# Would you recommend the SDMB to your friends and acquaintances? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765 "2021-07-05T22:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [July 10, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/41 "2021-07-10T20:53:42Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > This is wonderful to read. I remember whole summers as a kid where I would just read, read, read all day long. Me, too. I still do it when I find a book I can disappear into and eventually crawl out of, all bleary-eyed and happy… > [@](#): > > …Sometimes it’s nice to go to a quieter corner of the internet and have some, y’know, conversations? … I’ve been known to post comments on the NYTimes or WaPo, but those aren’t intended to start a discussion and the snark usually shows up pretty soon. At least the snark here is literate and clever. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/42 "2021-07-10T21:01:48Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Well, dang. What reasons in particular? I’m really more talking about what’s happened over the years. **Asimovian** and **jsgoddess** haven’t been around much. **Asimovian** is a bit taciturn on the subject of why he left. **Least Original User Name Ever,** **traceyfish** and **cmyk** (three of my IRL friends that I met through Dopefests) no longer post here. **Ivylass** left because the place was becoming hostile to conservatives… I think she posts on GB but not sure. So a lot of the people I’ve met here that turned into IRL friendships no longer post here. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/43 "2021-07-10T21:33:09Z")
Well, I pulled the trigger on choosing to share this topic, which is fantastic… > … (bit of a bug with the avatar logo) … but this is the kind of unique content that attracts interesting 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:** [July 10, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/44 "2021-07-10T21:49:40Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > [https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1413974272784035842](https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1413974272784035842) Oh boy. Wonder who will show up from the twitterverse. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/45 "2021-07-10T21:53:55Z")
Hell no. This place isn’t at all what it used to be, with moderation as well as so many long term posters leaving or getting banned. I did refer a friend here a few years ago, I assume he lurked but he had a privacy obsession bordering on fanaticism and never created an account. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/46 "2021-07-10T22:24:39Z")
I would whole-heartedly recommend this place… I have a lot of smart, politically-savvy and (most importantly) snarky friends. BUT … I just know they’re so smart that they’d recognize my “voice” and think “Hmmm, that ‘digs’ character… isn’t that Darryl Digby’s writing style? I’m going to read everything he ever wrote here… and … omigod … realize what a jerk he is!” And the next time I walked into the local tavern, they’d ask me loudly in front of the whole poker group “HOW could you be so mean to Miller, just because he defended Millard Fillmore’s Pajama Legislation? And your snide comment to Snowboarder Bo? Give the kid a break!” ---
**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:** [July 10, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/47 "2021-07-10T22:40:24Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > You could add a Discourse instance as a “comment section” for your substack (effectively, blog). Tell me more (by PM, if need be). ---
**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:** [July 10, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/48 "2021-07-10T23:11:37Z")
Oh, I will invite people here… in my will. My plan is to leave my kids my user name and password, in case they ever want to know what their dad was up to for the last couple decades… But I’ll bet you fifty internet dollars they’ll just roll their eyes and never check it out. That’s how they’ve reacted to me offering them my coin/stamp/Pez/comic book collections. That makes me a little sad, but it’s also liberating. It means I can post whatever I want here, knowing that no one I know will read it. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/49 "2021-07-11T00:00:10Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But I’ll bet you fifty internet dollars they’ll just roll their eyes and never check it out. That’s how they’ve reacted to me offering them my coin/stamp/Pez/comic book collections. I can attest, using a single data point, that they won’t read your stuff. I wrote an open letter to my kid, compiled (at that time) 19 years of posts about her, sent her the link at least three times… and I know she hasn’t [gone all the way through it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-daughter-sophia/918949/2), not even close. You’re quite correct: Nobody cares. 😃 ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/50 "2021-07-11T00:30:08Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I know she hasn’t [gone all the way through it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-daughter-sophia/918949/2), not even close. > [@](#): > > You’re quite correct: Nobody cares The second statement does not _necessarily_ follow from the first statement. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/51 "2021-07-11T05:15:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 19 years of posts about her… That’s a hell of a homework assignment. I’ll bet she does care, but no one with a life would have time for all that reading. You should give her a one-page summary. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/52 "2021-07-11T05:49:07Z")
Lol I wrote it because she was in 2 weeks quarantine at Saint John’s University and needed something to read. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/53 "2021-07-11T13:01:07Z")
I ask myself if I would want to know what my dad said about me to strangers on a message board over most of my lifetime. Um… probably not. Maybe when he’s old and decrepit and I’m starting to feel nostalgic about my younger years. I guarantee she will hang on to the document (whether it’s physical or digital), appreciate it, love you for it, and read it eventually. Possibly not until after you’ve gone to the Great Dopefest in the Sky. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/54 "2021-07-11T18:04:15Z")
I did once. It didn’t turn out well. I lurked here for many years before joining. During my lurking years, I suggested a friend read the straight dope because some people here had his same rather unusual hobby. My friend did, and signed up to ask a question about his hobby that he couldn’t find an answer for. The first response was from a gatekeeper who told him that everything he was doing was wrong and that he was an idiot for doing it that way when the gatekeeper’s methods were so much better. My friend hasn’t been back and I haven’t recommended the board to anyone else. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/55 "2021-07-11T18:07:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I guarantee she will hang on to the document (whether it’s physical or digital), appreciate it, love you for it, and read it eventually. I’ve downloaded my posting history and put in on the shared family drive, so it’s there whenever she wants it. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/56 "2021-07-11T18:33:09Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > The first response was from a gatekeeper who told him that everything he was doing was wrong and that he was an idiot for doing it that way when the gatekeeper’s methods were so much better. Unfortunately, that’s often the standard type of response to an admitted newbie. Hat-in-hand humility often makes it worse. The response is less _“Welcome- glad ta see ya”_ and more _“A new victim/fresh meat!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/57 "2021-07-11T19:11:39Z")
I wouldn’t recommend my conservatives friends come here, because the place is toxic to conservatives. Plus, if I posted links to here for conservatives and a flood of them showed up, this would not be a happy place for most of the regulars. So I’ve never done that. I wouldn’t recommend my liberal friends come here, bexause we maintain our friendships by not talking politics. And frankly, a few of my friends, both liberal and conservative, don’t have the chops to hang with the debates, and have many more choices for just general chatting, TV talk, etc. Plus, I don’t really want to doxx myself and have all kinds of people I know reading my stuff without me knowing who is doing it. Word gets around. My wife has an account here, but almost never reads the place because she finds too many of the posters to be obnoxious. She participates in other message boards where the population actually tries to help and nurture each other and nastiness of any kind is frowned upon. They are non-political. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/58 "2021-07-11T23:59:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I can attest, using a single data point, that they won’t read your stuff. I wrote an open letter to my kid, compiled (at that time) 19 years of posts about her, sent her the link at least three times… and I know she hasn’t [gone all the way through it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-daughter-sophia/918949/2), not even close. > > You’re quite correct: Nobody cares. 😃 So, it’s a year later. Did she ever getting around to reading all 41 threads? ---
**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:** [July 12, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/59 "2021-07-12T00:03:02Z")
No, I don’t think so. Ain’t no thing, will probably bump it with a 1-year update, resend her the link, and then we will see. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765/60 "2021-07-12T00:06:57Z")
Well, you tried, and it’s there if she ever wants to. It’s not like the internet is going anywhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-recommend-the-sdmb-to-your-friends-and-acquaintances/945765.md?page=4)