What difference is the influx of serious money going to make to Fluther?

The site has been profitable for quite some time, but there is only so much two guys can do on their own. The infusion of money has allowed Fluther to hire a new computer genius, and for Andrew to be physically present at the office. This, in turn, will allow more technological advances. New features, new ways of reaching out to more people, etc. I think it will be a good thing. Fingers crossed!

I expect the “velvety interface” of the iPhone Web app (as originally touted two years ago on apple.com) to be 26% more velvety.

Link

Why shouldn’t they make money from us? if they can they I wish them well. To resent it would be a very “dog in the manger” attitude.

We may contribute to Fluther, but they also contribute to us.

What are they going to get for their investment? Are we going to see more advertising?

I think it’s a little insulting & presumptuous to assume that the pockets of anyone originally associated with Fluther are “well off”. They’re 2 guys who started a business with their own capital & now have the good fortune to have people wanting to invest in their idea. It’s called capitalism & it’s how every successful business moves forward.

Does anyone have an idea which new features are in the works? Are we going to be able to see pms we are replying to? Or to see how our pms will look, as we can when we comment?

@maggiesmom1 Who’s talking about the ”..2 guys..”?
If they just got a pay day, then no problem. Well done.
The question is about investment, and its motivation.

Since my presence here is intrumental to Fluther’s success, where’s my cut?

I don’t mind people profiting from this site.

Well, not until you see this post brought to you by McDonalds and flash banners on either side of the page. Oh, and of course, This thread requires premium membership to read.

Well lloydbird, you said, “how do you feel about contributing (For free) to a site that is using your abilities to further line some well-off pockets”. Whose pockets were you referring? It seemed to be the owners of this site. If I misunderstood, I apologize, but it seemed pretty clear.
I just think your original question was pretty harshly worded and presented as a negative take on what’s happened. Any business, if they want to expand, has to have some sort of investment to make that happen. I don’t see how this one is something that should make any of the members get all up in arms.
And, as far as the “where’s my cut” stuff – unless you’re going to pay to ask a question, you can’t expect to get paid for an answer. Especially since a large percentage of the answers here are flippant rather than actual reliable answers.
I also think that anybody who has a problem with it should go and start their own site – see how long you can sustain something like this (with the exceptional professionalism/design etc.) without some sort of outside investment.

I assume it means that Ben and Andrew will get some proper website groupies, willing to cater to their every whim and desire.

i used to picture them as Matt Stone and Trey Parker (a la South Park), but I see them as Bret and Jerome from Flight of the Conchords more now.

maybe some spiffier stuff: more servers, etc. maybe they’ll hire me to do a sexy pop and lock video for the hidden easter egg page. who knows?!

@eponymoushipster as sexy as that sounds, please, please, please, NEVER give me the link to that hidden page.

@maggiesmom1 “Whose pockets were you referring?” Err..the investors. The question is, pretty clearly (I think), concerned with the purpose of the investment and with the potential benefits or detriments to the site. I think that the question of the purpose and likely benefits of this money has been adequately addressed by @augustlan in the first response to this thread.
However, the question is also concerned with the wider issue of commercialism and its likely effect here (if indeed some kind of commercialisation is occurring) and how that might change the basic nature of the site. And the even wider issue of what Fluther is and is for.
As for my saying ”..contributing (For free)..”, I happen to think that one of the main charms of this site is the relative absence of overt commercialism and the sense of not-for-profit mutual assistance and interaction that occurs among users.
Now, if rampant capitalism were to get its hooks into this endeavour, then issues of cold and calculating finance for input (or even access) might need to be addressed. Hence, the somewhat “harshly worded” tone of my original question.
Oh, and apology accepted.