# Why don't one of us start a board and be done with that shit? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 21, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178 "2008-03-21T02:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/21 "2008-03-21T15:16:02Z")
Just my two cents worth. And I do expect change back. If I were serious about this the first thing I would do would be to approach the PTBs here, I’ll assume the Chicago Reader, and offer to take over maintaining the board as a contractor. You could then make whatever changes were necessary to make it stable and efficient, effectively starting from scratch without having to start with a completely clean slate for members and content. If they weren’t interested in that, I’d then try to offer to buy it outright and then do the same thing with rebuilding the board. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/22 "2008-03-21T15:44:21Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > How 'bout me? Ya like blackjack? Ya wanna be . . . _cough_ never mind. Where do I sign? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/23 "2008-03-21T16:29:00Z")
What keeps boards thriving is new membership. Old members, no matter how devoted, tend to drift away eventually and you need new members to keep the place vital. (and, to a certain extent, these boards have stagnated some with the advent of Pay to Post and a drastic reduction in new membership) The Straight Dope column and books are the hook that get people onto the site to discover the boards. Without a compelling reason for new people to visit, any spin-off board is doomed to whither away. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/24 "2008-03-21T16:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=scout1222] Opal and Una (and Skip!) have kind of already done that, haven’t they? [/QUOTE] Yep. I frequent two of them, but for different reasons than why I come here. My smaller boards are my “family” boards, and this is my “big, raucous block party” board. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/25 "2008-03-21T18:43:17Z")
There’s several SDMB spinoff boards started by other Dopers. The reason why these boards hasn’t achieved phenomenal success, IMHO, is that their identity is too closely tied in too much with their owner. When I visit them, it’s not as if I’m visiting a public “third place”, but rather someone’s living room. It feels like there’s an underlying “cult of personality” to the spinoff sites, and they seem to lack a sense of permanence. The boards more reflect the owners’ personalities rather than the collective culture of their users. Look at most successful boards, and you’ll find that their identity isn’t necessarily connected to the individual responsible for starting it. Straight Dope Message Board: not “Ed Zotti’s Agora” Something Awful: not “Lowtax’s Forum” [Offtopic.com](http://Offtopic.com): not … well, whoever. I run a somewhat successful message board for urban planners. I _don’t_ call it “Dan’s Place”. I don’t have my name up everywhere. I want the community to feel like it’s something that belongs to them, not me … even though it’s understood that I own and run the place. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/26 "2008-03-21T20:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] Robots don’t do blow. [/QUOTE] But the cigars make them look cool. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/27 "2008-03-23T06:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Oh a new topic, has anyone brought this up yet? I’m sorry for being sarcastic to the OP, but we’re doing this topic to death. A worthy topic, yes. But I can’t even follow which threads have brought up which topics. My apologies, I misunderstood. [/QUOTE] How would I know if the topic had been done? The search has been disabled :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/28 "2008-03-23T06:30:53Z")
[QUOTE=zeno] Look there are tons of boards and none of them are plagued with problems like this one. I would consider doing it, but how would we get our memberships over there intact? I’ll sell ads on it. :dubious: [/QUOTE] Is **Cecil** not relevant anymore? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/29 "2008-03-23T07:12:17Z")
**Cecil** is always relevant, he’s that still, small voice that reminds you that if you post that, that smug asshole you cannot _stand_ will be there two seconds after the edit window closes, with incontrovertible cites proving that you are a total shit-for-brains with no clue what the hell he’s talking about… ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/30 "2008-03-24T07:41:04Z")
Anybody want to clue me in to what the OP is bitching about? I see a reference to “that shit” and “problems like this one” but nothing else. What the hell did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/31 "2008-03-24T09:13:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dijon Warlock] Anybody want to clue me in to what the OP is bitching about? I see a reference to “that shit” and “problems like this one” but nothing else. What the hell did I miss? [/QUOTE] The disabling of the search function, loss of access to old threads etc. The topic’s been/being hashed to death on ATMB. Try here. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460148](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460148) ---
**Author:** ![svrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@svrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svrider)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/32 "2008-03-24T10:07:50Z")
Convincing the members to migrate to a new board with a new url, would be next to impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/33 "2008-03-24T11:19:17Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] Starting a message board requires capital and time. It’s a pretty serious commitment. [/QUOTE] - “We’ve got a barn; let’s give a show!!”\* ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/34 "2008-03-24T13:34:43Z")
[QUOTE=svrider] Convincing the members to migrate to a new board with a new url, would be next to impossible. [/QUOTE] Yeah? How 'bout posting that new URL here, for starters? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/35 "2008-03-24T19:17:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Where do I sign? 😃 [/QUOTE] Wait…did **Rick** just volunteer to be the hooker at the new site? I just want to clarify this as it would have serious repercussions on my decision to join. I like Blackjack though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/36 "2008-03-24T21:05:42Z")
Some of us have, and the results do not fill the same niche that this one does. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178/37 "2008-03-26T22:01:33Z")
Thanks, **tirial**. It all comes clear now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-one-of-us-start-a-board-and-be-done-with-that-shit/442178.md?page=1)