That’s possibly because you’ve got one of the coolest usernames on the board. You’re very lucky that this talisman has protected you.
I’ve got to second that. Felonious Mink is extremely clever. I am also partial to Wartime Consigliori, who has posted here. I think when the name sticks with me like that I just kind of assume that people have been around a long time, or have posted a lot. I was surprised to notice that both of the two above have fewer than 400 posts.
In the end I think that people stop being newbies whenever they themselves decide that they are no longer newbies.
Swell - lay that on my doorstep, why doncha??
Nah, I don’t regret being your catalyst. I think you’ve got a clever username too. And if you sent me love offerings of fine chocolates, you’d gain status in my eyes, in case you’re interested. 
I’d say the attitude is pretty neutral. I’ve seen some new posters make good points and draw responses from established posters. If you treat everyone with respect and don’t get all hysterical, you’ll be fine.
Awww…now I feel all warm and fuzzy!
Awww, thanks…now I feel all warm and fuzzy!
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Double the warm; Double the fuzzy with brand new Felonious Mink gum.
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I think there is a bit of truth to the SDMB being a little harder on newbies, but I also think that perception also ignores that there is a fair amount of regulars being harsh to regulars. It’s not like venom and insults are reserved for the newbies, it’s there for everyone. The only difference is that it is much more noticable when it occurs to newbies.
There are plenty of regular posters here that I love, and plenty that I wouldn’t give the time of day to. It is precisely the same with newbies, some are great additions and others are hell-bent on getting banned (Mykeru is a perfect example of the latter). It just appears to me that the newbies take it more to heart than others. And it appears to me that there is more of a call for protection of newbies than for regulars, because the regulars are generally considered to be able to take care of themselves. And that overprotection may not be a bad thing.
I guess I have a little different perspective on this topic. I am certainly still a newbie, and I’ve made newbie mistakes. I made a typical newbie mistake of jumping right into GD with very little lurking.
I didn’t have much message board experience. I found the SDMB from FARK, and was explicitly looking for somewhere that one could discuss controversial opinions of current events with intelligent people (and FARK was not the place).
MPSIMS, IMHO, and the other forums just didn’t interest me (CS still doesn’t). The Pit was a bit scary - didn’t sound like anywhere I wanted to go. I was looking for intellectual challenges.
But what I think we all need to consider when reading this thread, is that, by definition, the only newbie experiences recollected are those from successful newbies. We aren’t going to hear from those that failed to make it. In that sense, the picture here is distorted.
I will not lose any sleep over the Rev. At first, I think he got piled on, and otherwise would have been a good contributer here. But he got plenty of chances to get it right, and just couldn’t get along. I see no issue there.
However, despite a Plea for Tolerance and Understanding, too many SDMB regulars seem to think drawing out newbies in GD is bloodsport. And that is a shame. This is particularly true for any newbie with a controversial opinion. Tolerance is not particulary descriptive of the behavior.
IRL, I am often confrontational and argumentative, quite a smart ass. And that personality type must be REALLY careful when jumping into the waters of GD (but otherwise fits in fine). For two recent examples, look at Nocktober and Ms.Bitch. Both posted really stupid OPs in GD. But they are really stupid when viewed through experience in GD. Seems to me that any regular that read the OP would be irritated and suspicious, but also would be willing to treat the poster with kid gloves, and give them a chance.
Instead, some regulars, even moderators, lashed out, perhaps within rules, but certainly skirting the spirit. Those responses caused the newbie to lash back, and in both cases, breaking the rules, and ending in banning.
Both of those posters showed some signs of being able to contribute positively here. Maybe there were behind the scenes issues that warranted the banning - I don’t know. But the lack of tolerance and understanding from the members is troublesome nonetheless. It is easy to see how the reputation of The Clique™ got established. And that’s a shame.
Less than ten posts in to my first GD thread participation, I was accused of being a troll and sock puppet. Not having much board experience, I had to actually go research the terms to find out what insults were just hurled at me. What I came to recognize is that my posts indicated neither, but they were simply a way for some regulars to discount and ignore what I had posted, and avoid having to respond substantively. I was pissed off. Thank goodness, I had the wisdom to wait a day before posting again, when the emotion had drifted and I was able to respond intellectually. I truly believe waiting that day kept me from being banned, as I was about to lash out in GD. In hindsight, I feel like I was baited. Luckily, I grabbed a little worm, but left the hook. Others like me have not been so lucky. (Note: I would have linked the referenced thread, but despite what it says on the left, I actually first registered in December 2001, and my first 100 posts or so were lost in the “winter of our discontent”)
I now spend alot of time in GD and GQ, and a little time in the other forums (except CS, which I still can’t appreciate). I’ve never been warned by a moderator (although I wasn’t sure once, emailed the moderator, and verified their wrath was directed elsewhere), and never been pitted. Due to my personality type, I’m sure it will happen eventually.
Two other thoughts: One other area where regulars are given slack and newbies aren’t is in posting substantive answers in GQ. Seems some regulars think GQ is MPSIMS, and post the must inane worthless crap that in now way can be considered a factual answer to the question in the OP. When newbies do that, they are chastised. Nobody seems to care when regulars do it.
And the one other newbie issue that gets under my skin - when a newbie expresses an unpopular opinion, and gets piled on (often with good reason), they may come back with an assessment that tolerance for such unpopular positions here is non-existent. That leads to responses like, “well, if you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit you on the way out”. Seems to me that it is much more intellectually honest to embrace those with differing opinions, particularly ones that can express them without breaking the rules. Otherwise, it just reinforces The Clique™. I didn’t come here to find a lot of like minded people. There is no intellectual challenge in that. Diversity of opinions should be a goal, not conformity.
My opinion is that the board by and large ignores newbies. No, I don’t mean in the sense that their posts aren’t responded to; but I don’t think the majority of new people get exceptional (positive or negative) treatment or notice.
There are a few exceptions. If your initial posts are all rude or clueless, you may quickly get noticed, and not in a good way. And it seems to me that everyone who starts with an introduction, whether in a new thread or on one of the newbie threads, they get a positive response to that introduction.
Barring either of these cases, I don’t think new people tend to have either a period of fire, or an instant welcome. It looks to me like people will respond more to posters they recognize, which seems natural enough.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Hamlet *
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Double the warm; Double the fuzzy with brand new Felonious Mink gum.
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I’m sorry, I just get so excitable sometimes…
There is an odd us-them condescention that is perhaps inevitable, but it’s not necessary.
That is to judge at all and separate at all.
Why should I be considered stupid or uninformed just because I was here last year? Yet that is the implication.
So, yes, I’d say most times when a person mentions their own or another’s post count it is because of basic bad manners, and perhaps insecurity that can only be asuaged by claiming group status that the other can’t.
I’ve been here a couple years and still feel like a newbie most days. Anyone know who the heck I am? 
This board has over 10,000 members. If a new member doesn’t do or have something to distinguish themselves, be it wit or a cool username or a bad attitude, then they probably aren’t going to get a lot of notice. I’ve been on smaller boards and on chat channels where if someone starts to show up on a regular basis, it only takes a couple days or weeks for people to start considering them a regular. It’s harder to break into the group here unless you happen to hit it off just right straight out of the gate.
I think one reason newer members may consider this board to be less than friendly toward newbies is that this board has, in general, higher expectations for post content. Another message board site I used to go to has an area called “Debate” but all it is is a place for people to toss off arguments. No one’s ever held accountable for finding cites to back up their statements, etc. Someone coming from there to GD here would get smacked around pretty quick. These boards also seem to have a lower tolerance of “chatspeak” that seems to be in abundance on other boards - stuff like u instead of you, 2 instead of to/two/too, lack of caps and punctuation, and so on. Personally, I like the higher bar even though it’s why I probably delete 2/3 of the posts I start writing.
The majority of new members work their way in slowly. If we’re still here after a couple hundred posts, someone might notice. Or not. I’ve got my short list of people whose posts I’ll go out of my way to read, and others whose posts/threads I’ll go out of my way to ignore, but by and large it doesn’t matter much to me how long someone’s been here, if what they have to say contributes to the conversation.
i registered here today, and so far all ive done is voice my opinion a few times, lurk a lot, read many many posts, and learned.
this is probably the most liberal forum ive ever been on, i mean there’s little or no censorship and almost everyone has a lot of freedom here, which i admire in a forum.
anyhoo, ill be sticking around, and from what ive read from many of your posts your hazing won’t be all that bad. 
unless i piss off some of those guys in the pit, then ill get my coat.
mikester, you sound like you’ll do OK here. All you need to do now is send the requisite chocolates and I’ll be your friend. And with me on your side, you’ll, um, well, that and a few bucks will get you a latte at a snooty coffee shop. None for me, thanks. I don’t like coffee.
FCM, Don’t go hogging all the chocolates.
Mikester, you are better off bribing the mods - most of them are bribed in chocolate as well.
Welcome to both you and legos (and anyone on page one with fewer than a couple hundred posts that hasn’t been welcomed properly).
FWIW, I lurked for ages before I registered and still muffed my grand entrance as a poster. Yep. Classic stupidity: posted something in the Pit I thought was pretty obviously a gentle, tongue-in-cheek riff–and promptly got my ass flamed eight ways for Sunday. I apologized, explained my intent and fortunately most folks immediately backed off.
One peril of written communication is that it can feel so damned connected, when actually the reader is totally invisible to the writer. I vicariously followed the flow, getting to know the participants, then impulsively jumped in without taking into account nobody had the slightest clue who I was, or where I fit into the flow. I “knew” them but was a totally unknown quantity to them. I crashed into a heated discussion without introducing myself. I wouldn’t do that IRL if forced at gun point but my eaves-dropping misled me. Nobody had the slightest clue I’d been raptly following the discussion from the sidelines. People conversing face-to-face at least know if folks are listening in, biding their time. That just doesn’t happen in print. Fortunately the general “zing” of the place, and some very kind folks, kept me hangin’ on.
That said, forget misty-eyed nostalgia, it was a much rougher board then, growing fast and suffering the associated growth pangs. Some OTR (Old Time Regs) frankly bullied newcomers mercilessly. It was loathesome behavior. Okay, it’s weird and even painful when a comfy circle of known friends and enemies morphs out of recognition: nothing is familiar anymore. But this I will say: with a very few exceptions, the OTR still around are those who’ve grown with and even embraced the changes, including newcomers.
There is no high-post clique. This ain’t the only game in town. Some oldtimers/known friends are still regs. Others have found welcoming locales and drift in and out. Still others, who just couldn’t adapt, were banned, with great sorrow and regret. (Not to mention endless second-guessing and dissent.) Maligned newbie/beloved reg: pick your damage.
It’s a huge balancing act, and with the giddy array of posters/personalities/possiblities involved, none of us have the remotest chance of getting it “right”. So we just collectively muddle along the best we can, huh?
Fleeing her soapbox after a rare display of temper,
Veb
Wow, what a temper, TVeblen! If you were more angry you might do something really drastic like … use a 4th grader curse word or make a mean face. You know something really drastic like that.
Don’t make me hurt you.
Mother o’pearl,
Veb
[sub]Harumph![/sub]
Hey, I said that about a million years ago in a different newbie thread! You see, people really do see all your posts!
Most people are friendly. If I see a poster in the middle of a thread with one or two posts I’ll try to throw in a “welcome”. New posters don’t usually get eaten up by ravenous packs of regs looking for fresh meat.
But, it’s my opinion that this board can be really hard on newbies. It takes a while to realize that you really aren’t being ignored. People can see your posts. They just don’t always get commented on. Also, there are some sharp tongues here that can make posting a bit intimidating. It is easy to get your feelings hurt or your hackles raised.
I’m new. I feel I have been treated really nice here and I love it. I have noticed that some like to pick at people (not just me) about their grammer, spelling, writing, etc. I know I suck at that and maybe I’m just not as educated (or I slept in that class ) . I just try and learn from it rather then let it get to me. As for Great Debates, I try and stay out of that forum. I figure I would really get ripped in there about the way I write. Besides my idea of a Great Debate is… hmm should I have Snickers or Reeses?