MAD Nearing 1 Million Posts.

[_solomarineris]

I posted on MDB for a few days. I made a joke about Utah and used the term "magical thinker". Pahoran called me a bigot. That place is awesome.

Look at that face, you look like a charming bigot....

[_cinepro]

Here are the top MAD posters, with the number of posts and date they joined:

Zakusa - 17519 (Jul 04)
thesometimesaint - 14594 (Jul 04)
calmoriah - 13564 (Jan 04)
LOAP - 13505 - (Jan 07)
charity - 12127 (Jul 05)
BCSpace - 11821 (Nov 03)
Morningstar - 10806 (Dec 04)
johnny - 10368 (Jan 04) (Banned)
juliann - 10221 (Nov 03)
Doctor Stuess - 9383 (Apr 06)
Katherine the Great - 9192 (Apr 05)
Daniel Peterson - 9012 (Apr 04)
urroner - 8715 (Apr 04)
selek - 8599 (Mar 06)


Other high-count banned posters:

Hammer - 7748 (Sep 06)
Paul Ray - 6621 (Oct 06)
The Dude - 5136 (Nov 05)
Moksha - 3921 (Jan 05)
Neighbor - 2983 (Mar 05)
Rollo Tomasi - 2858 (Dec 04)
Kevin Graham - 1925 (Dec 03)
Who Knows - 1604 (Dec 05)
Dr. Shades - 836 (Apr 04)


Yeah, guess who's not on that second list between The Dude and Paul Ray, suckaz...

[_Analytics]

Some fun facts:

Zakusa has posted on average 10 times per day, every day, for nearly 5 years.

LOAP has posted an average of 16.5 times per day, every day, for a little over two years.

If they each keep posting at that rate, they'll each reach 24,000 posts at the same time in January 2011, after which LOAP will be the board leader.

[_Doctor Scratch]

With only 10,000 posts to reach the one million mark, "Juliann's baby" is turning into an adult. There's seems little doubt it has been a successful board as far as drawing posters and generating lively discussions.

Ongoing predictions that MAD "would be dead in six months" haven't materialised. You have to give her credit.

So what is the secret of Juliann's brainchild?
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>
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The "secret", Ray, is that it provides a semi-open forum where apologists can feel like they have at least a tiny bit of leverage over the critics. Everywhere else they go they gets their butts handed to them on a platter. They have to resort to gross sockpuppetry, lying, ad hominem attacks, and so on. (Yes, yes, I know: they still do those things anyhow.) So, MAD is a place where they can feel like they're in charge. It was for all these same reasons that juliann led a mass exodus from ZLMB, which most cyber-historians regard as being the most "balanced" Mormon-themed board ever.

[_beastie]

The "secret", Ray, is that it provides a semi-open forum where apologists can feel like they have at least a tiny bit of leverage over the critics. Everywhere else they go they gets their butts handed to them on a platter. They have to resort to gross sockpuppetry, lying, ad hominem attacks, and so on. (Yes, yes, I know: they still do those things anyhow.) So, MAD is a place where they can feel like they're in charge. It was for all these same reasons that juliann led a mass exodus from ZLMB, which most cyber-historians regard as being the most "balanced" Mormon-themed board ever.

I completely concur. Evidently, the only way most internet defenders of the faith feel comfortable is on a board that has a moderating team openly biased toward believers, and controls the "tone" of the board by regularly purging critics. The mass exodus from ZLMB proved that beyond any doubt, in my opinion.

There are some brave souls that defy this generalization, of course, but the vast majority of internet defenders prove the generalization - otherwise ZLMB would not have been left a ghost town. It was almost as if the prophet himself ordered the exodus. It still amazes me.

[_Ray A]

Here is a recent poll started by Will, which gives an indication of the current status of MAD:

Which option best describes your current faith status?

I believe in the divine origins of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I believe the keys of the authority to administer the restored gospel are currently held by Thomas S. Monson. [ 111 ] ** [64.53%]

[SNIP]

I have doubts about the divine origins of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. [ 14 ] ** [8.14%]

I do not believe in the divine origins of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. [ 45 ] ** [26.16%]

Current Faith Status of Board Participants.

Even if you add the penultimate question, which could include active members, the ratio is 111 (believers)- 59 (unbelievers).

[_Dwight Frye]

Even if you add the penultimate question, which could include active members, the ratio is 111 (believers)- 59 (unbelievers).

I'm surprised to find there are even that many unbelievers over there. Where are they all? They're certainly not posting. And only a handful of the ones that do actually turn out anything worth a damn.

[_John Larsen]

Even if you add the penultimate question, which could include active members, the ratio is 111 (believers)- 59 (unbelievers).

But you also have to factor in the fact that the believers out post the unbelievers by quite a ratio. It seems that most threads are 4 or 5 volume posters gang banging 1 or 2 critics with a few other believers joining in. That ratio does not represent that actual volume of posts.

[_Ray A]

I'm surprised to find there are even that many unbelievers over there. Where are they all? They're certainly not posting. And only a handful of the ones that do actually turn out anything worth a damn.

The was a time when the numbers were almost even. General Juliann Patton has run this board with shrewdness and consumate skill. Ya gotta hand her that. She should be in politics.

[_John Larsen]

And only a handful of the ones that do actually turn out anything worth a damn.

What would make them worth a damn? It is a difficult job, being a critic over there--saying something substantial, not getting angry and still flying under the radar. It ain't easy.