How did Fluther curate its culture so that people usually only post questions?

I think it HAS to be a question. I remember questions getting edited because they weren’t a question.
I know some people DO get away with statements by saying “Do you agree that…” Or “have you heard…..”
But the idea has always been questions and discussions. The little icon does say ASK fluther.

The mods will take the post down if it isn’t actually a question.

If the mods will take down the post if it is not a question, why am I allowed to post things ending with ”!” or ”.” for example? Why does Fluther not force the question mark?

I think they used to force the question mark but we ended up with two question marks on a lot of questions.

A question can be followed by a statement.

A question can also be worded as a request, e.g “Please help me understand this math problem”. That’s still, essentially, a question.

The default is a question mark at the end of your post. You have to explicitly put in another form of punctuation for this to change. I really love the live preview as I type in the post section because it helps me figure out how it will look (with the question mark included).

Thorninmud – Sure, but how hard would it be to phrase it “Can someone please help me understand this math problem?” with the question mark forced? Is that bad product design?

The expectation is that people are intelligent and respectful of the intent. If that fails, the excellent moderation gently guides newbies in the ways of the jelly.

@aakash Yes, that example could just as easily be worded in interrogatory form, and I think the default question mark is meant to encourage that, but the ability to override it does allow for some freedom of expression while still respecting the “question” rule.

Here’s an old question, for example, where the actual question would have been too unwieldy to put in title form, so it was more economical to use a teaser as the title and refer to the details for the complete question. It was clear enough that this was a question, even though the title wasn’t a question, per se. The spirit of the rule was respected, even if the letter of the rule wasn’t.

^^^ The real mystery is “Who was @Harp and where is s/he now?

Alas, forgot to wear a helmet while flipping hammers

@thorninmud That example makes me cringe because of the poor quality posts in the answers (“im confused, which way did u balance it?”). Arggghhhhh!!

Don’t you think we ought to make it a requirement to answer a question with a question?

@gailcalled I do miss @harp! S/he was so intelligent!

Fluther is also not just for getting the top answer, like Quora is. It’s more of a discussion in the comment section. I like this a lot better and think this is more useful. Any overarching thoughts on this matter?

Also, why do most people have abstract icons as opposed to their faces? It makes the service seem more like talking to a community of insightful strangers and a bit less personal. This is also a very marked feature of the environment. Other thoughts on this?

Sorry, I have lots of questions.

@aakash Personally, it took me over a year to bother to find a replacement icon for the original one I chose from the dozen or so provided. It was just not a big thing to me and I couldn’t be bothered making the effort.

Others change theirs like underwear.

@aakash You are asking good questions about the site. Welcome to Fluther! It is a unique corner of the Internet with a very special culture. You will find if you stick around that many people’s avatars become them and you can anticipate what kind of answer you are going to get from seeing it.

I think out of all the internet communities I’ve been a part of, Fluther – after all this time – has one of the best. It’s very welcoming, very knowledgeable, and serves its purpose well. I think it’s done a spectacular job with the culture of the site and I’m loving being a part of it.

Actually, if you posted a statement, it would quickly be flagged. This is a Q & A site.

^^ That. Fluther is a Q&A site, so… we ask questions.

We are definitely a Q & A site, so questions are the norm here. That said, we like to allow some freedom in how a question is posed. Here’s one asked by a founder, with plenty of ‘poetic license’.

Regarding our overall culture, you might be interested in this blog post about the community.

From around five years ago..

http://blog.fluther.com/fixing-your-lousy-punctuation-and-capitalization/

Welcome to Fluther.

How dare you suggest that we have culture!

If you click “flag” on a question, you’ll see one of the suggested reasons for flagging is “it isn’t really a question.” We’re a Q&A site, you’re meant to ask questions.

I ask the questions
Not always the best uns
But check out my rap
Yeah I know that it’s crap
But it’s cool brother
Coz we’re on Fluther
No place to attack
Most jellies are whack