quote:Originally posted by birdman: If you click to read your profile, the last few digits of the URL corresponds to the order in which you registered. So Gibbie must have been the 62nd person to register, and I was the 205th. I must have been on a brief hiatus and waited a few weeks to register.
-birdman
Edited because I clicked the wrong button. Duh!
The easiest way to see a registration/member number is to place your cursor over the post number. The r/m number is shown at the end of the line in the status bar.
-------------------- "This air we're breathing. Oxygen, isn't it?"~I’mNotDedalus, impersonating Vincent D’Onofrio.|"Sometimes trying to communicate can be like walking through a minefield."~wanderwoman "Give people a break. It's not easy doing a life."~Joshua Halberstam Posts: 4020 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
The snopes community changes, for the worse, every time an established member leaves. It changes, for the better, every time a new member joins and becomes established.
Silas (define "established" -- does a 1,000 post limerick count?)
Posts: 16801 | From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:I recall shortly after I got my registration date something happening that changed everyone's registration date, or at least some of our registration dates, but what it was I don't remember.
At one point Infopop released an upgrade to the message board software that included a change in the way account information was stored. The upgrade "imported" user information from the previous version and re-stored it in a newer format. During that process, account numbers were not preserved; the newer version stored existing accounts in alphabetical order by login name (and reassigned new account numbers based on that ordering). Therefore, the member numbers of posters who registered prior to that upgrade do not reflect the order in which they registered.
quote:If there is a separate clubhouse which happens to overlap with snopes, that is one thing. Many of us have occasionally seen other snopesters on other boards. But if a secret club exists which is defined, or rather defines itself, as being an "inner circle", then I think it is analagous to a secret society in our little village. Whether it can be likened to the KKK or the freemasons, the principle is surely the same: it is, by definition, exclusionary, and it suggests that some posters see themselves as snopesier than others. Is it harmful? I don't know. Is it wrong? I think maybe it is.
It's a fact of human nature that whenever you participate in an endeavor that involves interaction with other people (e.g., work, sports, bridge clubs, on-line forums) some of those other people will talk about you in discussions to which you are not privy (whether it be face-to-face, by telephone, by e-mail, in other forums, etc.). That you do not know about it does not mean it is not happening. In fact, it would be rather naive to assume it is not happening.
It is also true that, by definition, the concept of "community" involves both inclusion and exclusion. *All* communities are exclusionary, even if membership is completely voluntary and open to everyone who desires it.
quote:I think it should be made clear to those who don't remember the good old days when this incident occurred -- that alleged super-secret SLC board was not a part of snopes.com Probably best to not call it an "SLC board"; that's gives an inaccurate impression that it was.
Yes, some people seem to be confusing two very different things.
The original "SLC board" (i.e., the "Pool Party" board) was simply a second message board split off from the UL board to try to contain some of the inevitable off-topic chat that appears in every type of discussion forum. It was not well-publicized, but neither was it "secret" -- links to it were included in the FAQ and occasionally posted on the board itself, and anyone who got to it (by whatever method) was free to post to it.
The lack of publicity for the Pool Party board did not stem from a desire to create an "exclusive" community. The old message board software was very clumsy, became rather difficult to use after it accumulated a few weeks' worth of posts, and provided no mechanism for pruning older posts. (I hand to manually edit three different files to clear off older posts, a difficult and time-consuming chore.) Hence, it made little sense to encourage even *more* chat posting by openly advertising a place where people could go to chat -- the Pool Party board was only meant to contain all the off-topic chat that was already taking place on the main UL board, not to promote more of it.
The "SLC board" or "Pool Party board" should not be confused with various other "unofficial" message boards started and populated by current and/or former members of this board, some of which have been operated on a password-protected, invitation-only basis.
quote:Originally posted by snopes: Yes, some people seem to be confusing two very different things.
Well, speaking for myself (and perhaps many other rocket-powered monkey cycling fans), I think I was confusing at least three or four things. I can only apologise for any anxiety, annoyance, or other bad feeling caused.
posted
OK, as a former ULMB fanatic and now an occasional lurker, I remember the SLC (Secret whatever whatever was felt like at the momement).
The admission requirements were thus: You had to READ all of that snopes message board rules. At the very bottom, there was something like "If you want to chat off topic, go here."
Sometimes a person who stumbled across this link suggested a friend join in. So these were invited guests, you might say.
By the way, yes I was a member of that chat board, via the link at the bottom of the guidelines and instructions page.
Beyond that, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a *lot* of private chat boards spun off of snopes. You make some virtual friends, you want to talk in a less public forum, you go elsewhere. Not superiority, just extra combatibility.
Lisa [Edited to add: Wow, I was beaten to the punch on just about all my points by snopes himself. I don't know whether to feel honored or embarassed.]
-------------------- Never make fun of a man's fish, especially if it is 40 feet tall and aluminum. Posts: 949 | From: Central California | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by tagurit: The first banning I recall, of an actively posting member, is JK Will, ole spider boy. I still miss him.
I remember the banning of ISNorden in summer 2001, not to mention the bannings of the assorted trolls and kooks who have come here from time to time...
Jaime
ETA: Ah, multispanked.
-------------------- "Everyone has problems. They only vary in design" - Mama Duck Posts: 4988 | From: Spain | Registered: Sep 2001
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IIRC there was a troll around 2002 called "Foolish Muffin" who got banninated, and tried to sneak back with a new identity. The new identity was "Fulish Muffin", so she got caught quite quickly....
Posts: 2370 | From: Arabia | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by tagurit: Richard W. is talking about when the SLC wasn't really hidden, but wasn't out in public view like it is now. There was a link to get to it, right?
I'm talking about the superseekritsnopesterclubbyinvitationonly. When it all blew up and was exposed was more like 6 1/2 - 7 years ago, maybe early 2000. Yeah, now that I think on it, I think it was early 2000. A member of the super seekrit club obviously got upset at the other special members and exposed it all on the board (then later hightailed it out of snopesworld and took her posts with her). The secret clubhouse wasn't on snopes. I don't recall where it was (maybe I never knew where) but snopes had nothing to do with it at all as far as I could tell. Though, there wasn't a members list published, so I could be wrong.
And yeah, it was wrong mostly in perception. Here was this fairly popular snopester (though she was also fairly annoying sometimes) coming on SLC and exposing the seekrit society. The shame was in the presentation. It was a club of elite snopesters that talked about the commoners behind their backs. It was by invitation only.
AT the time of the exposé I mentioned being a little freaked out by her announcement and then I'm getting emails telling me that I (what? was, would, should, could?) be invited into the inner circle, myself. I think the intent was to soothe me, smooth things over. I wasn't upset because I hadn't been invited in. That wasn't the reason I'd been upset at all. Now, I was being told that I couldashouldawoulda been invited, if the whole thing didn't blow up in everyone's faces like it did. *ho hum* That's what really freaked me out! That's the reason I went into read-only mode for a period of time. I mean, do I seem like inner circle material to you? That's not my style. I don't play that sort of game. I was freaked out that people even thought of me for inclusion.
It felt like the KKK were letting me know they thought I'd make a fine member. That's how it felt to me. Of course, this is in light of the big blowup.
And during the big blowup, it was also revealed that Edith D. Bunker, a favorite poster, did not really exist, that several snopesters used this personna to respond to queries. *HUH?* I believe members of the same superseekritclub. So, at one time not only were alternate personnas ok on this site, but the cream of the crop, the elite snopesters themselves, members of the superseekritsnopesterssociety, were all using one.
Does this superseekritclub exist today? Probably not. I'm not sure, but I really don't care.
Heh. I've not seen so much paranoia outside of We've Got Mail for quite a while.
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:that was the first time I realized people still worshipped the ancient Norse gods.
Why not? People still worship the Jesus guy, and he's about as old. He doesn't even allow his followers to feast forever in Valhalla when they die!
quote:Wait. Is that the list I'm supposed to conform to? Oh, crap. I'm going to get kicked off the board.
Well, you won't be alone. I flunked almost all those criteria. I suspect we'd be so many we could set up www.failed-snopesters.org and start a new community.
-------------------- /Troberg Posts: 4360 | From: Borlänge, Sweden | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by birdman: I remember when a three-page thread was a rare occurance, only for heated debates. Now we can rack up a five-pager in 24 hours on a topic of no consequence.
You reminded me of a way that I've changed. I used to have a rule that I wouldn't even look at a thread more than two pages long because I assumed people were arguing. It took me a while to get over that.
quote:Originally posted by Gibbie: Why does yours say March when mine and other old timers says Feb? Dunno, maybe you were just pokey signing up! I know that I signed up the day it changed to the UBB board from the old frames format.
I occasionally posted but mostly lurked on the pre UBB board but I was there for the switchover. However, the reason my registration date is March is due to the fact that I waited a few weeks until I had something to post before registering. tag, maybe you did something similar?
quote:Originally posted by tagurit: And something else that's changed is this is not the San Fernando Valley Urban Legends Reference Pages anymore. I think I recalled that correctly, or somewhat close.
It was the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society. In the 90s I lived in the Valley and I was so excited when I saw the snopes page for the first time because I pictured the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society as something like the Diogenes Club. Imagine my disappointment when I found out it wasn't so. Brian
-------------------- "Dear Big Foot Smellers: Please don't quote me on some of this information." John F. Winston Posts: 1707 | From: Camarillo, CA | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:I was so excited when I saw the snopes page for the first time because I pictured the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society as something like the Diogenes Club. Imagine my disappointment when I found out it wasn't so.
It's only a matter of time before people start to swear they attended meetings of the SFVFS back in the early 1990s.
quote:I was so excited when I saw the snopes page for the first time because I pictured the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society as something like the Diogenes Club. Imagine my disappointment when I found out it wasn't so.
It's only a matter of time before people start to swear they attended meetings of the SFVFS back in the early 1990s.
- snopes
I think I went to one; Bigfoot was a guest, wasn't he?
-------------------- "I have never in my life been more disappointed by a politician I voted for than I have been with George Bush. He is a total liberal."- overheard by me on the shuttle to the U of A game on Nov. 11th. Posts: 3878 | From: Tucson, AZ | Registered: Jan 2001
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can I just ask that the people bitching about the "other" board grow the NFBSK up, please?
as for ISNorden, she was a friend of mine - a quite close friend at that. she taught me a lot, about Norse paganism, Swedish culture and language, issues facing disabled people, and more. we haven't talked in some time (save for the odd random chat on AIM) but I never really understood the outright hostility towards her. yes, she could be abrasive and somewhat repetetive and annoying (e.g. with the food thing) but that's hardly something unique to her. sometimes it seems she just got on the bad side of the wrong people.
I do feel the atmosphere here has changed in as much as when it was smaller, it felt a lot more like a village community, which if you don't have particularly great self-confidence can be intimidating. I registered sometime in 2000 but didn't start posting regularly until several months later because it felt like I would have been crashing something.
if you like, it's a comparison between a house party and a nightclub. with the former, if you don't really know anybody it can take a lot of effort to fit in. with the latter it's a much larger, much more public area that IMO is more conducive.
(er, don't try to analyse that analogy as it's probably filled with holes...)
one thing I have noticed is the shift away from discussion of urban legends per se. one other thing that I felt intimidated by initially was that the forum did seem to be literally an extension of the main site - the site presents info on urban legends, the forum discusses, researches, debunks and provides information on them with a couple of forums (when I first came there was SLC, a couple of games forums, and I think that was it) for miscallaneous chat. as an easily-intimidated 16 year old I felt uncomfortable - not intelligent, dedicated, or experienced enough to be able to contribute meaningfully to the UL discussions.
while age has changed that on a personal level, the boards as a whole seem much more about politics, current affairs, personal problems, and suchlike than ULs per se, tho they do obviously still form part of the board. I find this a lot more welcoming.
-------------------- Hello, I love you - won't you tell me your name? Hello! I'm good for nothing - will you love me just the same?
quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: Heh. I've not seen so much paranoia outside of We've Got Mail for quite a while.
I think the word "paranoia" is a little strong. I didn't even take her post as a complaint really, but just a report of the event and the reaction (not just hers, but others) to it.
quote:Originally posted by Zachary Fizz: But on the plus side, we got to speak about rocket-powered monkey cycles. You can't buy experiences like that.
Oh, dear, and we already sent you the invoice. I'm afraid we've already set you up on net 30 terms. We'd hate to have to report you to our credit department.
Oh, dear. Do you accept payment in robotic camel jockey spare parts?
Of course not. Please prepare yourself for a visit from our credit department, all of whom are members of the Elitist Swinging Swimmer Old Ladies, Geek Division.
Posts: 4811 | From: Austin, TX | Registered: Feb 2000
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As for snopes changing. Well, I have only really been posting regularly for eighteen months or so, but I read for a long time and occasionally dipped my toe in the water. To begin with I mainly swam in the UL forums, but have since opened out into the other areas.
Thus to me it appears as if we are discussing more non-UL stuff, but that is just because I am swimming more in these areas.
-------------------- Andrew, Ware, England Posts: 1709 | From: Ware, England | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Mosherette: Heh. I've not seen so much paranoia outside of We've Got Mail for quite a while.
And
quote:Originally posted by Jonny T: can I just ask that the people bitching about the "other" board grow the NFBSK up, please?
Something in the water over there?
I certainly hope so. This whole "elitist" thing is just ridiculous..or however it's spelled ( I was never great with that word).
People are people...they LIKE certain people, and include them in their 'circle'...and they also DISlike people and don't include them in thei circle. It's part of life...whether online or real life.
If one wants to be included in a certain group and isn't invited/included, then maybe they need to evaluate just WHY they want to be in said group...is it "cool"? is it "politically correct"?....or do they just want to "belong"?
Me...I'm happy having a few happy hour drinks...then going back to my boat...which happens to be at a marina with an active bar/restaurant. I will also mention that there are less than 20 slips, and maybe 12 are occupied...and one of the rules - one must LIVE on one's boat to be parked at this marina....so there's a particular comraderie amongst the guests....as well as the locals. Am I a member? I could care less. I live here. Things tend to fall into place when they need to.
So who cares if there's a sooperseekrit offboard board...it'd be just like a different group of 'boaties' thumbing their noses. Me, I don't need it. I'll make my own way, TYVM
It seems as if I have outgrown the need to peruse the boards and offer advice. If someone sends me an obviously silly email, I look up the relevant link on the main snopes engine & forward it....making sure to tell said emailer that the item in question has been thoroughly researched, and they may as well just STOP sending tripe. They learn, after a while .
Me, I'm going back to working on me boat. Three years (If I am LUCKY) and she will sail again. Dag nabbit to the folks who made her not sailable.
ciao
-k
-------------------- "You never know when you will be attacked by a wild tortilla" - José Zavala "Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat" Be good and you will be lonesome Posts: 3569 | From: USVI | Registered: Jun 2000
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As one of the so-called old timers, I'm finding this thread very interesting. A couple things I'd like to add:
The preUBB boards were wide open and we could post pretty much as anyone we chose. In February of 2000, when the board transformed to more or less its current format, there were other dynamics going on with the internet. Message boards in other areas were being taken over by more commercial interests and a bit of a shake-out was taking place. Unfortunately, these boards seemed to be conduits for email harvesters. I was personally reticent to register at snopes until I had a greater confidence that their registration lists were more secure. Hence, my registration date was March, 2000.
PreUBB snopes was a pretty intimate place, and the SLC was even more intimate. I don't participate here as much as I did five years ago, but I have learned a lot from David and Barbara and that has helped me as the Administrator for another board. I greatly admire what they've given us all.
Happy Holidays, Muck
Posts: 749 | From: Lebanon, OR | Registered: Mar 2000
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-------------------- "You never know when you will be attacked by a wild tortilla" - José Zavala "Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat" Be good and you will be lonesome Posts: 3569 | From: USVI | Registered: Jun 2000
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guruwan2b
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
Manta, how's that pirate guy doing?
-------------------- Too much of this navel gazing and we'll disappear up our own arses. Danvers Carew Posts: 7465 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Oct 2001
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I find it interesting that a lot of old timers (in SLC age) have come to comment on this thread. In a council of elders sort of way. I thing the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same" is appropriate here. I agree with Silas in his old friends leaving/new friends joining analogy.
RD
-------------------- Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish Posts: 2036 | From: Virginia | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by RangerDog: I find it interesting that a lot of old timers (in SLC age) have come to comment on this thread. In a council of elders sort of way. I thing the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same" is appropriate here. I agree with Silas in his old friends leaving/new friends joining analogy.
Silas Sparkhammer is always looking ahead and that is good. But this newbie white man, living on the outskirts of the SLC, cannot cover our lodges or feed our children.
He is nothing to us. When I hear that more newbie whites are coming, I want to laugh. We took a hundred ULs from these people. There was no honor in it. They don't debate well. They don't type well. They're dirty. Those newbies from last year could not even make it through one winter here.
And these newbies are said to flourish? I think they will all be banned soon.
I will take some snopesters. We will shoot some arrows into this newbie white man. If he truly has medicine, he will not be hurt. If he has no medicine, he will be banned.
-------------------- The salty fragrance of L’EauD’I’mNotDedalus - made entirely of and entirely for sea turtles. Posts: 1983 | From: Chicagoland, IL | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by RangerDog: I find it interesting that a lot of old timers (in SLC age) have come to comment on this thread. In a council of elders sort of way. I thing the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same" is appropriate here. I agree with Silas in his old friends leaving/new friends joining analogy.
RD
It's what we call Graydar.
Posts: 749 | From: Lebanon, OR | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by BrianB: You reminded me of a way that I've changed. I used to have a rule that I wouldn't even look at a thread more than two pages long because I assumed people were arguing. It took me a while to get over that
When I came back after being away from the board for a few days, I specifically avoided the "You screwed up my sandwich..." thread in Rantidote because I assumed such a long thread must some sort of heated debate. I finally read it just now out of sheer morbid curiosity about how a thread about a wrong sandwich could possible spark such a debate. I was a bit surprised to find that other than I discussion about whether a server asking if a customer wants sugar in his coffee is patronizing and some quibbeling over the definition of black coffee, there really wasn't any huge debate, just a thread with a lot of posts sort of wandering through several topics.
Now sort of getting back to the subject of whether the board has changed or not, I have noticed that I fell less comfortable posting about personal problems than I did back in my earlier days on the board (and I wouldn't consider myself an old timer by any means). I have no idea if that's a subcountious reaction to the board actually being "less nice" than it used to be as some claim, or because the board has gotten much larger, or it just means I have changed and not the board.
-------------------- "Unseasonable is an odd word to begin with. It sounds like it's describing something that it's impossible to sprinkle pepper on." -- Nonny Posts: 5483 | From: Just south of Folsom Prison, CA | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by I'mNotDedalus: I will take some snopesters. We will shoot some arrows into this newbie white man. If he truly has medicine, he will not be hurt. If he has no medicine, he will be banned.
Don't forget the sumo wrestlers and zero-gravity chamber...
Silas
Posts: 16801 | From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
I will say that even though it's been a while since I posted, it's nice to see some of my old friends still around.
And I remember using the starfleet or whatever it was IRC server. Kept me amused at a boring job for a long time... although this was several years ago.
Posts: 2 | From: Massachusetts | Registered: Nov 2006
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