# Ways To Improve Going Forward: Your thoughts on the matter. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 3, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049 "2018-08-03T16:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/201 "2018-08-06T22:41:21Z")
I found SDMB by plugging a search term into Google: “Smartest Forum on the Web.” This was a few years ago. I joined and as is my habit, I lurked for awhile to ascertain the board culture. Then I put a toe in the water. I tried to observe all the rules, written and unwritten. I gave respect to those who respected me – and was pretty astonished at how few chose to do that. As **Macca26** points out and others have agreed, this is not a welcoming place. I’ve had to fight hard to stick around. I don’t mind people challenging my assertions. That’s fine. But is it absolutely necessary to speak to new members in withering, patronizing, condescending tones? Could older members employ a modicum of basic human kindness and respect, be a little forgiving if newer folks violate traditional but unwritten norms? I’ve been noodling around the web for 32-ish years, have belonged to many bulletin boards/forums/chat rooms. I understand how close people can draw to one another as a group, even if they never meet or meet only rarely. I don’t expect to belong to the “in group.” But I’ve never encountered as much arrogance and reflexive disdain for new members as I’ve found here. It really is a turn-off. And it shouldn’t be a hard thing to correct. Lots of other good suggestions here and it’s great to see a genuine effort to make improvements. Just had to get this burr out from under my saddle. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/202 "2018-08-06T22:49:11Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > …But I’ve never encountered as much arrogance and reflexive disdain for new members as I’ve found here. It really is a turn-off. And it shouldn’t be a hard thing to correct… I just figure those guys have been drinking. There are a few assholes everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/203 "2018-08-06T22:51:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I just figure those guys have been drinking. There are a few assholes everywhere. _All_ the time? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/204 "2018-08-06T23:00:45Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > _All_ the time? 😉 I usually don’t hang around in a thread to find out. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/205 "2018-08-06T23:34:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Just stating a fact. Your “fact” is a little oversimplified. Guests, who may bring in money by viewing ads, also generate content by posting. It’d get a little quiet in here if all of the guests just went away. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/206 "2018-08-07T00:50:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Just stating a fact. Then it’s easily citable. So put your money where your mouth is and cite. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/207 "2018-08-07T00:52:39Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > But I’ve never encountered as much arrogance and reflexive disdain for new members as I’ve found here. It really is a turn-off. And it shouldn’t be a hard thing to correct. This is a point that really needs to be emphasized. He’s 100% right and that really needs to change if we want the new members we’re hoping to attract to actually stick around. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/208 "2018-08-07T00:56:42Z")
Strongly thirded. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/209 "2018-08-07T01:01:07Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Stop enabling trolls and toxic posters. Stop waiting until you have a bright line violation to deal with them. I agree with this. Personally I enjoyed the board a lot more before some of the forums were virtually taken over by aggressive, tireless sealion-whatabouters. You don’t need to ask who they are; you already know. You’ve already bent over backward to satisfy some definition of “fair”. It’s time to admit that they flood the board with bullshit while contributing nothing of substance, monetarily or intellectually, and start pulling weeds. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/210 "2018-08-07T01:05:14Z")
I’ve been a doper since the column first appeared in the reader many years ago. I’m even in one of Cecil’s first books. That’s my c.v. This has always been a terrific site. I’m a denizen of g.q., primarily, and I believe it is by far the most interesting, valuable, and useful site I’ve ever found. I hope that part of the site never changes. It’s metropolitanism in its purest form. It’s also wonderfully civil. Maybe moderators help. But I love the self-regulation. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/211 "2018-08-07T01:17:23Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I put together a mock concept SD [website, here](https://spyderwebtest1.website/). Take from it what you will. It’s just a test site that I’ll take offline upon request. Great job! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/212 "2018-08-07T01:18:22Z")
> [@CC](#): > > I’ve been a doper since the column first appeared in the reader many years ago. I’m even in one of Cecil’s first books. That’s my c.v. This has always been a terrific site. I’m a denizen of g.q., primarily, and I believe it is by far the most interesting, valuable, and useful site I’ve ever found. I hope that part of the site never changes. It’s metropolitanism in its purest form. It’s also wonderfully civil. Maybe moderators help. But I love the self-regulation. Thing is, the board’s changed a LOT since you started here. You can’t stop change – it’s inevitable. And one major problem is that if we don’t change some things, the board is going to shut down altogether. You want to see that happen? I certainly don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/213 "2018-08-07T01:34:50Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’ve never encountered as much arrogance and reflexive disdain for new members as I’ve found here. It really is a turn-off. And it shouldn’t be a hard thing to correct. How would you change it? To the extent it’s in the board culture, which seems to be a large extent, I’m afraid it would require more jack-booted intervention than would be good for the board. But I’m interested in hearing about ways and means. This is not something that has ever bothered me, by the way, but that may be because I have pretty much always been on the outside of any group and didn’t expect any difference here. And in fact my very first post was a request for information about a rather personal subject, and I was treated very kindly. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/214 "2018-08-07T01:40:51Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I found SDMB by plugging a search term into Google: “Smartest Forum on the Web.” This was a few years ago. I joined and as is my habit, I lurked for awhile to ascertain the board culture. Then I put a toe in the water. I tried to observe all the rules, written and unwritten. I gave respect to those who respected me – and was pretty astonished at how few chose to do that. > > As **Macca26** points out and others have agreed, this is not a welcoming place. I’ve had to fight hard to stick around. I don’t mind people challenging my assertions. That’s fine. But is it absolutely necessary to speak to new members in withering, patronizing, condescending tones? Could older members employ a modicum of basic human kindness and respect, be a little forgiving if newer folks violate traditional but unwritten norms? > > I’ve been noodling around the web for 32-ish years, have belonged to many bulletin boards/forums/chat rooms. I understand how close people can draw to one another as a group, even if they never meet or meet only rarely. I don’t expect to belong to the “in group.” But I’ve never encountered as much arrogance and reflexive disdain for new members as I’ve found here. It really is a turn-off. And it shouldn’t be a hard thing to correct. > > Lots of other good suggestions here and it’s great to see a genuine effort to make improvements. Just had to get this burr out from under my saddle. In all fairness, there are some long-timers here who don’t comment that way. That said, I agree it happens too often. For instance, the rule is that one can attack the post only, not the person; unfortunately, there are ways to attack the post in such a way that the poster is essentially attacked as well, and a very few people here are adept at skating right up to that line. That happened to me a few weeks ago, and I almost left. You and Macca26 make some excellent points, and I hope TPTB pay attention. I’m all for freedom of speech, but the fact that there have been complaints about how women are treated here (and how many have left), how people of color are treated here, how newcomers are treated here indicates t there are issues, and they should be addressed. It makes no sense to attract new members if we can’t keep them. I have an idea on how to approach that as well. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/215 "2018-08-07T02:57:23Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I’m all for freedom of speech, but the fact that there have been complaints about how women are treated here (and how many have left), how people of color are treated here, how newcomers are treated here indicates t there are issues, and they should be addressed. This, or any other message board, has nothing to do with “freedom of speech”. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/216 "2018-08-07T03:59:00Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Great job! I agree. I particularly like the squid/pen nib graphic. If the SDMB ever needs a trademark, I’d suggest that graphic for it. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/217 "2018-08-07T06:53:38Z")
In addition to the many good suggestions people have already given, can I suggest A – getting rid of that 8 to 10 stickies in each forum and changing it to one single sticky. B – consolidate all the myriad rules. There are crazy amounts of rules on this site and that’s fine but when each for him has its own rules and there’s different stickies for each for him with its own special rules, it’s highly unwelcoming to a new guest. A new user shouldn’t have to play connect the dots across multiple fora to try to figure out the basic rules of the site ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/218 "2018-08-07T07:58:23Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > What else could be done to increase traffic to the SD with significant conversion to paying members? Does the SD get regular **SEO**? Is someone monitoring Google Analytics? Are current members actively trying to recruit friends, family and intelligent associates to join the SD? [Bolding mine] **SEO**? You mean **Synaptic Ectoplasm Optimizing** , right? Hmmm, I don’t see how that fits here. Maybe you meant something else? Could you write out what you mean to say, please? Thank you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/219 "2018-08-07T09:41:00Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > [Bolding mine] > > **SEO**? You mean **Synaptic Ectoplasm Optimizing** , right? Hmmm, I don’t see how that fits here. Maybe you meant something else? Could you write out what you mean to say, please? Thank you 🙂 Search Engine Optimization. > **[Search engine optimization](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization)** > > Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. > As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how ... ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/220 "2018-08-07T09:53:02Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > [Bolding mine] > > **SEO**? You mean **Synaptic Ectoplasm Optimizing** , right? Hmmm, I don’t see how that fits here. Maybe you meant something else? Could you write out what you mean to say, please? Thank you 🙂 SEO = Search Engine Optimization There are two types of SEO. The first is SEO that the search engines actually approve of you doing, which is things like providing good content, using descriptive meta-tags, having a site that is easy to navigate, using a powerful enough server that you have fast loading times (slow loading will lower your ranking), and being mobile friendly. Google changed their algorithm a while back, which caused us to drop significantly in their ranking. TPTB thought it might be due to the SDMB not being mobile friendly, which is why the new mobile theme was installed. The other type of SEO is the stuff that the search engines don’t approve of, like backlinking (creating links to sites solely for the purpose of increasing that site’s page rank). We get a lot of link spammers and profile spammers engaging in backlinking here. They may be hoping for some clicks, but they are also engaged in SEO, especially the profile spammers. They aren’t expecting people to click on profiles. They are just backlinking to try to increase their site’s page rank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049.md?page=12)