# Why is the SDMB membership declining, and what's the best way to add younger members? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 14, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208 "2021-06-14T02:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/404 "2021-06-18T23:05:44Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Can you rephrase this? One way, it looks like a hit on **TubaDiva** , and I have no idea what STM means in this context. Seize the moment? STM is the company which owns and operates the SDMB. Tubadiva was an employee of STM, and part of her duties was our Admin. HOWEVER, when she passed, someone had to take over her duties… but we never got a new admin. So that implies that TD was doing her admin job in addition to her real duties and that managing the SDMB asset has fallen through the corporate cracks and now no one has the responsibility of being site admin. Example: we are a month past Charter Memberships expiring and yet they have yet to implement a payment system. Strongly implies an asset with no management or oversight. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/405 "2021-06-18T23:12:02Z")
Ah, I think of it as Chicago Sun-Times. Do we actually know that Jenny had another job there? From a thread that I will not link to, I was under the impression that the SDMB was what she did at the Sun-Times. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/406 "2021-06-18T23:12:56Z")
She could have. I’m just extrapolating from a piece of data here, something said there. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/407 "2021-06-19T00:06:00Z")
We have an Admin, he is **Ed Zotti.** He was nice enough to return to help the board out. He also put together the fundraiser for the tribute to Jenny ( **TubaDiva** ). * * * _Above is official, the rest is just from me a mod._ He is trying to find ways to keep the SD & SDMB going. What we do not have is a _Tech Admin_. It would **in theory** be a nominal position and one of the senior mods who would be given admin rights and could handle the Tech duty such as tweaking settings, merging users and etc. The exact details are above my paygrade. * * * To the best of my knowledge, Jenny’s job for the Chicago Sun-Times was running the SDMB and the SD front page and thread-spotting. But I could also be off on the details. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/408 "2021-06-19T01:05:50Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > There are entire businesses that do nothing but recycle popular Reddit topics in more readable format! They’re called “News websites” 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/409 "2021-06-19T01:26:26Z")
More true than it should be! ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/410 "2021-06-19T02:38:35Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What we do not have is a _Tech Admin_ . Is it possible to find out who the admins are on [this page](https://boards.straightdope.com/about)? People have guessed that they helped with the migration, but I’m wondering if maybe one or some of them are also doing some maintenance. Might they be getting paid for that? If they are, then it might just be a matter of having a liaison to let the tech people know what to change. (I know it’s not this simple, but just as a hypothetical.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/411 "2021-06-19T04:08:30Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Since you’ve been answering all my “like” questions, here’s another. Let’s say 'likes" display as a star and a number appears next to the star as a counter. On my first post I get 2 likes, so I have a star with a 2 beside it. On each post I make from now on, it will always say 2 “likes”. Now I make my second post, which gets 5 “likes”. Does my display now have a star with a 5 by it or a 7 by it? Sure, happy to answer easy questions. 😉 Yes, there’s a little heart with a 2 beside it underneath your first post. But the “likes” belong to the post, not to you generally. So when you make your second post there is a pale heart that someone can click if they want to “like” the post, with no number by it. As people “like” it, it shows 1, then 2, and so on up to 5, when the last person likes it. One of those people might think, “hey, this MordacaiB is fun to read, i wonder what else he’s posted” and go back and “like” that first post of yours, too, which will now display a little “3” instead of the “2” it had sported. Unless you turn off the notifications, you get told when someone likes one of your posts. In my settings, that only shows up when i click on the little icon of my avatar, when I’ll see that my stalker has liked my last three posts, and some other guy liked one of them, too. It’s possible that the default notifications are more intrusive. I toned down a lot of the Discourse notifications. (Why no, i DON’T want an email any time I’m mentioned, thank you very much.) You can also hover over the little heart to see who liked the post. At least, i can if i am on a laptop that doesn’t have a touch screen. Maybe one can anyway, but I’m not certain how to. You can see that on your posts or on anyone else’s posts. I don’t find the likes terribly intrusive. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/412 "2021-06-19T08:21:08Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What we do not have is a _Tech Admin_ . It would **in theory** be a nominal position and one of the senior mods who would be given admin rights and could handle the Tech duty such as tweaking settings, merging users and etc Are any of the moderators capable or willing to do this? Are we talking about something someone could learn in a week, or is it months? I recall from the old boards that we had Jerry to pop over for major stuff, I can’t imagine he did name changes or merging. Wasn’t that part of what **Tuba** did? If something major was needed, is that part of the Discourse support provision? > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Is it possible to find out who the admins are on [this page](https://boards.straightdope.com/about)? Looks like **andysuntimes** had something to do with the board before the changeover. His join date is October 2019. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Sure, happy to answer easy questions. 😉 Great reply, thanks! You have slowly won me over with your explanations. Well almost. In size, are they more user icon size, or more smiley size? How many likes can a user give out in a day? I thought I saw you say somewhere you could limit it, or it has a limit. Correct answers from you and I promise to vote for a like button. I know that my vote, which I’m sure will be vital, has been worrying you. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/413 "2021-06-19T12:55:58Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Great reply, thanks! You have slowly won me over with your explanations. Well almost. In size, are they more user icon size, or more smiley size? How many likes can a user give out in a day? I thought I saw you say somewhere you could limit it, or it has a limit. Correct answers from you and I promise to vote for a like button. I know that my vote, which I’m sure will be vital, has been worrying you. I don’t feel strongly about whether or not we have “likes”. I miss them, because I’m used to using them. But it’s not a big deal to me one way or the other. They don’t take any extra real estate, because they live on the same “row” as the reply arrow, the three dots, and the link icon – just to the left of the link icon, on the other forum I’m looking at, in whatever theme I’m using there. The little heart is just a tad smaller than ❤ but it plus the number next to it are wider than just an icon. The little heart is hollow (just an outline) unless YOU have liked that post, and it’s red if you have liked the post. Either way, it’s sort of faded-out, like the link icon. Also, if you click on the hamburger menu and then on “about” at near the bottom of that menu, you can see who the admins and mods are. Tuba is still listed. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/414 "2021-06-19T13:15:44Z")
We have Mods that can do this. They can start doing some of it as soon as they have Admin powers and then learn more. Jerry’s position was something else and was closer to hosting. The SD & SDMB was one small part of his job from what I could recall. But back then the SDMB was on servers operated by the owners. The servers are now hosted and that problem is removed. A tech admin that is interested in the board proper is a good thing indeed. They can try tweaks among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/415 "2021-06-19T13:19:12Z")
Any estimate for the amount of time a tech admin would need to spend weekly? I imagine quite a bit initially as there’s a backlog of account mergers and other tasks that are waiting to be done. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/416 "2021-06-19T13:24:11Z")
No good estimate. Sorry. But it shouldn’t be months, probably weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/417 "2021-06-19T16:38:43Z")
I took a screenshot off another board to show how the likes are presented: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/zFV8aQR.png?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/RZ6X1MA) EDIT: I’m not a member of that board so I guess there would also be the three dots and the Reply button if I was. But you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/418 "2021-06-19T16:56:03Z")
LITERALLY UNUSABLE… 😜 (I wish discourse would let me post whatever I want… I had to add this line because my “hilarious” response wasn’t good enough.) ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/419 "2021-06-27T14:14:49Z")
Sam\_Stone: “Also, half the country still voted for the other guy. **I don’t think any of them are welcome here if they care to justify their beliefs**.” You are tone-deaf to your own post, Sam. If you need to ask me why, it just shows you how clueless most of this board is. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/420 "2021-06-27T19:41:50Z")
Sorry, I lost track of this thread. Thanks for all your help. While I will probably never use it, I think since so many people do want it, we should at least give it a try. (And, as we all know, my backing is needed on this issue.) > [@What\_Exit](#): > > A tech admin that is interested in the board proper is a good thing indeed. They can try tweaks among other things. **ECG** would be the obvious choice to start with, since he’s been doing most of this already, I think. Therefore I nominate **ECG** , if he is willing to accept this onerous position. Bit it’s not like Highlander, right? There can be more than one. > [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I took a screenshot off another board to show how the likes are presented: Thanks! If I would have thought of this myself, I could have saved **puzzlegal** a lot of explaining. > [@Kron](#): > > LITERALLY UNUSABLE… > > 😜 > > (I wish discourse would let me post whatever I want… I had to add this line because my “hilarious” response wasn’t good enough.) Weird, this must have changed. I did this in one of the test threads a few months ago and as long as the _name_ of the emoji was five characters long it would post by itself. Either that or I’m getting senile. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/421 "2021-06-27T21:37:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Weird, this must have changed. I _think_ it was because my reply was in all caps; it apparently won’t allow us to scream at each other. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/422 "2021-06-27T21:38:56Z")
BECAUSE YES THIS IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE! (Confirmed the previous post… Discourse response to the above: “Body seems unclear, is it a complete sentence?”) ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/423 "2021-06-27T22:18:13Z")
> [@ElderSign](#): > > You are tone-deaf to your own post, Sam. If you need to ask me why, it just shows you how clueless most of this board is. I wish I knew what this means. As someone who agreed with @Sam_Stone on pretty much all of his recent posts on the state of the SDMB and agrees with pretty much none of his politics, I’m not sure of the message you’re trying to give him, especially since you posted this after a year of absence to post it. Care to elaborate? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208.md?page=22)