I’m not an old timer, not even close, but I wanted to share some of my observations on the stages of hanging out on the SDMB, and ask you to share your impressions as well.
**Stage 1: Lurking ** Like many, I think, I lurked in quiet obscurity for a long time before I dared say a word.
Stage 2: MPSMIMS/IMHO Only I stayed in these areas of the board for a long time. The rest of the board was scary! There be monsters!
Stage 3: The Rest of the Board Once I branched out it was fun! I have a soft spot for the Pit (snark is a weakness of mine). It felt a little strange posting on ATMB the first time - do I have a right to voice an opinion alongside the greats - but I soldiered on.
Stage 4: Regretting My User Name Yes, the veterans bitch about the noobs changing their names, but I really didn’t get it until I was here for a while and experienced the board. I just plugged in some letters that didn’t get rejected and went on my merry way with registering. What the hell does my name even mean? No one is rolling my name off their tongue like a fine wine. It’s no Quinistasia or JSGoddess or iyandiii. I can’t spell those right, but by Grabthar’s Hammer they make an impression.
Stage 5: Using Dope Slang IRL It wore off, but for a time I walked around saying “I pit the bastard who put hinges on my kitchen cabinets,” and my family would turn and stare at me.
There’s more steps I’m sure, but those were the big ones for me. I’ve since moved on to starting threads, and all kinds of shenanigans.
Stage 3a) Spokesperson on a Topic(s). Una’s got the transgender market, for a while I was the go-to polyamorist, etc. Any, every, and all threads on Your Topic will find you responding at length.
Stage 6) Exhaustion/Apathy/No More Words on Your Topic. Oh, you might toss a nugget of wisdom out here and there, but by now there are other younger (in posting years) eager beavers out in the midst of Stage 3a, and it’s just too much bother to bother anymore.
I’m pleased that my user name sticks in the mind enough to be memorable, while at the same time being saddened that people usually get it wrong. It’s iiandyiiii: 2 eyes, then “Andy”, then 4 eyes – think of it as a near-sighted guy putting on glasses.
EDIT: come to think of it, I’m going to start a MPSIMS thread with this – maybe that’ll learn 'em.
Lots of people do to mine what the OP of this thread did, with the spontaneous capitalization of my username. It’s weird, man!
As for the OP, trust me. I regret the hell out of my username sometimes. It’s dumb. When I picked it, it was a name that no one else used on the internet. Now I run into myself where I never was, which is creepy to go with the dumb!
First I wanted Cecil’s columns, which I used to read in a local alternative newspaper every week until they dropped him. I searched for him, found him and then read his columns. Then I lurked for a while, then joined. Then they wanted money and I started lurking only until guest accounts were allowed. I realy regret not having become a charter member, but it is too late for that.
Anyway, at first I looked only in GQ. Just the facts man, just the facts. Then I discovered that I enjoyed IMHO and MPSIMS. I rarely look at anything else.
When I first joined, I gave some thought to my handle and I have never regretted my choice.
[ul][li] Spending hours and hours and hours and hours reading stuff because it’s all so interesting and new and lots of fascinating conversations going on all at once.[/li][li] (Fast forward a year or two.)[/li][li] Begin to discover that most of the threads really aren’t all that interesting, or more exactly, are on subjects that are of no particular interest to me.[/li][li] Also begin to be aware that vastly many threads are on topics that have already been hashed over ad infinitum already.[/li][li] Begin reading threads much more selectively.[/li][li] Simultaneously with all the above, begin to note the substantial number of borderline jerkish posters here, especially in GD, who routinely borderline trash every thread they touch.[/li][li] Begin to understand that there is an orthodoxy on this board, just like there is everywhere else, whereby certain topics are forbidden, or more precisely, certain kinds of comments or certain opinions on certain topics are forbidden, with the penalty not usually being a modding, but more oftn being that the Teeming Millions of the SDMB will ruthlessly pile on with insults, venom, and threadshitting, without being modded.[/li][li] While also increasingly notice the rampant utterly capricious modding (or often, the lack thereof) in general. Become increasingly aware that one must be very very careful what one discusses here.[/li] Ultimately realize, “Hey, how is all the above different from Real Life?” and drift away.[/ul]
Addicted to spending waay too much time every day reading almost every post in your chosen forums, and commenting on too many of them. Then refreshing those forums and doing it again. Mistaking the pleasant but stunted interaction here for a true social life. Mistaking handles you recognize for friends you know.
Cutting way back, or quitting cold turkey, for a few months to rebuild your neglected and atrophied offline life.
Hey, I wonder what’s up in Doperland these days? How’s old **WhatsHisHerFace **doing?
I asked if I could use my MMPer name on the Board. Apparently there are ~4 zillion already registered. None of them are active, but that’s not how it works. <pouts>
Stage 1: Lurking - and then thinking “This place is really cool.”
Stage 2: Breaking the posting seal.
Stage 3: "I just can’t let that go. I MUST FIGHT THIS IGNORANCE!!
stage 4 : “These people are a bunch of insensitive shut in asshole know it alls” I’m not posting here any more.
Stage 5: OK. Just this one time . . .
Then there’s the substage of being incredibly dogmatic and argumentative about questions of personal taste, like whether or not beans belong in chili or ketchup belongs on a hot dog.
The answer to both is Hell to the Fucking No, BTW.
I must have my own stage. I’m a fluffy, innocuous poster unless I see something outrageous and I have to post “Are you kidding me??” or something similar. Then I go back to being a fluffy, innocuous poster. I’m not terribly clever like some people here, but I hope sometimes I can make someone laugh. No way would I set foot in some of those debate threads!
