# Whats the difference between "charter member" and "member"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-charter-member-and-member/236529>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [March 26, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-charter-member-and-member/236529 "2004-03-26T07:19:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-charter-member-and-member/236529/1 "2004-03-26T07:19:31Z")

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I’ve seen “member” and “charter member” listed under username. I’ve also seen other designations other than these or “guest”.

What do they all mean?

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-charter-member-and-member/236529/2 "2004-03-26T13:56:19Z")

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Answer here:

> **[Ok, I'm a bit confused. (Guest/Member question.)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247135)**
>
> I am hesitant to add to the growing number of threads regarding the new subscription policy. But I am curious and must have missed this vital fact in my reading. What is the difference between a GUEST and a MEMBER? For the sake of the hamsters,...

Since this has been answered, I’m closing this.

- **xash**  
General Questions Moderator