What are the most helpful hints you can give someone new to Fluther?

Check things out for a bit. No need to participate right away. Read a bunch of questions and answers first. Get a feel for the place.

Thanks….

Be clear, be precise, be original, be funny. Don’t ask poll questions, don’t ask questions that are really statements, don’t expect us to sort out your love life if you are still in High School, don’t say the same thing over and over. See what tickles your fancy for a few days.

Welcome.

If English is not your native tongue, let us know. Fill out your profile so we can see who we are connecting with.

LOL. Well….I haven’t seen the inside of HS in a couple of decades, some extremely remote family members of mine (multi generations ago…..) might not have been able to speak English….but, aside from an occasional run-on sentence I think I am OK there:)

I will work on the profile. Good point, gail.

Thanks in advance to all who answer…..much appreciated.

Only say something if you’re sure you know what you’re talking about.

Make some friends and answer questions your comfortable with. Try not to give a link as an answer unless you explain something about it and offer a link for more information. For example, don’t answer a question asking about something with just a link to a New York Times article. It gets annoying and it’s not what Fluthers about. Don’t worry about lurve either. If you don’t get “Great Answer” keep trying and don’t be afraid to ask/answer a question because you don’t have 8157 lurve like JP up there. That’s all. Stay on topic and Fluther freely, newcomer.

i second everything everyones already said, but most importantly SEARCH DAMNIT! top right corner is the search bar, its your friend ^_^. Repeat questions are lame.

@Uber: Often I can’t even find older questions that I asked, if I don’t remember the precise first tag I typed.

On behalf of anyone who might be new…..I thank you for your patience and suggestions. I am looking forward to my new fluther adventure.

Welcome. :)

edit: Ugh. “whom we are connecting with.”

As someone extremely new here, I have found that the best and most helpful thing to me is to watch first and learn from others who have been around for a while. Sometimes saying nothing and just watching will teach you volumes, or at least that has been my experience. I was also fortunate to find a couple of friends right away who offered their help with any questions I had so that I didn’t get myself in a bind answering a question I shouldn’t be answering. And finally, Welcome to Fluther and may you have an enjoyable time here! I hope this information was at least a little bit helpful to you!

Here is a similar question I asked when I joined and I received a lot of great information.

Lurk for a little bit.
Welcome and enjoy your stay great question by the way.

Don’t take answers to personally.
Don’t take lack of acknowledgment to personally.
Enjoy.
There are some amazing people here.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Make the effort to ask questions that haven’t been asked before. (Hint: search; hint, hint, hint)Try to spell correctly. Eat pizza and jelly donuts the way you want to, not the way you think people expect you to. In short, be original.
Don’t ask questions that can be Googled readily. That’s what Google is for. Don’t be afraid to put your two cents in. Don’t be an ass. Save the fart and pee jokes for your fellow first-graders.
Tell us what you really think!

And give Knotmyday s’mo lurve. ;^D

Emulate Knot. He is clear, concise and knows how to start and end a sentence. He is original; he is funny; he is worth imitating (except when he occasionally fondles young men – he claims it is in aid of his job. We don’t believe him.)
5 points ^^

Gail, I think you’re scaring the “straights.” You made me laugh, though. Out of context of course, damn it all…

Knot: I take it as a daily assignment to make you laugh.

Give them a Cindy McCain Handshake, and a Dick Chaney welcome.

How about a Barack Obama promise, and a John Edwards quickie?

(que trombone: Mwaaah mwaaah mwaah.)

@ knotmyday – excellent sound choice and spelling!!

thanks, Bri. I really, really tried.

Oh…my, my, my….thank heavens I have now been on here a little bit now so this isn’t as confusing as it should be….

What does THAT say about me???

@Knot; funny as always but what is a ” ‘que’ trombone”?

It’s a Mariachi term.

actually, what I get for Fluthering when I should have been working. Bad, bad me. smack. Nice catch…for future reference to chinese hairstyles…

Of course. I always think of the trombone when I think Mariachi (which is not too often.)

You’re being too subtle for me tonight. Or as Manuel in Fawltey Towers used to say, ”¿Que?” (And what about an trumpet with a mute?)

The punctuation of all this is beyond me. As is the reference to Chinese hairstyles.

bad pun referencing Qing Dynasty “queue.” Apologies, again. Cue half-hearted rimshot.

ah, so.

Um…not to be rude or anything….I don’t know you knot…..and gail certainly seems nice….
but why not converse privately w/ each other? I keep getting notified that there is new posts on here and hoping someone will give me some new advice….and it is just you two continuing your private chat….?
Really, don’t flip out….just asking….?

@Snoopy; Very good point. Thanks for being so courteous. Gail

@ snoopy – that was a great example of how to handle things here and Gails response was an excellent response to your request.

A helpful hint: speak in whispers when you are addressing a point within the question.

Also:

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind (unless you are losing it).

Learn through observation.

Try to be sensible.

Try to be open-minded.

That’s all for now.

And: don’t be belligerent or bellicose or juvenile. Try to write clearly (and briefly) so we can get the point easily.

When you write subtext, do not type giant blobs of text; use breaks in both Q & A.

Don’t ask questions if you want a only chance to preach. Go to the park and stand on a soap-box for that.

edit; only a chance…

@Knot & Gail:

Thanks!

@Gail I learned on another Q like this that the edit feature is available for only 5 minutes after you post. So….the clock is ticking :)

@Snoopy: I learned about the editing time-limit the hard way. There are people (who shall be nameless, but YOU know who you are) who are waiting to pounce on me…even for the most obvious typos. I have to be like Caesar’s wife. (Google for more info.)