Whenever I get that “sigh same old stuff” feel from the board, I take a couple of months off and fritter around different Yahoo groups and other boards.
That’s how I missed out on being a Charter Member, I was on a break when we went pay to post.
You’d be surprised how a couple of months can really change your perspective of this board and what it has to offer. And, the break makes it all seem fresh and new again.
Well Lord knows I don’t really keep up around here. I frequently don’t check the board for weeks at a time. It’s just that, most of the time, when I do get around to checking in, my reaction can be characterized as such: “meh.”
I think there was an effect from the switch over to subscriptions. But fortunately it wasn’t as bad as I predicted.
It’s hard to say. The board has changed in the six years that I’ve been here, but so have I. I’m definitely not as enthralled with this place as I once was, but I don’t know whether the boards are getting worse or just less interesting to me. Still, since I have the charter member discount, I’ll keep resubscribing and reading.
I’m a new member and I don’t post very much, but I lurked alot from about 1999-2002.
There was much more activity back then at all hours. Now, I can check the board at 10pm and again at 4am and see only a handful of new posts.
Many of the posts are still very interesting and I still get alot out of reading them. Just about all of the hundreds of books I have read over the last several years I first heard about by reading the “Whatcha Reading?” threads.
But many of the threads seem to be on the level found at “AskMen”. Juvenile threads about “how to get a girl to notice you”, or “how long from hello to condom?” type threads.
Also, I think the board is a little over-moderated. In IMHO, for example, when people are giving their opinions it would seem only natural that occasionally it might get a little heated. If I post something like “Your opinion makes you sound like an inconsiderate ass”, then I get a moderator warning. I’m supposed to start a seperate Pit thread for that. That seems absurd. I could see a mod stepping in if the entire thread degenerated into name-calling. Then he could send the entire thread to the pit or shut it down. But for minor jabs or insults, that just seems to me to be a normal part of what happens when people express differing opinions.
Walking on eggshells doesn’t make for lively discussion, which is what IMHO should be about. Now it’s like a bunch of people in an uncomfortable Victorian parlor trying to be as diplomatic as possible lest someone shrinking violet get the vapors.
Maybe you’re right-let’s find out, shall we?
we young guns are trying!
This is a good example of the worst of SDMB for me. A non sequitor shot at conservatives. Not even a little bit witty. Kind of takes the fun out of it for me. And I’m sure that the mods wouldn’t consider this a violation of the “Don’t be a jerk rule.” I’m out of here for now. YMMV of course.
Can’t say I agree. I remember good posters, but I also remember cliquishness and pile-on threads orchestrated by popular members who added nothing to any intellectual discourse.
It’s natural to be nostalgic about the past, but come on, five years ago?
Eh. Yes and no. It has declined since it went subscription IMHO, but it still provides reasonable diversion for the price.
Not everyone has been around for the whole time, so while maybe the old-timers have been through all the subjects six or seven times, us newer people are often on our first time around.
Thanks for the assist and the vote of support. Next time, try to remember two things:
I suspect part of the problem may be a lull in new things to talk about. There’s plenty of important things to talk about, but most of them are things that have been ongoing for a long time. Global warming, Bush, the Iraq war, the fecklessness of Democrats, and so on.
After you’ve done something for a few years sometimes you get tired of it and want to do something else.
Cheap shot, and off-topic. Did we forget what forum we were posting in?
See post #26. Be part of the solution.
I heard that next season we’re getting a really cool new mod to move into the garage.
Lets not forget that we find out that one mod is pregnant, and nobody knows who’s the father! :eek:
If that doesn’t bring in new and intelligent subscribers, then I don’t know what does.
With our luck, it’ll be Ted McGinley.
Sorry, I actually looked at that one and formulated a few possibilities; but one topic for each forum? Too tough for me to be that creative.