Why do Fluthers put @johnsmith then reply, when CLEARLY YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON WHO IS REPLYING AND NO ONE ELSE IS "CRAFTING A RESPONSE" or There is ONLY ONE PERSON WHO COMMENTED AND YOU ARE THE PERSON ASKING THE QUESTION, AND YOU HAVE TO PUT THE @johnsmith, please someone MAKE me UNDERSTAND?

It’s our custom.

Because sometimes, the person to whom you wish to reply is not immediately above your response. They may be several spots up.

Well, there’s also the person who asked the question. You seem to be kind of forgetting about him/her…Generally, on fluther, an answer is directed to the person who asked the question, so even if there’s only one person who’s commented, you want to distinguish that you’re talking to that person, and NOT the asker.

why dont you know how to write a short question and then use the details box?

@person shouting at the top: STOP!

Not entirely related, but it’s kind of funny how if you been on the internet for so long that caps really do look/sound loud!

@ Nimis: HAHA! you are so right.

@windex
That’s a long heading.

Who’s johnsmith?

CRAP, I meant to type Flutherers… AGHHH

but I’m talking about when there is CLEARLY ONE answer ONLY, and the person asking the question is replying to the ONLY PERSON who REPLIED…

@Astro: he is my Brother

It’s something that us long timers are accustom to.

To avoid ambiguity.

@windex: I think for most of us, it is just force of habit.

Sorry. I had to.

When certain types of questions are more poll-based or opinion based, using @name of asker indicates the specificity of the response is intended solely for the asker of the question, not necessarily the community at-large.

I would have lost money on this due to the fact that I thought for sure, the first person was going to type either ”@johnsmith” or ”@windex”

I know sometimes I do it to make things more specific and conversational.

Kind of what sndreQ said. (shout out to sndreQ)

Also, for the record, we like that everyone does this. We plan to include a feature (at some point) that will make that ”@user” a link to the previous response from that user. It will be cool.

So, keep it up, everyone.

and—
@windex: easy up on those caps.

@ ben: right back @cha

@ben – That is a great idea! thanks for the hard work!

:( ok I guess I’ll @empt to do it too…I guess it won’t be hard @all
sorry if my question sounded like an @ack, I wasn’t giving an @itude. I just want someone to love me and want to @ract more Flutherer friends.

@ windex – That was darn funny. I laughed hard @ that. Hehe. Very good one!!
lurve to you.

@windex – thanks :)

in twitter, @ is used to address a person… @wenbert, etc. etc.

This isn’t exactly specific to fluther, people have been using it on non-threaded comment forums for years.

I lurve the @ system, it’s one of Fluther’s great @tributes.

I also believe we witnessed the birth of the first Fluther meme with this question.

What I don’t understand is when people use @ in front of a person’s name, even when they are not addressing that person. I understand the use in replying to a person directly, e.g., ”@bluemukaki: You forgot a ‘t’ in ‘attributes’!”

I mentally hear that as “at bluemukaki.”

I do not, however, understand when people simply put @ in front of a user’s name when talking about the user. For example, “As @ninjaxmarc mentioned above, the original poster did have an incredible long heading.” I mentally hear that as “As at ninjaxmarc mentioned above [. . .],” which doesn’t make much sense.

@AstroChuck: I thought everyone knew!!!

Captain John Smith (1580–June 21, 1631) was an English soldier, sailor, and author. He is remembered for his role in establishing the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, and his brief association with the Native American girl Pocahontas during an altercation with the Powhatan Confederacy and her father, Chief Powhatan. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony (based at Jamestown) between 1607 and 1609, and led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay.
His books may have been as important as his deeds, as they encouraged more Englishmen and women to follow the trail he had blazed and colonize the New World. He gave the name New England to that region, and encouraged people with the comment, “Here every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land…If he have nothing but his hands, he may…by industrie quickly grow rich.” His message attracted millions of people in the next four centuries.

I’ve never seen the first person to answer a question using the @ – I’ve only seen and used it to address a comment to someone who has responded to the question, so it’s hard for me to understand what this question is about.

However, as it has attracted the attention of many of our wittier and worthier Flutherers it is a fun post and not totally irelevant @all.

@ Everyone:

Is it “irrelevant” or “irelevant” or “irelevent” – I’m having a monmentary brain fart.

Why don’t we all just take a deep breath?

I know exactly what girlofscience is talking about. I never really understood that either.

My question for windex is… do you have some anti-anxiety medication that you’ve forgotten to take today? You should always take it every day.

*tear

irrelevant—there was an old line from a comedy routine (attribution on demand.“It’s not irrelevant. It’s a hippopotamus.” My sister and I still use it..

thanks, gail – I thought thatwas it but my spelling sense seems to be going of late.

cute line too.

@ widex because I want to!

@windex:

don’t worry about it.

WHY ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT IT?!!

Is it really that big of a deal?

@loser- you’ve just demonstrated another staple of Flutherese typology: the interrobang!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang

Well, I’ve learned something new today!

Schen: Cool. Never knew there was a name for that.
Now I want to start a band, just so I can call it that.

they are just fluther nazis

can’t we all just get along???

@janbb You are experiencing a jamais vu?

@windex

It can very confusing otherwise.

I’m loving the long question. Made me giggle.

It’s okay buddy. I traced your IP address and an ambulance should be there soon. They’ll take you to a place where other people have problems too.
It’s okay…