Will the SDMB still be here in 10 years? 20 years?

In My Humble Opinion
1

-And- If so, do you think you’ll still be posting here?

The SDMB was the first message board I ever posted to, and the only board I’ve posted to regularly. I’ve taken ‘posting sabatticals’ as long as a year in duration, but I’ve always had a sort of affinity to this place. Things change, but as it stands I think I’ll be around pretty much as long as the boards are up. But how long will that be? I think asssuming continuity of the internet is a pretty safe bet, so what I’d be worried about would be our business sponser folding, or selling out to parties disinterested in continuing our forum.

2

I’ve been lurking here since I was in elementary school, maybe early middle school. I finally started posting years later and am an addict so I hope that it is still here 10 or 20 years from now. If not, I’m concerned about how I will waste all my time if I’m not reading things on here.

Brendon Small

3

If it parallels the other boards (and mailing lists, and forums) I’ve been on over time, the population will drop, the regulars will still be regular, and the fresh blood will gravitate to different communication methods (myspace, twitter)

I sure hope I’m still posting at 58…so I’ll still be here. I like the mix of folks.

4

People have been predicting the imminent doom of the boards for most of the time I’ve been here. I think there’s a good chance it’ll still be around down the line. I don’t know whether I’ll be here, though.

5

As long as we haven’t won the battle against ignorance by then.

6

Well, it is taking longer than we thought, so I doubt we’ll have won by then.

The SDMB is part of my daily routine. I’ll probably be here as long as I’m above ground.

7

The SDMB has been around in this form since 1999, but I know it goes back further - when did the AOL boards start? Even in this form, it’s been around for nearly a decade, and the change back to free posting ought to bring in fresh blood.

I’ve gone through some relatively heavy posting periods, and some where I barely look at the boards once a month, depending on my mood and what else is going on in my life. Unless I go through several really, really busy years where I don’t even have time to check the boards during my lunch hour, I’ll probably stick around.

8

Yes and Yes.

9

In one list, I’m still corresponding with the same group of people 20 years on.

10

I hope it remains active and continues to grow and prosper. The knowledge found here can’t be beat,that’s for sure. I will post here as long as I can learn and contribute and am still welcome.

11

But will it have avatars?

:d&r:

12

I can easily see myself being the last member left in 2025 posting in Great Debates to threads that still go on for six pages. Pit threads would be so vile that I still get Moderator warnings.

13

If you don’t adapt you die. I’m concerned that mods have a bit of “That’s the way it is, we won’t consider change” about them. That would eventually kill SDMB.

14

Considering there are BBSes that I joined in 1993 that are still around in some form, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Straight Dope last another couple of decades.

Of course, by then, the board will be run by cute cats who occasionally post pictures of their humans.

15

I am anticipating I’ll be dead within a few years, probably caused accidentally.

Considering what I may or may not be doing in a decade or two is beyond my ken.

16

I expect the community to still be alive in ten years time, but I wonder how much of it will be on these type of boards.

17

That would be good, although Cecil might object. :smiley:

I suspect this place could survive sale to an uninterested or a disinterested party (providing that the disinterested party was not a hands-on partisan on some issue).

The critical factor in my view is newbies in GQ. Once free posting returns, they’ll keep coming as long as Cecil has a profile and the Boards are reasonably well moderated. But backwaters are vulnerable, and this is one. But so is Italy.

So 50%, 20% and (conditional) 50%.

18

The SDMB in 2018 = The Well in 2008.

I don’t see the SDMB, but I do see it fading to a shell of its former self. Why?

  • The conservativism of the administration and the site’s most vocal users. Consider the rate at which new subforums are added, the infrequent software upgrades, and the opposition to new features (last year it was the edit time window – “That’s what peview is for!” – while in the near future it will be avatars).

  • Google and other search engines are blocked from the site, which limits the pool of new members who will stumble upon the SDMB by chance.

The SDMB will exist in 10 years, but I fear it will be seen in the same way as The Well or Noise Level Zero; once vibrant communities that see themselves as “intellectual” and a cut above other online message boards and fora, but which are now usually mentioned in the context of “What ever happened to …”. They’re still around, but they’re fading away.