# When Dopers become more than just Dopers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-dopers-become-more-than-just-dopers/134572 "2002-10-30T17:45:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-dopers-become-more-than-just-dopers/134572/41 "2002-11-05T15:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*… But it still depends on where the thread is taking place, I think. If you post in MPSIMS, you’re more likely to get mostly positive responses. If you post in IMHO, you’re opening yourself up to negative responses. And, of course, if you post in the Pit, be prepared to get slaughtered - with support sprinkled in occasionally. \*\* A little over a month ago I started a thread in the Pit regarding some news we had just gotten regarding my wife’s health. I was upset and needed to vent, and thought that posting to the board was a better alternative to kicking the cats and throwing things around the house, so I just started typing out how I felt. When I looked at what I had typed, it seemed better suited to the Pit than MPSIMS, so that’s where it went. I got a fair amount of support and suggestion posts - frankly, more than I had expected. But a number of Dopers jumped on the fact that I was blaming God for our troubles - which I admit I had in effect invited by the title of the thread (a Mark Twain quote referring to God as a malign thug). It made for interesting reading, particularly when the religious discussion turned into a flamewar which I half expected to generate its own Pit thread. My point (which I’d better make before I forget it myself) is that while my intention in starting the thread was simply to let off steam, the _manner and place_ where I did so probably affected the nature of the responses I got; at one point I found myself wondering what sort of response there would have been had I posted the same thing (probably edited for language) in MPSIMS. And on the subject of the OP, as a result of that thread I felt a little more like part of a community than I had been up to that point. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-dopers-become-more-than-just-dopers/134572/42 "2002-11-05T16:08:42Z")
Definitely agree with you there, **Lurkmeister** - the Pit is the place to really let loose. If you feel your post is going to be a tad salty, then MPSIMS isn’t the place to put it. But, as you found out, there’s a downside to ranting … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-dopers-become-more-than-just-dopers/134572.md?page=2)