If a website were truly about "diverse experience and knowledge" (diverse being a very key word), shouldn't said site be open to questions of all sorts?

Are you guys all coordinating these questions? There’s a more constructive way to voice yourselves.

I agree with you, in principle. I love silliness, humor and fun. But, there have to be standards and moderation to maintain the integrity of this site and our conversations within. Every silly post and every funny question is not written to the standards to which we subscribe as a collective.

I understand your frustration at being censored. But the rules in a given community are written to be subscribed to by members who choose to be here. That’s the beauty of it…don’t like the rules here? Use a different site.

I hope you don’t take this as rude or flippant.

Do you have examples of questions you feel merited being left on the site? Has it happened often to you that good questions were removed?

@The_Compassionate_Heretic I have no clue what you’re talking about. “You guys?” Am I part of some weird gang now just because I posted this?

@jsc3791 I have seen several questions be removed. Questions I’d commented on, and that others seemed to be having a civil discussion. Sure, maybe some people disagreed, but there was no flameage going on. I don’t understand that. I also was reading the blog about jellytable discussion and the sites guidelines and found it to be a bit ridiculous.

I don’t spend a whole ton of time on this site (at least, I don’t feel like I do) but the only question I’ve ever seen moderated away was essentially a guy narrating his masturbation for us all. That should probably have been moderated. I haven’t seen a lot of (or any) other examples.

Why won’t everyone accept that there are rules? If you don’t like them, put it on your blog and let anyone comment who wants to.

Fluther, like all internet community, has guidelines.

If you don’t like the guidelines you are perfectly free to post somewhere else.

You are also perfectly free to whine about those guidelines on Fluther. Your whining will probably get removed.

We’ve seen this question before. It’s getting really tired. Instead of complaining it’d be more productive if you to the criticism to heart and made more of an effort to relate to people here rather than instantly complain because the mods are doing their job.

If you like a completely unmoderated site then a moderated site might not be a good fit for you.

Questions like this are intentionally antagonistic and are not constructive. If people aren’t having a good time here then please don’t go and make it unpleasant for those who do like it.

vcvfghbgh

@WillWorkForChocolate – Did you ask Ben and Andrew about your concern? They own this site and your question is probably best meant for them, as they wrote the guidelines.

__|__ __|__

OMFG, Shoo.

Seriously, we’re sick of the fucking whining.

<hands asmonet the flyswatter>

I want to apologize, on behalf of fluther, god, and the universe, for this alarming trend away from the serious. As everyone knows, nothing good can come from humor, and we are fortunate, indeed, to have found a discussion website that bans all forms of humor, up to, and including the highest form of all: flatulance jokes.

Now the reason for this ban is crystal clear. Humor is seriously dangerous, is capable of rescuing pirated captains from the middle of the Indian Ocean, and should be stamped out wherever it raises it’s ugly little gopher head. Instead, everyone should do their utmost to speak in the most shopworn of cliches; at least one per sentence.

Some of you may think that this is an attempt at humor, but I assure you. I am udderly serious. If you ws.dmers (now there’s an oxymoron for you) don’t stop your feeble attempts to liven up a place that was staid long before your ape ancestors were even thought of, I will personally, seek each and every one of you out, and place whoopie cushions on all your chairs. Permanent, permanent, no erase!

So people. Don’t have a cow! Sit back and relax. Really. This isn’t going to hurt one bit. You did take that pill I prescribed before you came, right? You didn’t? Uh oh! Um. Now would be a good time to begin to scream….

@asmonet I’m not whining, I’m simply confused as to why the guidelines say that questions just meant to be funny or get laughs are not permitted. It just seems unreasonable. I’m not saying all moderation is bad; some questions probably need the moderation. All I’m saying is that the guidelines stating that silly questions or controversial questions are not welcome is a bit too much.

Your complaint is noted.

@daloon I’m curious why the assumption is made that any derogatory comment made automatically comes from a disgruntled WIS.DMer.

One man’s “diverse” is another man’s “STFU.”

Watcha gonna do?

It amazes me that people who have such a fundamental issue with this site spend so much time here.

There are some great questions that are being missed because people with hurt feelings won’t stop posting these questions.

Again, if you don’t agree with the idea of a moderated site there’s plenty of unmoderated sites out there that might be a better fit.

Drama for the sake of drama is all played out.

I’m beginning to tire of people joining Fluther, asking and/or answering a few questions, and deciding to announce to all that Fluther is unfair, or treats them poorly, or the mods are too tough, or that the threads load too slowly. I will say to you what I would like to say to all the folks who yammer on about Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh, or that wacky guy who believes he’s been abducted by UFO’s – turn it off!!! Seriously, the world wide web is a gigantic place with lots and lots of sites. If you are truly that bothered by the questions here on Fluther – go away. Quit complaining and go away.

As for lighthearted threads, you need look no further than this afternoon . Or check out the CIA thread, or this one that is close to my heart.

@FGS I am not speaking for Daloon here, but there does seem to have been a spike in complaints here that correlate directly with the influx of Wis.dmer’s.

It really seems sad to me that there are no other places for you to go
and that you feel trapped here like a bug dinging against a light bulb.

I wonder if you are all doing your usual- posting on another site about posting here like you are kids making crank calls.

We have plenty of fun silly questions, what we do not enjoy is LOLS LOOK AT THIS VIDEO ITS FUNNY RITE?!

Gosh.

@FGS: The fact of the matter is that flutherers prior to the advent of wis.dmers, was the perfect place for anything and everything. It was better than heaven. Flutherers spent their days dancing through perpetually springlike meadows, with wildflowers all around, and birds chirping in the air. Yes. It’s true, it was somewhat Disneyesque, but we were all so innocent, back then.

And then…. and then…. The wis.dmers showed up, like starving wretches liberated from a concentration camp. They leapt upon every question like mastiffs, tearing them to shreds. It was ugly, I tell you, ugly.

ANd now? Strife besets the land. Curious ghostly figures seem to ride past on steeds with two heads, and cloven hooves. Flutherers now walk, back to back, swords in hand. Famine is rumored. Smoke constantly forms just at the horizon, and the smell of grease and cordite is everywhere.

Yes, indeedy. It is all due to wis.dm. It has nothing to do with any protests by addlebrained folk like daloon, who went AWOL in protest over some silly rule. You should have seen his umbrage! Large as a blue whale (though not as wet), it sailed through the land, rattling the cages of sundry flutherers.

Eventually, he was found, dragged home, and sentenced to five years hard labor, turning out humorless humor. And contentless comments. Pure torture, and yet, he struggles on. As do we all. As do we all.

@daloon I have gotten over my issues (for the most part). I have learned to ask questions more thoughtfully as opposed to helter skelter (although the lack of standards and objectivity by the moderators makes me fume at times…I do it inwardly). Not all former WIS.DMers are demon spawn.

@SuperMouse Did you ever find those keys?

Oy flippin’ vey.

Again with this.

@chyna I didn’t! I am still pretty bummed out about the whole thing!

@FGS, I am actually really enjoying several of the Flutherers who arrived via Wis.dm. Unfortunately a vocal few just don’t seem to get what Fluther is all about and like a dog with a bone, they won’t let it go.

I totally agree with @SuperMouse – Fluther did get many really awesome flutherites from Wis.dm. I have very much enjoyed many of them and consider a few friends.

However, that being said, there appear to be a small band of those who did not convert that have a grade school mentality. They failed in an attempt to make this site bend to their will and now like to pop in to cry CENSORSHIP! etc.

It now is actually getting entertaining in a way. How will they try to thinly guise the next question? How can they get it past moderation long enough to post it on another site and bash this site and it’s inhabitants?

To answer the question- if anyone bothered to actually check out this site they would see that there is a lot of humor. We simply put in in the confines of the rules set forth by the Fluther Gods and life is good!

In looking at the usage metrics for wis.dm, the only spikes they appeared to have centered around announcements to close the site. The rest of the time, the usage was flat, suggesting that there was not enough interest on the site to trend a user increase. To me, that suggests a very closed community, with little to attract new users, while sustaining the existing member base. In other words, whatever was going on over there, was not enough to keep it alive. Whatever was attractive to dedicated users was not enough to make it viable.

@FGS I hope you realize I was writing satire?

Mostly, I get tired of hearing the same old answers over and over, and so my mind gets going, and satire is the result.

In truth, I enjoy wis.dmers and I share some of your criticisms of this site. But I’ve learned to live with it, and I see these things as growing pains. I had a doozy of a growing pain, and a serious meltdown over this issue. Believe me. I been dere. I done dat!

Jeez, I see tons of asinine and also funny questions. I think that there may actually be too many.

Pretty much everything daloon writes that has an air of storytelling to it.. is done with a tongue planted firmly in cheek.

@daloon I did see it!!I It was greatly appreciated. I HATE hypocrisy, I am not a big fan of “shifting or preferred standards”. If its good for one, then it should be good for all. BTW these little annoyances were just that…allow me to expound.

I asked the question “HELP!!! My mp3s are gone (or something to that effect). I was modded and the answer I was given was ” People on Fluther are nice, no need to put HELP!! in there” and I changed it without bitching. Yet in another question not an hour later Mr. M asked ” I can’t get XP to start up…HELP!!” and there were no issues…Can you see were I might find exception to this lack of standards?

You know, we ought to have the FAQ about moderation. Different moderators are on at different times. Moderators depend on people flagging questions so they can moderate them.

My guess is that wis.dmers are being flagged more, I hope out of good intentions. We do want you to succeed, but I think some of us are overzealous in trying to teach you how things are supposed to be done here. Older members may get a little more slack from both users and mods.

Trying to understand is good, but some things are too random to be understood. I have also been the “victim” of this kind of wide variation in standards.

@daloon I’m doing my best. I am glad someone understands. :)

@SuperMouse I don’t particularly understand why the celebrity crush one isn’t considered a poll question when my candy bar one was prior to editing in which I added in the stuff about the UK to ‘make it more personal’ .

And what is this whole wis.dmers thing? Was it a different site that closed down and people came here? Sorry, I’m new and this is the first site of this kind that I have participated in, so I have no idea. Enlighten me please, Flutherites!

Shoot, is it ‘Flutherites’ or ‘Flutherers’? Also, my previous post is not meant to be disparaging in any way. I reread the first bit and realized that it could sound mean, perhaps.

@bezdomnaya Flutherites, flutherers, jellies. Take your pick. We’re just one big happy family with a bunch of crazy uncles.

Asking a question on fluther is like a crapshoot at times. Some questions get by, while others do not. The best thing to do is to not take it personal if you do get a question that needs editing. You either fix it or move on. You won’t make many friends here by complaining about it.

Welcome to fluther! :D

@jonsblond Oh, I didn’t mean to sound like I was complaining, just asking actually. In any case, I fixed it, so it’s all good. Thank you for the welcome!

@bezdomnaya: Technically, it’s Flutherites. That’s how it’s listed in the guidelines, but jellies is like… the difference between Sir and Dude, I think anyway. :)

No one cares either way. :)

@bezdomnaya I know that you weren’t complaining. I’m sorry if it looked like I was accusing you of that. We have had many people on fluther lately that have been complaining. It was in reference to the question.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
Make it STOP!!!

I just now saw this question. What is going on with all you disgruntled people?

Seriously, WTF is wrong with you fucking people?!!!

For God’s sake, if you don’t like the way things are done here on Fluther then get the fuck off it!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Chuckie, I love you.

@daloon How DARE you write satire on the site. HOW DARE YOU, SIR! BACK TO THE CAVE WITH YOU!

All of you! STOP LAUGHING! THERE WILL BE NO HUMOR ON THIS SITE! NONE!

Also, I hope you don’t mind, but Ben and I have written a little malware which infects anyone who mentions anything critical about the site. Sorry, folks.

I’m also banning everyone on this thread, too. To cover my tracks.

See ya! Off to Maui to cash in on the amazing profits that we’re raking in, on the backs of all you peons. My bro Stalin’s chillin’ with me there, we have a sweet bungalow. You should see him boogieboard!

lol4rl

I think you made a funny, andrew. Mission failure.

lol4rl! edited to avoid paying royalties to fluther gods

HA HA HA!

[mod says] If you use lol4rl, you need to pay royalties to its inventor. Also, Andrew, are you planning on using Stalin as a boogie board?

@shilolo Naw man, zombie stalin. Totally rocks and doesn’t wear sunscreen.

EAT IT MODERATURDS!

I changed said inventor’s life through shoelaces. He owes me.
Then again, I did break Fluther once…

lol4rl.

@andrew – So, this Maui jaunt, are you toking Pol Pot with you?

You know who else didn’t allow humorus question to be posted also they hated contraversy? It was Hitler! And fluther as we all know is like WWII Germany the mods are The gestapo, us jellies are Nazis and wis.dmers are the Jews. It’s so very obvious

NOT! Go some place else if you don’t like fluther please.

@asmonet- love you more.

::blushes::

Life is too huge and full of opportinity to spend it doing things you REALLY don’t like in your free time.

Likewise, the internet is huge and limitless; there has GOT to be something out there that is better suited for you if this place isn’t it. I don’t shit myself if I don’t like the pants I’m wearing. What’s the point?

@3or4monsters Pure poetry!

Have you tried the chat room to ask silly questions?

People complain about moderation, but seem to never offer any ideation about alternatives. So here’s one idea:

What if the mods could you move your question to subcategories, like “Offensive”, “Stupid and Totally Pointless” “WTF??” Kind of like closets for questions. Then people who like those kinds of questions could go answer them and hang out with each other.

Can I please come to Maui? Please?! I so want to boogie-board on zombie Stalin! Barring my being invited along (and having my way paid because I am broke), can I at least post a new question and get lots of lurve before being banned for answering this question? My new question will go a little something like this: “Which dead dictator would you like to use as a boogie-board and why?”

@andrew

I plead insanity. I plead protection under the American’s with Disabilities Act.

This is not under my control. I see certain questions and it’s like something takes over my body. I mean, I can see what’s going on, but I have no control! I try and try, but no matter what I do, I am not let back into the driver’s seat until Answer has been pressed and the editing time is over.

So you see, I just can’t help it. Really, who in their right mind would bring humor to this site? Huh? This place is the epitome of propriety, and the enemy of opprobrium. I would never, never, never, not in a million years want to upset the applecart. It’s just that… that…

The devil made me do it! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

And if you do anything to me…. ANYTHING, you’ll be hit with an ADA suit so fast your toes will twinkle! Whatever.

The previous was written under the influence of malevolent spirits and in no way represents my true opinion.

@AlfredaPrufrock Sounds good to me.

Too Funny!

I would also suggest we have subcategories:

Repeats. We could call it “Play it Again Sam”

Stalker Bait – we could name that one “Want some Candy?”

Sex Q’s actually intended to aid in immediate self pleasure we could call it the “Dancing with Myself” room

A Bashing room- for questions intended to single out a group, religion, race, sex etc as being cause for the bulk of the problems in the world. We could call that one “The Intolerance Room”

And finally-
“You Are All Wrong Room” and in this room the person posting is required to make an argument against the last poster regardless of how they really feel on the subject.

“Memes R Me” could be another one…

@FreeThinker rough day?

@FreeThinker This is a good site. Go somewhere else if you don’t like it here.

@SuperMouse Just another troll…I’m pretty sure I know which one of two people it is…

Can moose be Majors? I thought they were mostly Captains.

Wow! I’m a big cocksucker!

Never knew that.

@AstroChuck: Perhaps you were “sleep sucking” and didn’t know it.

Thank you, mods! I’m no longer a big cocksucker!

Think I’ll go brush my teeth now.

@AstroChuck – Please use only toothbrushes approved by the American Dental Association.

The more you know!

I was accused of too much controversy on this site by a person from wis.dm who accused me of the same thing on that site as well. Some people are just way too controversial for any site, I guess, but I’m staying.

@YARNLADY- Oh, you mixer, you.

@AstroChuck Apparently my worst fault is that I advocate following the rules and the laws and using the proper channels when I see the need for change.

Well, I have my faults too, but being wrong’s not one of them.

I admit that some rules are a little strict (Who cares if i use “then” when i should use “than”?) but for the most part, the rules are in place for a reason (If i can’t understand your question, i can’t reply to it accurately….and i loath short hand “u r kool”).

@bomyne some of us Are a little anal, and Loathe improper Grammar, spelling and punctuation… and Capitalization.

@WillWorkForChocolate Those kinds of things are fine, but the accidental misspelling in an otherwise perfect post should just be ignored in my opinion.

I can get quite anal about spelling and grammar too, but IMO it’s good to know when to be anal and when to let it slide. Nobody’s perfect.

Holy shit… I just realized exactly how much I’ve changed since I joined this site! I’m laughing at myself right now. Reading this question and all my whiny comments on it is making me cringe! And I hate it when people join the site and immediately post shit like this!

<facepalm>

Diverse does not mean out of control.

@WillWorkForChocolate I was just thinking the same thing. I’m amazed that you are the one who asked this question! Haha.

@augustlan It amazes me too! I’ve had quite a few crazy, pissed off moments, but jeez. It’s hilarious, to me, that I posted this as a newbie and used to get really pissed off at the mods, but now I can’t stand whiny questions like this and I’m perfectly happy with the mods!

Resistance is futile. :p

I know. I have been sucked into Fluther and there is no going back. All my question are belong to you. Right? :D

@WillWorkForChocolate Try switching hats. Maybe that will make a difference? ;-)

This hat seems to be glued to my head.

I know a good hatectomist.

Do I get morphine beforehand?

Depends. Is this an alternate Friday?

I don’t know, what are you wearing?

I never wear the same underwear two days in a row… unless I’m on vacation. Is this relevant?

^^Orange tree is relevant.

Only when it’s purple.

Oranges are not purple.

Sorry. That’s all I got.

They are on Wednesdays. At least they are at my house. Perhaps they’re abnormal oranges?

Abnormal oranges are normally found under the orange tree. Not just on Wednesdays, either, but then, every day is Wednesday somewhere in all the universes.

That’s not true. Some galaxies abandoned Wednesdays in favor of a second Friday.

Did they now? I didn’t know that. Two Fridays. Except one without a weekend. I think I’ll eat an abnormal orange.

Don’t hurt your teeth; those abnormal oranges are covered in steel peel.

My teeth are covered in gold. Gold is softer than steel. Win!