# What is the purpose of the Straight Dope Message Board? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 13, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405 "2022-02-13T15:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 10, 2022, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/21 "2022-03-10T09:29:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > So, in addition to the community, etc, which is why we old-timers come, for the new user to the SDMB, the **purpose of this board** is to be a place where they, too, can be **intelligent and literate** , a quality almost impossible to find elsewhere on the internet. The SDMB is a 21st Century salon. You know I’ve thought about this before–about whether the quality discussion here was truly almost impossible to find on todays’ web. At first it seems a very self-serving and arrogant notion. There are surely many intelligent and high-minded forums available. But probably not, you know? Because the other “good” ones are going to be niche like a physicists’ forum or a philosophy forum somewhere. But it’s difficult to find a general, open topic message board where literacy and weightiness are not only appreciated, but sort of a prerequisite. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/22 "2022-03-10T09:34:11Z")
Maybe the SDMB is the 21st century equivalent of the **[left bank of Paris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rive_Gauche)**. Bring on the absinthe! ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/23 "2022-03-10T19:48:18Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > it’s difficult to find a general, open topic message board where literacy and weightiness are not only appreciated, but sort of a prerequisite. There’s another aspect about this place that makes us different: our sense of community. There are forums on reddit with high quality discussion\*, equal to us geniuses here at the SDMB. But they seem cold and impersonal. If you hang around here for a while, you get to know personalities. I recognize maybe a hundred usernames here, and there are a couple dozen who I recognize as experts, each in his own subject. Reading their posts is like talking to a friend… The SDMB is big enough to have great conversations on any topic, but small enough to be manageable and friendly. > [@JohnT](#): > > They find the SDMB to be a place where they, too, can be literate and expect a literate response, something they cannot find elsewhere on the internet. Actually, you can find literate forums elsewhere on the net. \*examples: [www.reddit.com/r/politicaldiscussion](http://www.reddit.com/r/politicaldiscussion) is as good as our Great Debates [Reddit - Dive into anything](http://www.reddit.com/r/askreddit) matches our IMHO. But reddit threads often stretch to over a thousand posts, which is just too big and impersonal. We may not be as profound as a 17th century salon, or the Left Bank of Paris…But I’d say that we’re more like a table full of friends at your favorite coffee shop on campus. Pull up a chair, and join us!. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/24 "2022-03-11T07:54:58Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > But I’d say that we’re more like a table full of friends at your favorite coffee shop on campus. I don’t know. Considering board demographics, it’s more like a bunch of old timers hanging around the local pub. 🍻 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/25 "2022-03-11T12:42:36Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > We may not be as profound as a 17th century salon, or the Left Bank of Paris While I love wolfpup’s evocation, that’s a high bar to live up to…I’m glad you softened it a bit! 🙂 we are who we are: eager to learn from each other. The occasional _bon mot_ is just icing on the cake. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/26 "2022-03-11T12:44:18Z")
This was always my take, even when I wasn’t an old timer yet. A great corner pub. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/27 "2022-03-11T13:31:17Z")
Sometimes you wanna go Where everybody knows your username… ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/28 "2022-03-11T22:10:53Z")
-considers @Thudlow_Boink’s point- Does that make me (who changed from lurker to poster less than 2 years ago) the added gag character to a long running sitcom that will be forgotten next season? -drinks all available beer while part of the cast- ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/29 "2022-03-15T00:43:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Then Discourse happened and it tracks this for me (kinda) so I don’t do that anymore except on high-activity tweets. In the Discourse era I have [1 thread with over 1k outside readers](https://boards.straightdope.com/badges/23/great-share?username=johnt), [2 other threads with 300+ outside readers](https://boards.straightdope.com/badges/22/good-share?username=johnt), and [28 threads with 25+ outside readers](https://boards.straightdope.com/badges/21/nice-share?username=johnt) (31 threads in total). Where is this info? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/30 "2022-03-15T00:47:38Z")
They’re badges. “Nice Share”, “Good Share”, and “Great Share”: [https://boards.straightdope.com/badges](https://boards.straightdope.com/badges) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/31 "2022-03-15T00:59:45Z")
Oh. I ignore all those badges. (Manfully resisting quoting a certain movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/32 "2022-03-15T13:36:46Z")
Probably those Reddit communities would seem more personal, if you hung out there long enough and got to know the people. But one thing we have over them is simple age: We’ve been around for, like, 80% of the age of the World Wide Web, and so we’ve had much longer to develop our sense of community. Maybe 20 years hence those Reddit communities will be similar to ours is now. Or maybe, of course, one or both of those communities will be gone then, or maybe we’ll have completely abandoned text-based communication by then and do everything by direct neural connection, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/33 "2022-03-15T13:52:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Probably those Reddit communities would seem more personal, if you hung out there long enough and got to know the people. Reddit threads just don’t encourage that in my experience. The fact that posts aren’t really chronological unless a specific back and forth happens doesn’t really encourage longer lasting threads. Those back and forths rarely last more than a handful of posts. And usernames are so easy to gloss over. Maybe that’s just me, I do sometimes see users say things like “oh I recognize you from some other sub, can’t believe I’m seeing you here” but that seems pretty rare. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/34 "2022-03-15T14:19:41Z")
_Hmm, I guess I was wrong. All this time I thought this was a fetish dating site. No wonder swiping right didn’t match me with anyone._ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/35 "2022-03-15T14:22:55Z")
It doesn’t have a purpose. That’s the beauty of it! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/36 "2022-03-15T17:42:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Probably those Reddit communities would seem more personal, if you hung out there long enough and got to know the people. But every different subject is a different reddit with a different group of people. If you’re talking about cars, you’re not going to find out if the person likes cats, or vice versa. It’s also as @Babale says really hard to follow a conversation of any length there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/37 "2022-03-15T21:39:55Z")
The purpose of the SDMB Board is to entertain me. Good job, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/38 "2022-03-15T21:53:34Z")
The Straight Dope Message Board Board! SDMB^2 I think it’s proven that the message board exists to amuse and segregate a cult of egregious nitpickers. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/39 "2022-03-15T22:45:08Z")
But does it have a _special_ purpose. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ymucqmjJs20/hqdefault.jpg "Special Purpose") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymucqmjJs20) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405/40 "2022-03-15T23:39:33Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It doesn’t have a purpose. That’s the beauty of it! Love it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/959405.md?page=3)