# What first brought you to the Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549 "2007-05-03T00:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/41 "2007-05-03T14:00:54Z")
I saw the link for “What if LOTR had been written by:…” (my favorite thread ever) and I’ve been addicted since that day. I posted a pro choice stance in Great Debates and couldn’t believe how many people swarmed the “guest” that day - almost scared me off. I really should have lurked for a bit longer. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/42 "2007-05-03T14:05:29Z")
It’s been 5.5 years now, I can hardly remember what I had for lunch last Tuesday, but I think I found one of Cecil’s articles via a “Google” search (likely it was a Yahoo! search, not sure I was using Google, but maybe it was… Like I said, I have no idea what I had for lunch last Tuesday.) ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/43 "2007-05-03T14:10:41Z")
I think it was some article on Columbia House, the 14 CDs for a penny people. I didn’t join the boards once it went pay, then I had to come up with anohter user name that wasn’t linked with my old work account. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/44 "2007-05-03T14:21:26Z")
I sort of knew of the site, from reading the main [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) page (longtime fan of Unca Cece, hard time finding his columns around here as the one paper that carries it is not readily available, so I loved finding it online). Never bothered with the boards though, until someone forwarded me a link to Scylla’s “Horror of Blimps” posting. I registered so I could search for more of his stuff, and began lurking and gradually delurking. So it’s all Scylla’s fault! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/45 "2007-05-03T14:42:41Z")
Let’s see…got one of the books in 89 or so…I think I saw an episode of the TV show and that got me curiouse so I looked up the site around 97-98. Just read the colums for the longest time, then noticed the message board. Read for a while…mostly in GQ…then decided to join. Been here ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/46 "2007-05-03T15:03:40Z")
I followed a Google link to one of Cecil’s columns while trying to understand a joke about the [candirú fish](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000519.html). After the giggles subsided, I followed the link to the boards, read a bit, giggled some more, and registered. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/47 "2007-05-03T15:38:25Z")
I was a pretty active member on the snopes message board. Someone name **DavidB** joined to ask for our help in debunking an urban legend which some guy named **Libertarian** was insisting was true. It was the “Up the butt, Bob” UL. I lurked to follow the thread here. I joined a few months later. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/48 "2007-05-03T21:48:29Z")
[QUOTE=MadPansy64] I read a few pages standing there, turned around, bought my own copy and have been hooked ever since. [/QUOTE] Then she loaned the book to me. Online? Probably the same way/time - “Hey **Bobo** , check it out!” or “Hey **Mad** …” We lived together for a while, you see… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/49 "2007-05-04T00:04:10Z")
Long ago, occassionally read a newspaper that had the column. Got a book. Became an internet junkie sometime later. Was on AOL back when that was virtually all us non computer geeks could use. Found a message board. Thought to myself, “Why would I want to be on a message board?” Found other things to take up my valuable and slow running internet time window. Sometime later, I was no longer on AOL, things were faster, I had joined a couple of message boards and news groups, but was constantly frustrated by both how stupid and how rude people could be online. Sometime later, I decided it was my duty to debunk every stupid thing I was e-mailed. That horrid duck echo thing made its umpteenth dump into my in-box, and I had it. In my search for the debunking material I needed, I came across the SD main site. remembered it from long ago. Noticed they had a message board (free at the time). Signed up without even looking at anything and right away got caught up in Great Debates. Sometime later, decided internet people were _still_ both stupid and rude, but stuck around anyways. Found my niche community in the Trek Dopers. And The Pit, which was so very wide open and fun back when. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/50 "2007-05-04T02:57:40Z")
I was looking up a story about people in Korea supposedly dying from sleeping in closed rooms with fans going. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/51 "2007-05-04T19:28:08Z")
[QUOTE=Marlitharn] I wandered over after someone over at Heartless Bitches posted a link. Threadspotting that day was the famous Evil Nazi Groundhogs thread (now, sadly, lost to the ether). Been here ever since. [/QUOTE] Ditto on the Evil Nazi Groundhogs thread. I figured that any board that featured stuff like that had to be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549/52 "2007-05-05T03:24:15Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Someone sent me a link to the “If LOTR had been written by someone else!?” thread, which was already a monster, and as the natives were friendly, I stuck around. [/QUOTE] That was the thread that hooked me. It was mentioned on [Making Light](http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/), and I followed the link from there. I’d read a couple of Cecil’s books, so I knew a little of what I was getting into. I’m not really good with message boards, but I’ve stuck around here even after it went pay-for-play because, well, it has the best and most interesting (and funny!) discussions I’ve found. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-first-brought-you-to-the-dope/402549.md?page=2)