I recently registered on this board to ask a few questions and start a few discussions. So far, I’m not all that impressed with the content here, though some of the GQ questions are interesting, it’s impact is diminished by the large number of posters that know nothing about the question stepping up to post.
Anyway…
I can see paying $20 a year for a site like consumer reports which gives me access to product information, comparisons and testing. To me that’s value for my money. I don’t really see that value here. What am I getting, if anything?
I guess the short answer is that, if you’re not “impressed” with the content here, you probably shouldn’t pay anything, and walk away after your Guest membership expires. Those of us who have ponied up the whopping sum asked of us have done so because we enjoy the back-and-forth arguments of Great Debates, the chance to share what we do know with others in General Questions, the opportunity to heap abuse upon a moron in The Pit, etc., etc.
Face it: does Consumer Reports let you talk back to it? Does it let you toss out a question for all the other readers of the magazine to respond to?
The SDMB ain’t a reference book, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re looking in the wrong place.
I’ll predict that if you get yourself involved in even one heated debate, you’ll be hooked! Try it - you’ll like it.
You’re the only one who can decide whether it’s worth $14.95 to you for the ability to post – you can read as long as you like for free. What hooked me on the SDMB was the intelligence, the literacy, the fact that you will get called out for bullshitting, and the humor. Sometimes the humor just takes my breath away.
Right now is not a good time to judge the content level of the boards. Whenever school lets out, we get a flood of bored kids who are often just throwing words at the screen to amuse themselves. Sometimes they’re looking for trouble. After a couple of weeks, things get back to normal.
What do you get for your subscription dollar? The board gets to exist. You think the cyberspace fairies do this for us for nothing?
What you’re getting is access to a most vibrant and fascinating community of people, where every day you might learn something, be able to educate someone else with stuff you know, laugh, tear up a little, share in what makes this crazy place tick.
If you can’t see or appreciate any of that, then you don’t need to be a subscriber.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to subscribe right away. You can lurk as long as you want, get a feel for everything. If some time down the road you feel like you want to become an active member, just go back in under your screen name and pay up.
Also if you’re just staying in GQ, that could be part of the reason you might not feel like it’s worth it. Try browsing the other forums. IMHO is what got me hooked to the place when I first joined.
You also get an extremely well-run board with an active and experienced staff that won’t put up with much bullshit, spam, l33t script kiddies, or gratuitous abuse of members.
Sure, there are plenty of free boards, but if you can find one with this many members getting along this well, that is as well moderated as this one, well, you’d best get there and enjoy it while it lasts.
