# What is this place?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [June 22, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635 "2009-06-22T19:25:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@crippyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crippyboy)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/1 "2009-06-22T19:25:20Z")
Keep hearing about this straightdope site… what makes it different than every other message board? It looks like there is pro’s that answer questions and stuff so i guess you have to keep everything formal and no making fun of other people and stuff.
I looked for info in sticky threads but saw no synopsis. So who wants to answer me?
thanks
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/2 "2009-06-22T20:09:17Z")
> [@crippyboy](#):
>
> Keep hearing about this straightdope site… what makes it different than every other message board? It looks like there is pro’s that answer questions and stuff so i guess you have to keep everything formal and no making fun of other people and stuff.
>
> I looked for info in sticky threads but saw no synopsis. So who wants to answer me?
>
> thanks
Welcome, **crippyboy**.
You can make fun of people though there are limits as to content and which forum you’re in. As an example, in General Questions, funny or snarky answers are allowed only after the OP has been answered.
Proper grammar, punctuation and spelling are expected.
Keep looking around and have fun, it’s worth the stay.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/3 "2009-06-22T20:37:31Z")
Welcome, **crippyboy**.
[FAQ - Rules for posting](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384736)
[FAQ - Guidelines and etiquette](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384745)
These are taken from the forum titled **About this Message Board** , which might have been a better place to start than **General Questions**.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/4 "2009-06-22T20:52:11Z")
First of all, this forum was established to discuss the work of Cecil Adams, a newspaper columnist who writes a question-and-answer column for assorted free weekly newspapers. The most recently posted new column is [Has martial arts training ever helped anybody defeat a mugger?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2874/has-martial-arts-training-ever-helped-anybody-defeat-a-mugger), and other columns can be read in the archives. Most discussion here doesn’t actually directly pertain to Cecil’s columns (there’s a forum called “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” for that), but he still sets the general zeitgeist for the site.
For the rest, it’s just a bunch of people, mostly reasonably smart, who discuss things. This particular part of the board, General Questions, is for questions which have a factual answer. There’s no guarantee that any given question will get answered, or even seen, by an expert in the appropriate field, but we do have experts in a wide variety of fields among the membership, so your odds are probably pretty good. We also have a forum called Great Debates for questions which don’t have a factual answer, such as the meaning of life or the existence of God, as well as a variety of political questions; a forum called Cafe Society for discussion of arts and literature; a forum called the BBQ pit for general-purpose complaining and for flaming of other posters (which isn’t allowed in the other forums), etc.
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/5 "2009-06-22T20:54:05Z")
There aren’t any professionals here. Well, of course, there are plenty of people with jobs…but none with the job of answering questions. We’re a silly little community, really, with the mission of fighting ignorance. We answer questions, we give opinions, we comment on each other’s rants, we talk about the arts and debate the big and small philosophies of life, religion, and politics. In short, there’s nothing you can’t find here.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/6 "2009-06-22T20:57:05Z")
Moving from GQ to ATMB.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/7 "2009-06-22T21:15:39Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> There aren’t any professionals here.
Speak for yourself! I’m a professional message board poster, paid at the astounding rate of -$14.95/yr.! 😛
Yeah, I’m cheap labor, your point? 😃
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-place/500635/8 "2009-06-22T21:27:20Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> There aren’t any professionals here. Well, of course, there are plenty of people with jobs…but none with the job of answering questions.
A whole bunch of librarians here disagree with you.