wit and insight.
3.) Are you a member of any similar but non-SDMB related message boards?
Carvin’s discussion board (it’s the brand of guitar I play).
