“Shipping” in fiction, i.e. putting two characters from a work of fiction into a fan-made fantasy relationship.
Consoles vs PCs for gaming
Definition of “RPG” (role-playing game) for video game purposes.
Whether the authorship of a poem should matter to the reader
Whether the authorship of a critique should matter to the poet
Any mention of “hopping” trains (like the hobos do) in forums of model railroaders. They tend to be a very conservative bunch, and this subject will set them off in a very predictable fashion.
On dog related boards don’t even THINK of mentioning what you feed your dog, how you train it, what collar/leash/toys you use and if you crate/don’t crate your dog.
Horse boards have the whole shoes/barefoot thing, plus mentioning the names of popular stallions can cause WWlll at times.
Shaved vs. unshaven
When I first got into scuba diving, I used to frequent this diving board. There were a lot of hotly debated topics. But it seemed THE topic was: the value (or not) of obtaining one’s “advanced Open Water” certification (a variation on the “experience vs. formal training” debate)
On a cannabis board I sometimes read, any mention of contacting the police will get you branded a narc.
Someone slashed your tires and you are going to call the cops? Narc!!
Being somewhat familiar with the world of purebred dog breeding and showing (I’ve done neither directly but know lots of people who do), this is QFT. There ain’t no pedant like a purebred dog pedant.
And *Best in Show *is a real documentary – nothing “mock” about it.
I was a member of the now defunct Left Behind messageboards. One of the things I found fascinating about it was controversies about topics where I could barely understand the difference between the two positions. One was Once Saved, Always Saved, vs. Can You Lose Your Salvation. Heated, weeks-long arguments with copious quoting of Scripture, and Shodan on the sidelines saying “Err - whut?”
It was full of those kinds of things - how many Trumpet Judgments vs. how many Seal Judgments there were going to be, were Christmas trees sinful based on some verse in Isaiah about making a tree an idol and decorating it, other things that I can’t even describe what they were disagreeing about.
And the only messageboard I was ever banned from was double-you double-you double-you dot mothering dot com for being pro-vaccination. Although, in the eyes of the mods there and the membership in general, there was no controversy - I was just wrong and vaccinations cause autism/cancer/immune disorders/high blood pressure/dandruff/feeling not so fresh/lycanthropy/income inequality/whatever else can be dreamed by a fertile imagination.
Regards,
Shodan
Just curious, what compelled you to frequent either of these message boards? Sheer curiosity? Desire for easy entertainment?
Saying you don’t like Bruckner amongst classical music fans. Even suggesting that you’ve really tried but still don’t understand the attraction. At first you’ll feel comforted by the others who chime in with ‘Me too! I thought I was the only one.’ But then a Bruckner nut will come along and declare you to be an idiot, a philistine etc. You’ll be hotly defended in turn by the many who find his music excruciatingly tedious. More Bruckner nuts will enter the fray. Matters will escalate from there. :eek:
You will lie, ‘well maybe he’s not that bad, I’ll give him another go’, as you back away from the crazies and vow to keep your Bruckner-related opinions to yourself forever more.
Something that crossed my radar but I was never involved with so don’t ask for details. I got none.
Deafness is / is not / a disability. Cochlear implants for infants are either great or child abuse.
Classical guitar forums: speak about Spanish Romance (theme from Jeux Interdits).
Oh, and just about anywhere, saying that you don’t think that Paul McCartney is all that.
On one parenting board I was on, the sure fire way to start a fight was to discuss when to turn around a car seat from backward to forward facing, and whether or not buy an extra seat to use a car seat on a plane.
I was banned from a (specialty car enthusiast) board for making fun, in the “any topic” forum, of the stupid “CONGRESS-CREATED DUST BOWL” signs along 99 and 5 south of Bakersfield. Turns out the board admin was a SoCal water rights lawyer.
My ban expired something like two years later and I am sorely tempted to go back, find the thread, and post “As I was saying…”
Yes, I second this question: what prompted you to check those boards out?
The effects of the nut material (guitar neck) on tone.
Deliberate, or not, WW2 symbolism in Lord of the Rings.
Qigong in martial arts, real force or not.
The Left Behind boards came about because I read the Left Behind series of books, and one of the things about the books was what I mentioned - I got the impression that the authors were arguing some position about the Second Coming that was controversial, but which I had never heard about. Like OSAS vs. OSNotAS. And they were like the SDMB - not all crazy, but enough to be entertaining. You could get serious discussion on a variety of subjects, too.
Entertainment is pretty much the main reason I join any messageboard. I read the books, I heard about the messageboards, I joined and posted a fair amount. Then they went to pay-to-post and I dropped. I can’t recall if I joined before or after the Great Board Invasion from the SDMB to LB.
The mothering boards were “recommended” by (IIRC) a Doper as a anti-vaxx board, and I wanted to see what their arguments were and if they had figured anything out. I posted in other parts of the board as well, but I got banned before I got too far. It was - interesting.
I was a member of the Ms. messageboards but they are now defunct. I was never banned there, but I got tired of the non-stop screeching. I joined on the recommendation of some Dopers - it wouldn’t be fair to say who. There’s entertaining crazy, and there’s the Ms. messageboards.
I am a member of some other messageboards, or at least I used to be, but now I waste my time mostly here and on Christian Forums.
Regards,
Shodan
Tipping at restaraunts.