# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 557
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/557 "2021-07-13T06:05:49Z")
I have been a member of the SDMB for over 20 years (wow), since I was 12 or 13. At 34, I guess I arguably don’t count as a “younger member” anymore. The SDMB in the early 2000s was really a great place for a teenager - I learned things and had conversations I’d never be able to have in the real world or anywhere else on the internet for that matter, and I genuinely believe the SDMB made me a better person. I’ve never been that prolific but I consistently lurked and continued to participate at a pretty steady rate. But my interest in this place dramatically waned during the Trump years. I hate Trump and what he represents but I’m also not a fan of most Democratic policies. Aside from the fact that participating in any directly political threads just turns into a huge unpleasant pile-on against me, even the non-political threads are tiresome. People constantly find ways to slip in leftist political remarks in any thread regardless of topic and you get slapped down as being off-topic if you ever take the bait and respond to something you fundamentally object to. I got tired of constantly having to bite my tongue so I don’t hang out here much anymore. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208)._