Does this have to be seriousl 100% of the time?

It doesn’t have to be serious all the time. But in general the site aims to be helpful and not a chat room. There is an actual Fluther chat room for such use.

Generally, when someone has asked a serious question, it is not appropriate to make jokey comments until some people have actually attempted to answer the question. If the thread evolves in such a way where casual discussion is encouraged, then so be it. Some threads over the weekends end up like this.

If by serious you mean not using leetspeek and using correct spelling, well that’s just a sign of respect for the English language and those who study and use it. This to me is the biggest sign that a community is mature and responsible, is if they uphold proper use of language. We do understand and encourage non-native English speakers using the site, but in that case it’d be nice if they put a note in their profile so that they are given more leeway.

There are so many places on the internet where one can not be serious all the time. It’s nice to have a place where some guidelines are upheld… otherwise it turns into 4chan.

@dynamicduo – I don’t mean not using proper grammar/spelling/punctuation or respecting the English language. However, not being able to ask a question that is somewhat frivolous that could bring about fun, lighthearted discussion is apparently a rule here, and that seems a little wasteful. I can’t ask about Sesame Street? I don’t want to chat. I want to ask a question and get responses. Is that not the purpose of this site? Is this not supposed to be social? Is this not supposed to be in some way or another entertaining?
These are my concerns.

What was your exact question? Maybe we can help to guide it towards being an acceptable question.

@dynamicduo – I haven’t really asked one that I needed answered, I’m just wondering. I don’t want to ask a question and then get an e-mail like “your question sucks” every five minutes, and the guidelines are not specific enough to answer THIS question.

@dynamicduo I guess we’re used to asking questions to provoke thought and discussion, not get an answer to anything specific. Is it OK if everyone doesn’t do everything one way?

We are very much not serious all the time. We’ve all figured out our zombie escape plans on here and talked at length about literally orgasmic pancakes, frizzers, and cake. It’s just that the questions that spark these discussions have to be well thought out.

You can certainly ask questions to provoke thought and discussion, you just also need to write it in such a way that it agrees with the guidelines. There’s a learning curve, but just stick with it. Because there are so many of you and it is overwhelming, all the mods have been watching. Which, ultimately, means your question has a better chance of being modded. The philosophy, in my mind, is kind of “teach ‘em now, relax later” one. At least, that was how I felt when we migrated from Askville.

Askville had a mass migration similar to this at one point. Fluther was very accommodating.

@EmpressPixie -Well thank you for your answer. Yay someone not being a jerk!

Serious all the time? I laugh my ass off while on Fluther daily! We’re all for a good laugh and we venture into the absurd regularly, but Empress was spot on with her advice. I know you all are feeling like refugees right now, have faith. Remember, at one point we were all new to this site.

I have experienced several very fun discussions on Fluther. And several very serious ones. It all depends.

It is a mixed bag of questions really. I think if you sit back and just watch the dynamics of the questions and almost the flow of everything you’ll get the natural order of it. Every site is different and has different inner rules. But if you come out attacking everything it won’t seem as fun.

Questions don’t have to be serious, but they can’t be stupid.

If you really want to fit in here, take some time to read the questions that have been posted in the last month. It really sounds like you showed up here with preconceptions of what the site was and that you’re frustrated that it doesn’t match—and when you make a big stink about the mismatch, you’re doing it so abrasively that you’re ticking off the people who were here before you and who helped shape the site to its current state.

Sometimes is takes an “outsider” to help us to understand our own identities.

My fellow colleagues, I beg to differ. Frivolity and a general lack of seriousness on fluther is a serious crime, that often gets the perpetrator thrown into a frizzer, if not banned permanently, permanent, permanent, no erase, dot, dot, dot, period!

We have a reputation to maintain. The probity of AstroChuck, who is an example to us all, should be instructive. Clearly, maple syrup is the only possible alternative, and corn syrup and all it’s imitators is an abomination to the earth, and especially, pancakes.

Not only must you be serious, but you must footnote every answer with at least three footnotes, or you run the risk of having your lurve taken away.

No, I am afraid that if you bring levity to this site, you will find that you simply do not belong. Fluther has had it’s levity surgically removed by the Mayo Institute for Elective Non-compliance. (I don’t know what that means, but it sounds good).

So, I hope that a word to the wise has been uttered, and that you will proceed to follow instructions without even a modicum of hilarity. Verboten!

Definitely not! There have been some seriously hilarious threads here.

So…have you met AstroChuck?