Why did you JOIN fluther?

I can’t even remember why now, it’s been such a long time. I stayed because of a lot of the members, and left because of a handful of members. I came back because I wanted to show support for a particular jelly, and maybe things will be better now than they were. :)

Came for a music question, stayed for the intelligent and civil atmosphere. Fluther doesn’t have the nasty people like most websites, and when there’s an argument, no personal attack is used. At least people answer my questions instead of giving stupid responses like on Y!A.

@WillWorkForChocolate Kinda funny that we both re-enlisted at the same time. I can’t give you the secret gang handshake here, but you know I remember it!

I became involved in hundreds of political flame wars on Answerbag and Sodahead after the economic collapse and during the ramp-up to the 2008 presidential election. Interestingly, we fought over many of the same things that were mentioned in the Democratic debate tonight—that were hardly mentioned in the mass media at that time and certainly not in the debates I remember. We fought over the 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagal, the lack of MWDs, the Iraq War, the NRA dominance over our law makers, the Patriot Act, the 1989 repeal of the Fairness in Broadcasting Doctrine, the legal bribing system we call Lobbying in the US, our corrupt election campaign laws, and on, and on, and on… I was in there with ET_pro and others—I think Seek was there also under another name; or somebody an awful lot like her.

By the end, Slate reported that there were Republican Neo-Cons, either volunteers or paid operatives (the modern equivalent of envelope stuffers) sent into Sodahead, Answerbag and other social sites to combat the what was perceived as a dangerous trend to the Left in the US. It was nasty, and I’m not proud of some the thngs I did at that time.

Finally, Answerbag changed their whole format where it made it more difficult to re-visit old and on-going questions. ET_pro had had enough and told me about a nice place called Fluther where one could debate without ad hominem attack (or anything like we were used to), armies of sock puppets, and just nice people who debate and disagree and have fun.

I went for it. I felt like a refugee from a war zone. All I really wanted to discuss was books, art, and engage in the kind of bullshit one might in the corner tavern after work. I think I had a bit of internet PSTD and would lash out every once in a while. But I met people like Janbb and gailcalled and realized that sometimes holding one’s tongue when under attack,a little intelligence and some honey worked better on one’s opponents than the written word’s equivalent of nukes.

So, here I am.

http://www.fluther.com/21548/can-you-help-me-find-the-perfect-hot-dog-bun-cradles/

Hot dog buns ! !!

It was 2007, I had a little newborn baby, cats and fleas. The fleas were why I joined. I was researching the flea life cycle, fles eradication, etc. and I came upon Fluther, around the 2nd page of the Google search. I joined, quickly pulling up my Jelly name without much thought. I found Fluther to be a little diversion and stayed.

I was swept down stream from the dam that burst at AB and found myself swimming in the tide pool with people that were swept away with me I felt connected to. Talk about oil and water attempting to mix here…6 years later still stirring the pot.

Answerbag changed to suckage, and everyone migrated over at once, at Yarnlady’s suggestion.

I was an observer on AB for over a year, but never joined.
It was pure karma that my AB favorites were on Fluther when I discovered it.

I joined because I was active in askville and when that started getting icky someone there suggested here. I love the moderation here and there was none there.

I happened to read a little article on the site that was linked on some other (non-Q&A) site, and was intrigued. I came over for a look and immediately fell in love with the high level of discourse this place offered.

I never answer this question because the reason why I joined is not a pleasant memory. I am glad that I stayed. Very glad.

@dammitjanetfromvegas I will always be in your corner.

@augustlan , Auggie! It’s very cool that you still respond with your Principal name. I admire and adore you.

I was bumped to the site looking for an answer to a question that is, apparently, no longer of any consequence.

I stayed because it seemed like a small community of family. Yes, some of us gripe and rag on each other constantly (I’m looking at you @jerv & @Jaxx) but that is what family seems to do. I wanted to be a part of it; to be able to integrate into the collective without having to be concerned about social niceties and norms and to be accepted (or at least tolerated) for who I am and what I feel.

An ex-girlfriend recommended it. She used to be a contributor.

Aw thanks, @Blueroses. <3

Fluther was featured by Apple among a list of notable web apps the summer that the original iPhone was released, so I checked it out.

Oh, seeing the comments about answerbag jogged my memory. I originally joined because the old Q&A site I was on (wis.dm) was going kaput.

Because I absolutely had to know the answer to this question.

Because my STDs keep the women away from me.

Curious if I was the only person on Earth who wondered about how single shoes end up mysteriously on the sides of roads, an internet search picked up the same question on Fluther.

I stayed for several reasons. It was the first time experiencing others who talked about their lack of religious faith and liberal views. After 25 years of listening to very little other than hotel talk and Christianity, this site was a full blast of fresh air. The main reason though is the members; they are talented, intellectual, and diverse. The impact the members have made on my life far outweigh anything that I have been able to offer back.

At the time, I was getting to know a guy (@fireside) who was very involved here. One evening, he showed me a comment he posted and shared how much I meant to him and how he was thinking about our future together. The conversation turned into us planning our marriage and we ended up considering ourselves engaged at the end of the evening, without him ever directly asking.

I lurked for a long time and watched his interactions with others, almost using Fluther as a character reference. After a few months, I joined and asked a question about bat removal.

I read a lot more than I answer, and I answer a lot more than I ask.

@Cupcake Do not talk about bat removal. :)

@Seek It was Yarnlady’s idea? I can’t remember…I just know a bunch of baggers came here, so I checked it out. I remember I actually came here like a year before that, dunno how I found it then. Can’t remember what account I had either…if I made one. Should have just stayed here that first time though.

Auggie told me to check out Fluther after seeing me ask questions on Facebook. It took me a few weeks or months (I’m not sure how long it took me) to log onto Fluther, but once I did I was hooked fast. I remember being welcomed by many jellies and having interesting conversations right off the bat.

Finally a place where I could talk about both fun and serious topics and interact with people who cared about facts, and were interested in opinions that sometimes were contrary to their own. Within a short time I began to know more about the personal lives of jellies and really care about them.

I think it was… but that was third-hand information to me. She had already been a member here for a while by that point

I was using a similar site called Askville and they were making asinine changes that were alienating the membership. I tried Fluther and a couple of others, then just dropped out altogether.
Eventually, I went back to Askville and adapted to most of the changes. It was home again until the last year when they brought a bunch of ill tempered in-house programmers in to take the site private. They failed, slammed the door, and a lot of the Askvillers fled to Fluther. There are still a few of us around. We have a lot of tolerance for decreasing traffic. :-/
I wish a few more of the former Askville people would get the word and pop in for an update.

To share my charisma, fun loving nature, comedic genius & dare I say it, gorgeous beauty, with the masses that populate small corners of the internet.
It’s a gift I know ;-}

i recently joined, just to try it out because sodahead closed last summer and i’ve been trying to find new sites to use.. So far. im not sure what i think about Fluther (don’t know if i will stay or not)