# Why isn't The Straight Dope very popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 1, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837 "2020-04-01T21:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctorhmmmm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@Doctorhmmmm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctorhmmmm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/1 "2020-04-01T21:28:06Z")
This site is so old and so cool I was just wondering why such a nostalgic and cool place not very popular? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/2 "2020-04-01T21:44:24Z")
Fighting ignorance is harder than we thought. (:)) welcome to the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/3 "2020-04-01T21:45:25Z")
While better suited to ATMB, the SD was fairly popular as a forum of AOL when AOL was ‘the internet’ so to speak. Transition from that to the real net did hurt at first but seemed to be gaining ‘traction’ after that. The next stage of reduction of quality of posts to me seemed to be when the messageboard went to paid memberships (required to post). After a few years they relented in that, but it seemed like it was not the same quality as before. I have more to say, but until it’s moved I will only say the above. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/4 "2020-04-01T21:55:00Z")
We ARE popular! Mommy says so! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/5 "2020-04-01T22:52:32Z")
[Moderating] Moving to ATMB And if we knew why it wasn’t more popular, we’d be more popular. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/6 "2020-04-01T23:17:56Z")
The world has changed around us as well. We were a bigger fish back in the day siimply because it was a smaller pond; there were not as many offerings on the internets. There was less to look at and less to do. We once lived in a world where Google was not ubiquitous and Facebook did not exist, where there were not as many things for you to do with your time. The rise of things like gaming and social media and streaming and all the other cool technology that has come to be since we got here has largely eclipsed stuff like, well, message boards. Why ask Cecil when you can ask Google and get it for yourself? Today there’s new generations running around here that find things that their parents and grandparents enjoyed to be … not as interesting. We didn’t change with the times so much neither. Today we’re more of a niche market, a specialty offering … we’re not cutting edge. Jenny your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/7 "2020-04-01T23:17:58Z")
The world has changed around us as well. We were a bigger fish back in the day siimply because it was a smaller pond; there were not as many offerings on the internets. There was less to look at and less to do. We once lived in a world where Google was not ubiquitous and Facebook did not exist, where there were not as many things for you to do with your time. The rise of things like gaming and social media and streaming and all the other cool technology that has come to be since we got here has largely eclipsed stuff like, well, message boards. Why ask Cecil when you can ask Google and get it for yourself? Today there’s new generations running around here that find things that their parents and grandparents enjoyed to be … not as interesting. We didn’t change with the times so much neither. Today we’re more of a niche market, a specialty offering … we’re not cutting edge. Jenny your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/8 "2020-04-01T23:22:51Z")
Perhaps double posts are driving away new users? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/9 "2020-04-01T23:29:07Z")
Because we don’t have “like” buttons. Thank goddess. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/10 "2020-04-01T23:40:33Z")
The bulletin board format is not very cellphone friendly. This is causing trouble for a lot of the old, big boards. Even Mac and Android forums are trending downward as the world moves to smaller screens. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/11 "2020-04-01T23:52:48Z")
We are the stick shift in an automatic world. It takes old school ingenuity to coordinate simultaneously one hand on the wheel, one hand on the stick, one foot on the gas and one foot on the clutch. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/12 "2020-04-02T00:11:00Z")
To be honest, I’m not sure the US (where most of us are from) is as interested in fighting ignorance or having their own ignorance fought as it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/13 "2020-04-02T00:23:08Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > The bulletin board format is not very cellphone friendly. This is causing trouble for a lot of the old, big boards. Even Mac and Android forums are trending downward as the world moves to smaller screens. Sultan works great on my phone for readability, if only it wasn’t so glitchy. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/14 "2020-04-02T00:26:53Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > The bulletin board format is not very cellphone friendly. This is causing trouble for a lot of the old, big boards. Even Mac and Android forums are trending downward as the world moves to smaller screens. Well, also, it’s simply not “social media,” in the sense that (as someone obliquely pointed out above), it’s not driven by robotic and obsessive link clicking. (Of course we put in links, but those don’t drive the enterprise.) The only thing you can really do here is read and write–it’s doomed. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/15 "2020-04-02T00:29:45Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > We are the stick shift in an automatic world. > It takes old school ingenuity to coordinate simultaneously one hand on the wheel, one hand on the stick, one foot on the gas and one foot on the clutch. While chewing gum. This board is too smart for the unwashed masses. (Not that we Dopers wash all that much. Especially these days.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/16 "2020-04-02T00:47:21Z")
I think we need to add some kittens and puppies. Or maybe some baby otters. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/17 "2020-04-02T01:05:50Z")
I skedaddled when they said you gotta pay for it. Many of us did. It never recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/18 "2020-04-02T01:08:21Z")
Do emojis work? 🦄🐇🐇🐿 Preview says they are kewl. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/19 "2020-04-02T02:00:04Z")
> [@Doctorhmmmm](#): > > This site is so old and so cool I was just wondering why such a nostalgic and cool place not very popular? There’s a movie from 2001 you’d probably like, and would think is old, called _Ghost World_. You should watch it. Basically, this message board is full of Seymours, you’re an Enid and the rest of the internet is a Rebecca. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/20 "2020-04-02T02:04:44Z")
Shhh! We don’t want the popular kids showing up… > [@TubaDiva](#): > > We once lived in a world where Google was not ubiquitous and Facebook did not exist, where there were not as many things for you to do with your time. The rise of things like gaming and social media and streaming and all the other cool technology that has come to be since we got here has largely eclipsed stuff like, well, message boards. Very true! And a good explanation for why I’m not on social media, and not much of a streamer or gamer. The Dope fulfilled all those needs for me long before all that junk came along. > [@Squink](#): > > Do emojis work? 🦄🐇🐇🐿 > Preview says they are kewl. [narrator: _But as it turned out, they were not kewl_…] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837.md?page=2)