# 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:** 2
**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 2, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/21 "2020-04-02T02:05:56Z")
šŸ•šŸ•šŸ•šŸˆšŸˆšŸˆšŸ•šŸ•šŸ•šŸ•šŸˆšŸˆšŸˆšŸˆ ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/22 "2020-04-02T03:25:53Z")
Part of it is that weā€™re not nice to newbies. I realize that this is an unpopular opinion and that Iā€™m insignificant but Iā€™ve always disagreed with the reflexive closing of old bumped threads or what we call zombies. Some rando SDMB candidate searches for something weird and bumps into an interesting thread. It may have been one Iā€™d missed or an oldie that Iā€™d forgotten about or maybe about a topic Iā€™ve since learned a lot more about. Contribute? Nope. Closed: old. But OP can always start a new thread, haha, right? Naw, very few of these highly potential dopers come back and why would they after that frosty introduction? That additional data they might have had had is pretty much gone forever. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/23 "2020-04-02T04:50:09Z")
> [@Doctorhmmmm](#): > > This site is so old and so cool I was just wondering why such a nostalgic and cool place not very popular? For the same reason you didnā€™t join until yesterday. And what do you mean, ā€œnostalgicā€? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/24 "2020-04-02T05:01:27Z")
If it were more popular no-one would like it. ---
**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, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/25 "2020-04-02T06:33:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > For the same reason you didnā€™t join until yesterday. > > And what do you mean, ā€œnostalgicā€? It means we are old people. ---
**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, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/26 "2020-04-02T10:24:16Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Part of it is that weā€™re not nice to newbies. > ā€¦ When I showed up the first time I posted something ā€œniceā€ and was clobbered by the grouches and cynics on the board. I ran away for a year or so (maybe it was only months). But I came back becauseā€¦ _\_ ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/27 "2020-04-02T10:51:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When I showed up the first time I posted something ā€œniceā€ and was clobbered by the grouches and cynics on the board. I ran away for a year or so (maybe it was only months). But I came back becauseā€¦ _\_ ā€¦ This sums it up for me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/28 "2020-04-02T11:12:10Z")
It isnā€™t well advertised. Most people donā€™t know about it. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/29 "2020-04-02T12:02:35Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Part of it is that weā€™re not nice to newbies. > > I realize that this is an unpopular opinion and that Iā€™m insignificant but Iā€™ve always disagreed with the reflexive closing of old bumped threads or what we call zombies. Some rando SDMB candidate searches for something weird and bumps into an interesting thread. It may have been one Iā€™d missed or an oldie that Iā€™d forgotten about or maybe about a topic Iā€™ve since learned a lot more about. Contribute? Nope. Closed: old. But OP can always start a new thread, haha, right? Naw, very few of these highly potential dopers come back and why would they after that frosty introduction? That additional data they might have had had is pretty much gone forever. Yeah, that seems weird to me, too. Why close a thread just because itā€™s old? ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/30 "2020-04-02T12:17:36Z")
Every time this question arises, I compare this site to Reddit, which is vastly larger but also much younger; it was founded in 2005. Now Iā€™m not on Reddit, so I may be incorrect but the site seems to allow subreddits to be created freely. Contrast that with the SDMB where new subforums are created only rarely, especially under previous management. (Which is why I was surprised that The Quarantine Zone was created so quickly.) And Reddit deploys new software and features as needed or desired, again, not something that happens here. (Weā€™ve known for years that the vBulletin software was inadequate but nothing was ever done about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/31 "2020-04-02T15:14:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, that seems weird to me, too. Why close a thread just because itā€™s old? Well, a couple of good reasons are they are full of dead links, long-gone posters who will not respond. Wanna talk about that topic? Start a new thread, interact with people who are still here and can contribute timely opinions, cites and links. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/32 "2020-04-02T15:25:10Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Part of it is that weā€™re not nice to newbies. > > I realize that this is an unpopular opinion and that Iā€™m insignificant but Iā€™ve always disagreed with the reflexive closing of old bumped threads or what we call zombies. Some rando SDMB candidate searches for something weird and bumps into an interesting thread. It may have been one Iā€™d missed or an oldie that Iā€™d forgotten about or maybe about a topic Iā€™ve since learned a lot more about. Contribute? Nope. Closed: old. But OP can always start a new thread, haha, right? Naw, very few of these highly potential dopers come back and why would they after that frosty introduction? That additional data they might have had had is pretty much gone forever. Thatā€™s not really how it works. Bumping an old thread with new and relevant information is typically just fine. When you bump an old thread with nothing really new or interesting to add the thread will usually get closed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/33 "2020-04-02T15:40:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > When you bump an old thread with nothing really new or interesting to add the thread will usually get closed. Particularly if said thread is in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/34 "2020-04-02T18:31:17Z")
Hey! Are you telling me Iā€™m not ā€œcutting edge?ā€ (snorts and stamps off to put an Annette Hanshaw record on the phonograph) ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/35 "2020-04-02T18:56:23Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Part of it is that weā€™re not nice to newbies. > > I realize that this is an unpopular opinion and that Iā€™m insignificant but Iā€™ve always disagreed with the reflexive closing of old bumped threads or what we call zombies. Some rando SDMB candidate searches for something weird and bumps into an interesting thread. It may have been one Iā€™d missed or an oldie that Iā€™d forgotten about or maybe about a topic Iā€™ve since learned a lot more about. Contribute? Nope. Closed: old. But OP can always start a new thread, haha, right? Naw, very few of these highly potential dopers come back and why would they after that frosty introduction? That additional data they might have had had is pretty much gone forever. I agree with this. Iā€™d like to add that in general, I appreciate the slightly ā€œnot-niceā€ tone here. I used to participate on one message board that was full of smiley faces and ā€œHope that helps!!ā€ and ā€œHave a great day!!ā€, and it was just not how my friends and I interact in person and not how I wanted to interact with people online. On this board, the knowledge that you should think before you speak because people arenā€™t just going to smiley-face away ignorant comments makes it a place where Iā€™d like to settle down and stay a while. (The Liberal hive mind doesnā€™t make me want to settle down and stay, but letā€™s not get into that.) But I would imagine that Google is one of the primary way that a new person comes across the site and decides to start participating. And often when an old thread crops up, I enjoy reading it even though itā€™s old. Iā€™d prefer we leave the zombies open as a general rule. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/36 "2020-04-02T19:56:29Z")
I think itā€™s a combination of a few things: [ul] [li]Not ā€œniceā€ to newbies. This is something we can work on, IMO.[/li][li]Unforgiving in general; youā€™d better have your ā€œAā€ game on if youā€™re going to post in threads about anything controversial - politics, social justice, abortion, etcā€¦ Otherwise people are going to wreck your arguments and make you feel foolish.[/li][li]A pronounced leftward slant. Not that itā€™s bad in and of itself, but combined with the previous two, and I can completely see how it might drive off anyone whoā€™s not firmly left of center who isnā€™t also an old-timer.[/li][li]Itā€™s a message board, not some sort of social media type site. Itā€™s kind of unfriendly to mobile devices, even with Tapatalk.[/li][li]Itā€™s markedly intellectual. Even without the unforgiving nature, itā€™s still a place whose space is almost entirely intellectual. Most people are NOT intellectual.[/li][/ul] There are others Iā€™m sure, but these five are the ones that came immediately to mind. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/37 "2020-04-02T20:08:47Z")
actually, in most special interest boards I go/went to if itā€™s on a specific topic the thread only lasts a week or two before its automatically closed by the software ā€¦ heck some of them closed if there wasnā€™t a response in 8 hours or less ā€¦ but 90 percent of the time in old threads the op along with most posters are long gone and they just become spam magnets of course, you also get the effect of you post the same thing to the same thread because you forgot you posted to it 4 years earlier like I did in the "funny and horrible ad&d dice rolls " thread that still pops up everyso often ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/38 "2020-04-02T20:17:46Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Thatā€™s not really how it works. Bumping an old thread with new and relevant information is typically just fine. > > When you bump an old thread with nothing really new or interesting to add the thread will usually get closed. Right, I would prefer these be left open. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/39 "2020-04-02T20:23:31Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Why ask Cecil when you can ask Google and get it for yourself? This is a thing many people miss. Sure, you can ask Google. But will you get anything truthful? I.e., will you get the Straight Dope. I think columns by people who do research, sift out the glurge and write it up clearly are still worthwhile. But a once-a-week column often with questions sent in months earlier is not going to rack up the eyeballs. Itā€™s gotta be topical. And do we have a topic right now. ---
**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 2, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837/40 "2020-04-02T21:06:06Z")
The reason I like The Dope, and the reason Google doesnā€™t always cut it, is because we add commentary and other added-value items. Google gives you directions - The Dope tells you why those directions are wrong, gives you three alternatives, four puns and a deranged counter-argument from the cheap seats. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-the-straight-dope-very-popular/850837.md?page=3)