Local sports message boards

I post on our message boards under my real name (BBAM), but only if there's a question like: "How do you pick all area?"
Even then, I say: "Here's a link to the process."

I also post under a fake name, but usually to ask: "Who do you think should be POY or all-area?"
And I only do that if there's very little conversation.

 

I do post on the small amount of local message boards there are in our area, and I do post anonymously.

My boss; however, always causes crap in any print, online and broadcast domain possible. And he does it by his own name. He thinks his point is always right. He also runs a local sportsite here with a forum and that is where people to write about stuff I wrote, positive and negative. Some of the stuff people write about you or your work tend to be funny at times.

 

Ty,

Only do message boards if you do drugs at the same time.

Danny

 

"Go for it, but be sure to call the people lots of names!" - Scott Van Pelt

 

An added benefit to that: if you register your real name, no loooserfanboy can "borrow" it for their own nefarious purposes. Yes, it's happened a few times on the board I moderate. We've locked a couple of accounts from people who claimed to be posting from their desks at the local paper, but (strangely) showed IP addresses several states away and couldn't provide a legit e-mail address from their alleged place of employment.

Actually posting? Enter at your own risk. No need to crack the lid on that can 'o worms unless you're merely asking/answering legitimate questions (as BBAM mentioned above); when we were affiliated with Shout!, we had a separate, no-BS-allowed "ask the staff" board that worked fairly well. As for mixing it up on the main board, though? Save yourself the headache (and the mods some cleanup work, when the yahoos start slinging mud...)

 

Don't do it Ty. Just cover the "big game" (they're all "big" on Friday, nigh, heh?) and leave it at that.

 

I'd say you should definitely be reading the boards, but probably not posting there. There's a prep sports message board site in my area that I read all the time, but it's only about 15 people who post there regularly, and that's it. So like someone else said, you get a feel for who people are and whose information seems credible.

I'm not totally opposed to the idea of posting on one of those sites. I've never done it, but if I did, I think I'd do it anonymously. There have been times when I've seen a discussion where people have half-truths or incomplete information, and I feel like I could go post what I know to set people straight. Just never done it. But I don't think I'd wade into anything that involved my paper. That's asking for trouble, not only from the fanatics on the board, but from the management of your paper too.

 

I know I'm in the vast minority on this topic - based on this thread and a similar one from days gone by - but I do it. Often.
And it's been a great success. (Oh, and I have the same 'wisportswriter' handle, but I post openly and honest about who I am.)

Admittedly, I'm mostly posting in our local prep boards, but I also dabble in a fan board of my regional DI college beat. Both have been rousing successes with very few minor hiccups. And even those were eventually smoothed over.

So, I know everyone says not to, but it's been great for me.

 

In a message board pissing contest, no one wins. Remember that the next time you feel compelled to respond.

 

Said the pot to the kettle.

 

You earned a gold star today.

 

I rest my case.