Is it my imagination, or are there a lot of new people on Fluther today?

There are also the newcomers who use caps and punctuation as a form of decoration. I have been flagging until I began to flag.

Oh sure. I’m going to touch this after @gailcalled kicked my ass the other night.

Did I? Over what? (Did we both agree that it was justified or did we come to blows?)

It was fun. I liked it.

Ooooh…

@Adirondackwannabe That’s okay, @gailcalled kicked my ass this morning. Then she gave me an A. She’s so generous.

I see this off and on from week to week. I think it’s just a matter of noticing it before the questions are yanked. Sometimes I notice, sometimes I don’t.

@WillWorkForChocolate I so want to watch @gailcalled beating your ass. Is it allowed to say woody in meta?

@jca Sorry for hijacking your thread. Back to newcomers.

Now might be a good time to think of some original ways of saying “kicking your ass,” might it not? Remember that Molière said that something stopped being funny after the third repetition. (You do remember that, don’t you?)

Welcome, newcomers.

I noticed, too. I have no idea why there was a sudden influx of (younger?) people. If anyone has a clue, please share!

@jca & @augustlan Just a guess that some of us sharing questions on Facebook and Twitter is occasionally catching the eyes of new users that find the subject interesting, come over, and decide to stay. That might explain lots being young, as well—although I know I’m far from the only ancient of days character on Social Media.

@ETpro That is what I was thinking.

School is out in many areas, and it only takes one person with a social account and 600+ followers to post a rave review about this cool new website where you can ask questions and get helpful answers to pique the interest of others.

@augustlan and moderator team: It might be time to batten down the hatches for a potential storm of newcomers. Hopefully, we users can help out by providing kind guidance to any new members, young or old.

I am one of these so called newcomers. I found this place by asking a search engine a question which I had done numerous times yet this place had never popped up until a few days ago. Two other people have expressed that they had found it the same way. I was drawn in by the questions and answers and the varying personalities. In fact a few of the people in here contributed to me joining. I was laughing most of the time and who doesn’t like a good laugh! I assure you that I am not a person with any followers. I do appreciate everyone being so kind and welcoming. It can be a little intimidating especially if you have never experienced this type of platform.

@LovinglyMiscontrued We’re glad you found us. :)

@LovinglyMiscontrued I’ve noticed too that we are suddenly showing up in Google as well as Bing search results. Until recently, Google seemed to have Fluther in some sort of penalty zone, because some users here copy and paste content from other sites. That seems to have changed. Perhaps we can all thank Panda and Penguin for all the new members. Strange that Google would warm to us from the Penguin’s icy home in Antarctica.

@ETpro: Does this mean an influx of teeny boppers, text speak and having to teach the newbies about using capitalization and punctuation?

@jca I’ve noticed several really good new members, too! It’s always a mixed bag, but I’m overall quite happy about it. :)

@jca A growing community means diversity with all the good and bad that comes with that. @LovinglyMiscontrued certainly seems to fit in here and communicate clearly. Just consider that growing beats shrinking.

I often don’t use caps because the shift key on my left side is sticky and my little finger has trouble stretching that far to hit it with more vigor.

I didn’t know one would get modded for that??? Some fluther rules just confound me!

@rooeytoo Occasional typos aren’t a big deal (although if it’s in a question title, chances are good that it will get sent back for editing). However, if it’s a pattern (all caps, all lowercase, no apostrophes, poor spelling, etc.) we mod it and send a PM about our writing standards (which do state that we require proper capitalization, among other things.)

Okey dokey, and by the way, I meant my right shift key. I am sure that is an interesting fact to everyone! I want a new macbook pro!

I don’t know where they have come from, but I like some of these newcomers. I vote we keep them. Some may need a little training, but we can do that. Others… well, we shall see.

You know what would be nice? If the new people would put some info in their profiles. Actually, if anybody didn’t fill out their profiles, it would be nice if they went in and did it.

@Bellatrix I wanted to ask for a little training but they put people behind bars for what I had in mind.

@jca – it would be nice if some of the oldies filled out their profiles. I often look when someone gives a good answer. I want to know more about this person only to discover blankness!

I think @augustlan takes care of that type of training personally @Adirondackwannabe.

I think if they gave some kind of incentive for people to fill out their profiles, it might help. For example “Three points JUST for filling out your profile!” Can’t you feel the excitement?

@jca There is a Fluther award for filling out a profile.

@jca or Auggie’s whip, maybe threatening with the whip would help!

@rooeytoo Blankness says a lot about a person, don’t you think?

@ETpro – yes that’s true too. And of course, then you can draw your own conclusions!

@rooeytoo @ETpro ; And after drawing your own conclusions, you can then fill in the blanks.

I am more likely to follow someone if they’ve filled out their profile. If they have not put anything there, it’s 50/50.

@rooeytoo

Didn’t I read fairly recently that you now have a nice shiny new iPhone?

Thats one of the most convenient things about iPhone; the fact that following a period and two spaces it automatically capitalizes the next word typed.

Of course, theres that small screen to deal with, but then…

@Buttonstc – yep, I love my iPhone but I don’t do my typing on it. However, that is a handy little smartness for when I do!

In spite of the small screen, I’ve recently returned to it in self defense.

I got an Android tablet several months ago (7 incher) but since the recent 4.0 upgrade (ICS) it’s been nothing but aggravation and headaches.

Disappearing keyboard mid-typing, refuses to return, browser slow as molasses in January etc.

I now have a far greater appreciation for the elegance of an operating system from a company dedicated to making the customer experience as smooth and flawless as possible.

There is a lot of truth to the phrase “it just works” and I have a renewed appreciation for it with each passing day.

@Buttonstc – uh oh, where is you know who! If he knew someone was touting apple he would be here pointing out that android is so much better and apple is so overpriced, and on and on. But I am with you, I like things that work without constant crashes, and I like pretty and sleek design too. I love everything apple I have ever owned!

@rooeytoo

In fairness, I think he realizes that I’m not a blind unthinking Apple fanboy so he knows he doesn’t need to convert me to rationality.

And I may end up selling this tablet but I’ll still get another Android device. I like having access to two platforms. But I now have a much clearer perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of each from experience with both.

Due to a few Android apps, I’ve saved (and continue to each month) on prescription meds. And there are apps for Android not available for iPhone.

My main gripe with Apple is the limitations of the walled garden approach and absolute refusal to enable Flash on IOS. That’s just annoying.

But there’s no way I would risk ditching my iPhone for an Android. If I’m having problems with my tablet at least it doesn’t affect my ability to make phone calls.

Even tho I’m due for an upgrade with ATT and they also carry the new Samsung Galaxy Note, I only considered it for about half a second.

I don’t want to waste my upgrade on an Android device. I’ll be getting another iPhone for sure and hope that a five inch Galaxy Player is an adequate tablet substitution.