# We've added share buttons **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521 "2011-05-02T22:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/81 "2011-05-05T16:54:02Z")
I’m having a problem articulating why I find this worrisome. It’s not to do with thinking I’m special or elite or a snowflake (precious or otherwise). It is to do with privacy, and keeping things separate. I say different things on here than I do on facebook or other more public areas of the internet (I mean widely known, I know this board isn’t private in any way, before the “you don’t know how the internet works” brigade start yelping). It would be fairly easy for anyone who knew me even slightly in real life to work out who I was from things that I’ve said on here, but I’ve also shared things here that I wouldn’t be that comfortable with such people knowing. I wouldn’t have Dope-type conversations with many of the people I’m facebook friends with either. This place is for talking to grown ups (mostly!), that place is for keeping up with the socially tangential fluff of people I know. The analogy to a bulletin board is slightly apt - I’d post a carefully worded, inoffensive and unrevealing item on a public board, but if there was a board that I knew only certain people would see, I’d be a bit more free in what I said. This place is the second bulletin board, and I don’t want the random public trolling up and reading it, especially if they know me in real life. (And I don’t see the problem with the party analogy either - if I’m having a conversation here with **BigT** , **Ms Whatsit** and **Guinastasia** (people I feel I’m at least slightly acquainted with), and then **Troy McClure SF** , without posting in the thread himself, decides it’s interesting and he’s going to share it on his facebook page, then that means that four hundred of **Troy McClure** ’s friends are suddenly going to be reading my conversation and jumping in. I don’t want that. If a couple of people stumble into a thread from Google, that’s one thing. Four hundred of them all leaping in at once because **Troy** ’s such a trend setter is quite another thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/82 "2011-05-05T17:01:33Z")
But…you get that people have most likely been sharing links to the SDMB on Facebook all along, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/83 "2011-05-05T17:08:48Z")
Also…I’m guessing you don’t go by Teacake in real life. If you do, it’s time to change your username, and then all those random Facebook people won’t have a clue that it’s you. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/84 "2011-05-05T17:19:02Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > If a couple of people stumble into a thread from Google, that’s one thing. Four hundred of them all leaping in at once because **Troy** ’s such a trend setter is quite another thing.) FWIW it’s not that long ago that “the smartest folks in the room” were in a blind, animal panic over the prospect of Google indexing this site. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/85 "2011-05-05T17:22:01Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > The analogy to a bulletin board is slightly apt - I’d post a carefully worded, inoffensive and unrevealing item on a public board, but if there was a board that I knew only certain people would see, I’d be a bit more free in what I said. This place is the second bulletin board, and I don’t want the random public trolling up and reading it, especially if they know me in real life. So then you don’t know how the Internet works. The SDMB has been searchable through Google for years now. Everything is already out there. This place can’t get any more public. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/86 "2011-05-05T17:50:52Z")
Seriously. This is not a “board only certain people will see.” This is a fully Google-indexed message board. People come here all the time after searching for all sorts of random shit. I can’t believe that so many people apparently have the impression that what they post here is in a secret closet of the Internet that only carefully-selected people are invited to. Look, here’s a tip: If you don’t want the things you post here being broadcast publicly on the Internet, then don’t post them, because this board is _publicly available on the Internet_. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/87 "2011-05-05T17:58:02Z")
If you ever go to other message boards that tell you how many people are viewing the board (and most of them that aren’t the SDMB do that), there are typically far more guests than members viewing it at any given time, and I’ve no doubt the vast majority of those guests are coming from google searches. Facebook links probably won’t cause more than a blip in the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/88 "2011-05-05T18:00:23Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > It would be fairly easy for anyone who knew me even slightly in real life to work out who I was from things that I’ve said on here, but I’ve also shared things here that I wouldn’t be that comfortable with such people knowing. But you have shared them here, and your opportunity to protect that information is gone. > [@](#): > > I wouldn’t have Dope-type conversations with many of the people I’m facebook friends with either. This place is for talking to grown ups (mostly!), that place is for keeping up with the socially tangential fluff of people I know. So don’t use the Facebook button. > [@](#): > > The analogy to a bulletin board is slightly apt - I’d post a carefully worded, inoffensive and unrevealing item on a public board, but if there was\*\* a board that I knew only certain people would see\*\*, I’d be a bit more free in what I said. This place is the second bulletin board (my bolding) No, it is not. At all. Nor has it ever been. This community has been publicly viewable by anyone with an internet connection since its inception in 1999 (and to anyone with an AOL account before that), and has been crawled by Google starting several years after that. > [@](#): > > and I don’t want the random public trolling up and reading it, especially if they know me in real life. **The random public is already trolling up and reading it.** The SDMB pops up for all kinds of searches on Google. The SD has its own logo for use on FARK. Thousands upon thousands of people have posted links to both the SD main site and the message board **for over a decade** now. Look, I understand where you’re coming from. This place is very comfortable. We have our in-jokes, we have our style, we have proper capitalization, we’ve interacted with a lot of the staff here well before they became staff. The SDMB, to a lot of us, is what Olive Garden wants us to think they are. But if we think this place is in any way private, we’re fooling ourselves. Making things slightly easier to share will not change that one way or another. > [@](#): > > I don’t want that. If a couple of people stumble into a thread from Google, that’s one thing. Four hundred of them all leaping in at once because **Troy** ’s such a trend setter is quite another thing.) This isn’t true, and I’ll tell you why. This thread **is** linked to on my Facebook. 317 fairly internet-savvy people now have this link sitting in their newsfeeds. Look around. Is this place somehow scarier? Is it worse? Is it any less private than it was yesterday? Here’s the thing. out of those 317 people, most of them won’t even see it. It’ll be off their home screen before the next time they log in. Of those that do see it, most of those won’t give the slightest shadow of a shit. Of those that do give a shit, a handful will think it’ll have something to do with marijuana for heterosexuals, and they’ll close the tab within a few seconds. And another couple few, maybe some who’re concerned with Facebook’s privacy issues, or some that are interested in online social networks, or some who’re just looking for a new message board will read the thread, go “huh.” And everyone will move on. I’ve shared (“shared,” the very word that has so many people in this thread so scared) this board with a bunch of my friends over the years, even before Facebook existed. A few registered, posted for a week or two, and wandered away. One of them remembers this place exists once or twice a year, posts a bunch in one day, and forgets again. And one of them’s been around three years now, adding to discussion about life in Japan, video games, beer, and the San Francisco Bay Area. THAT is the lasting effect of people sharing this message board with their own personal social circle. And if you’re still here, you can’t argue against it, because thousands of users have done the exact same thing. All we’re asking is that it takes three less clicks to do it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/89 "2011-05-05T18:28:05Z")
When did so many people here suddenly join the Internet Death Cult? You folks complaining about making social media linking easier do realize that without new members, this board is going to eventually die, right? We have members get banned, get bored, get cut off from the internet and get dead every single year. If we don’t pull in new membership at SOME sort of rate, we’re going to be talking to ourselves in an empty room in a decade. I can’t even fathom the people who somehow think the SDMB is some sort of exclusive club that hires the cyber-equivalent of Studio 54 doormen to filter out the riffraff. There IS no “list”…the lowliest form of online scum can see every single word posted on the majority of the forums here, usually by searching things like “pan-fried semen” and “18” ice blue jelly double dong" and “Twin Dorrance #5X Stainless Steel Hooks” on Google. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/90 "2011-05-05T18:55:07Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > the lowliest form of online scum can see every single word posted on the majority of the forums here I sure can! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/91 "2011-05-05T18:59:48Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Twin Dorrance #5X Stainless Steel Hooks Just in case anyone thought **jayjay** was joking, the SDMB is indeed the #1 search result on Google for the quoted phrase. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/92 "2011-05-05T19:00:42Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I sure can! You’re awful tall for scum… ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/93 "2011-05-05T19:13:31Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I can’t even fathom the people who somehow think the SDMB is some sort of exclusive club that hires the cyber-equivalent of Studio 54 doormen to filter out the riffraff. I no longer feel appropriately dressed when I post here. Are collar-less shirts Ok after 6 pm or only on weekends? Is Denim fine as long as it isn’t blue? Are pants even required in order to post? Because I’m breaking the rules baby! ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/94 "2011-05-05T19:49:12Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I can’t even fathom the people… An appropriate verb to use. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/95 "2011-05-05T19:53:25Z")
> [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](#): > > An appropriate verb to use. Heh. Not intentional, though. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/96 "2011-05-05T19:55:21Z")
So when all is said and done (and I realize that \*all \*is far from said and done) are we actually going to see a Facebook button? Or are we just pissing and moaning for the sake of pissing and moaning? Because as far as I can tell, and I’m not using any advanced blockers or anything, there just isn’t such a thing on my screen. If this is in fact just recreational pissing and moaning, because the Great Horror ™ has already been implemented by Ed and it does not seem to include an actual Facebook button, well, don’t let me interrupt. I enjoy a theoretical bitch session as much as anybody! Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/97 "2011-05-05T20:01:42Z")
You people are just fucking with me now, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/98 "2011-05-05T20:04:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > When did so many people here suddenly join the Internet Death Cult? You folks complaining about making social media linking easier do realize that without new members, this board is going to eventually die, right? We have members get banned, get bored, get cut off from the internet and get dead every single year. If we don’t pull in new membership at SOME sort of rate, we’re going to be talking to ourselves in an empty room in a decade. One word. [Brunchma](http://www.brunchma.com/forum/index.php). It was once a very active message board with an intellectual, but more convivial and laid-back atmosphere. Brunchma has been experiencing a slow, drawn-out death since the Brunching Shuttlecocks site, where most people found out about the place, went off-line in 2003. Brunchma is, sadly, on life support now. A not so insignificant number of Dopers found about about the Straight Dope Message Board because they were followers of The Straight Dope newspaper column or main website. Unfortunately, The Straight Dope has been appearing in fewer and fewer alternative weeklies through the years. Let’s say “Cecil Adams” gets his pink slip next year. No more The Straight Dope column, no more Cecil Adams. What 's the fate of the message board, even if it stays online? Death cult indeed. At least the [Shakers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers) tried to get new recruits. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/99 "2011-05-05T20:29:42Z")
Well, hey. I was just trying to explain my thought process when I knee-jerked yesterday that I didn’t like it. I know it’s a public board and always has been, I do know how the internet works (damn you people can be patronising when you don’t agree with someone!), and I know that me not liking it isn’t going to stop it from happening. I understand the whole business argument. I also understand the business arguments behind all the local shops closing down so they can open branches of Tesco Express where they can use my loyalty card to gather data about me, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it when it happens here any more than I like it when it happens to my high street. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521/100 "2011-05-05T20:37:31Z")
I guess, if you understand all those things, that we just don’t get your reasoning for not liking it. FB isn’t going to be gathering data about you, and that wasn’t your complaint, anyway, was it? Your complaint was that more people would see the link and come here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weve-added-share-buttons/580521.md?page=6)