# What will non-paying posters be called? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 1, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549 "2008-05-01T02:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/1 "2008-05-01T02:03:47Z")
After the board gets rid of pay-to-post, it doesn’t seem right to continue calling the non-paying posters ‘Guest’. They should be called ‘Poster’, reserve ‘Member’ and ‘Charter Member’ for the paying folks. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/2 "2008-05-01T02:22:41Z")
How 'bout if we just go back to “Member” and “Banned”? Oh, “Moderator” will still do, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/3 "2008-05-01T02:58:46Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] How 'bout if we just go back to “Member” and “Banned”? Oh, “Moderator” will still do, I guess. [/QUOTE] Because that makes no distinction between someone who is paying and someone who is not. Although I can’t think of a good reason why we SHOULD make that distinction, I still think we ought to give those that pay some recognition. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/4 "2008-05-01T03:28:20Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] I still think we ought to give those that pay some recognition. [/QUOTE] why? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/5 "2008-05-01T03:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] Because that makes no distinction between someone who is paying and someone who is not. Although I can’t think of a good reason why we SHOULD make that distinction, I still think we ought to give those that pay some recognition. [/QUOTE] Remember that TPTB don’t \*want \*us to pay. They think they can get more money from the advertisers than us. They’ll continue to let us pay, for a while anyway, so we shut up about the ads, but they’re discouraging memberships, not encouraging them. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/6 "2008-05-01T03:44:59Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] Because that makes no distinction between someone who is paying and someone who is not. Although I can’t think of a good reason why we SHOULD make that distinction, I still think we ought to give those that pay some recognition. [/QUOTE] Why? How about “Cheapskate,” “Pays to not see ads,” and “Moderator”? That’s effectively the distinction that would be made. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/7 "2008-05-01T03:57:15Z")
How about “Moocher” for non-payers and “Holier Than Thou” for payers? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-non-paying-posters-be-called/447549/8 "2008-05-01T04:12:47Z")
All still to be determined. Sniping at one another won’t help, though.