When you first joined Fluther, what was your initial reaction to the community?

I felt that Fluther was elitist and cliquey. Now that I have been here awhile I know that this is indeed true but since I am on the elitist, cliquey side I’m cool with it.

we love you newbs welcome, welcome, welcome

It is very comfortable here. I really liked the part where they welcomed us Answer baggers. It was like they were expecting us with open arms :)

When I first came here and looked around , read he FAQs etc…Fluther appeared to be a nice community that I wanted to be a part of…. as I have an opinion on just about anything and everything .

Then; I saw many of the veterans from A/B on here and thought I’d give it a good ole try for awhile….

The jury is still out as if I’ll remain or not ..BUT; for the most part I ENJOY Fluther .

Each webcite has its groups of people who prefer to communicate with each other…and being new here I only know the people who tranfered from AB but have enjoyed the cite thus far…it has a general ease of use but still getting used to something different takes time…kudos to fluther for welcoming us in

“Oh No! They’re Mac Fanboys.” Then “It’s like yahoo answers but without the stupid people”.

I had never heard of Fluther before. I am so happy to have found this site though. Its great being able to still keep in contact with the Baggers on here. Fluther has been so welcoming to us. We really do appreciate the warm greetings. I think I will be happy here. I still miss the old Bag but the changes they made to the place were the death of it, IMO.

When I joined I was absolutely blown away by how friendly everyone is. There are a few people that right away made me feel very welcome and were always very interesting and cool.

I came to Fluther thinking it was entirely something else. I had never been a member of a Q & A site before. I quickly felt at home and was surprised how helpful and friendly everyone was. I lurve this place!

Pleasure and excitement! I’m not having sex at present

Oh yeah, I meant to put in the question “Welcome all AnswerBaggers, I have no beef with anyone. I don’t have any beef with anyone migrating to Fluther.”

Its a pretty good site and i wish i’d found it sooner, i’m probably gonna use both as AB is still ok as far as i’m concerned.

I have not seen aggressive or hostility at all from this wave of newbies- however that cannot be said of past migrations.

When I first came here is was not with a migration. It was awesome because I could actually ask a question like “Why is it louder when you open a can of beer than a soda?” and get really great responses based in science and humor.

I was pretty impressed when I joined it. I did like it and I felt welcomed here for the most part. The problem is, I came when all the wis.dm users were coming on here, so there was a lot of misunderstanding and hostility and I didn’t like the way some people (it was actually mostly wis.dmers) were acting like we were “guests” on this site, even though as far as I was concerned, I was just as much of a member as anyone else. (And I am proud to say I didn’t have a question modded until way later, which is something that probably can’t be said for most former wis.dm members. Just puttin’ that out there. Made me super awesome). As with any newbie experience, there are bad parts. There was one question I posted where I was being insulted, but people were giving the insults GAs. I was pretty hurt by that, but that could’ve happened on any site.

I came here from Askville as several others did, too. I don’t recall seeing a welcome posted as is here for the ABers. At first, I thought I wasn’t going to stay. I fluctuated back & forth between the two sites for a while. Of course, I felt like an outsider. I also don’t recall anyone welcoming me personally. All the user names were unfamiliar & I quickly identified who was in the popular clique. But I was so fed up with Askville that I was determined to give it a go & stick around for a while. I’m glad I did.

The site itself was something to get used to on how to navigate it. But it all came together in time.

@DominicX I’m glad you stuck it out, too. You’re a big plus on here. :-}

I think the biggest reason I got so hooked is because I started frequenting Campfire right away.

My initial feeling was that of intense gratitute towards Flutherites for their warm welcome, like being plucked out of the water after my ship had been torpedoed, or in this case scuttled by its owners. I particularly enjoy the greater structure and personal attention from the moderators, something sorely lacking in the train wreck I just abandoned. I know that there are cultural differences but it is up to me to adapt to them. The intellectual level here is refreshingly high. I hope to make many new friends here.

I just joined from AB. I was very impressed with the welcoming nature of the site and it’s users, but the first couple questions I looked at related to AB did have a few asshole responses, but I guess that’s to be expected with any site like this.

@Dog No one has really been aggressive, I’ve just noticed a couple of people that have been very very defensive when no one was even attacking them. I’ve seen many people from AB say that AB was a very aggressive site and that you had to be on your guard and be aggressive back.

I was underimpressed. Some people were kinda jerks on my first few questions. And the close-mindedness of some just blew me away. But I met people with similar interests, and that kept me here. Along with the potential for learning new things.

@jbfletcherfan We have a popular clique? Now I am sad, since if I didn’t know about it I must not be in it. JK. But really, I see little evidence of a “popular” or “unpopular” group, just groups of longtime friends.

I joined over 2 years ago as part of the original iPhone Web-App influx. I was not aware that the site had been around for a while, and assumed it was newer. Even after interacting for a while, I was surprised to learn that so many of the members knew each other and even were related to one-another! I never got a sense of cliquishness when I joined. I do see how in the past year more people have developed close friendships with other Jellies, and that doesn’t always translate well within posts to those of us with little-to-no knowledge of what’s going on outside of Fluther.

I was on Yahoo! Answers during its Beta phase, and left once I reached the top level, shortly after the teeny-boppers took over. I never looked for another Q&A site, and am surprised to learn that there have been so many. The wis.dm migration was uncomfortable, and I fortunately managed to navigate through it fairly unscathed. It is wonderful to see that lessons were learned from that experience and are being applied to this one.

Lurve to Bendrewim!

In the world there are lots of cliques. i did not find this to be the situation here. i received a warm welcome from people that do not know me. if the situation had been reversed, do you think the Fluthers coming to Answerbag would have made the AB people jealous? i hope not at least not here. hopefully we can all join together and contiune to enjoy each others questions and answers. a site like Fluther, is not the site itself, its the people on the site.

My initial reaction was much the same as when I first went to AB. I found mostly very friendly people. Some(few) a little less friendly.We are here because we felt the heart was ripped out of what we saw as a community. We now are joining a new community. Feelings are running high at the moment but that is because we cared about the site, I am sure we will integrate and hopefully become good members of this site. I am sure we will soon leave our negative feelings and need to vent behind.That is what I feel anyway.

@DominicX . . . we had our problems in the past but i am also glad you stuck around.

I joined several months ago and have never been part of a Q & A community before. I quickly became addicted and usually check in everyday.

I didn’t notice a clique at all… only realised that people clearly had gotten to know each other over time. I now recognise certain members and see patterns with answers etc. Keeps us all guessing and is lovely to be a part of the Fluther family.

I just hope that the lurve point system retains it’s integrity. I appreciate that it is not easy to stack up large numbers of points quickly therefore jellies with large point scores have really earned them. I would be saddened to see that all answers were given GA’s for no real reason other than the lurver just likes certain people. The answer should have merit.

PS: @wildpotato – we loves you… you are a special and prominent jelly! :D and @DominicX – you are one of my favourites, don’t tell anyone! ; )

On a side note… what happened to your Answerbag site? I see quite a few of you mentioning this terrible change etc. What destroyed your community?

@moley_thecontrarydragon Wonderful to see you here. You were one of the true heroes of that other site and I’m so happy you decided to come here. Your warmth and wisdom will be greatly valued assets here,

@Rachienz Aw, thank you! And I agree with you about giving GAs; I give them even to the very, very few people I have come to dislike if I think their answer has merit. As to your second post, check out this thread.

@wildpotato – yay, thank you! Just what I was looking for!

I wasn’t really part of any group migration but that’s fine by me. I was unfamiliar with the large number of Q and A sites as I discovered Fluther in the App store. I constantly check out all kinds of new Apps, but most get deleted.

But what appealed to me most about Fluther was the sensible moderation and the fact that the community as a whole takes pride in encouraging ones best efforts for proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. That’s rather a rarity on the Internet these days. I had recently left a site which was very poorly modded so the atmosphere here and sense of community suits me to a tee.

I don’t really worry overmuch about whether there are cliques or if I fit into them or not as I’m kind of a quirky individualist in every other aspect of my life. Whoever likes me or happens to agree with me is fine and whoever doesn’t, that’s fine also.

I like Fluther cuz of the great variety and opportunity to learn new stuff. I’m very intellectually curious and enjoy the fact that the majority of other Flutherites are also.

@stranger. thank you. Hopefully I will settle here. I like what I see so far.

My experience was really positive. I joined up when wis.dm went downhill and decided to lurk about in the chatroom for a few weeks getting to know people before jumping into threads. I lurve that fluther has mods. For awhile we had a really awesome chap called, @The_Compassionate_Heretic. He is missed.

I searched a question on google one day and it lead me here. I enjoyed the intelligent discussion, the peaceful nature of discourse and the ability to disagree while still respecting the person you are talking to. I was relaxed and felt comfortable here.

I will say that with any new influx of people, not everyone will get along and I have noticed some change in the attitude here. I do hope we can continue to have intelligent debates and respect our fellow jellies and not resort to childish behavior that is found elsewhere on the internet. That said, change happens and it is natural. We are forging our future as we speak so nothing is in stone.

@Rachienz @Blondesjon @jbfletcherfan Aww…you guys are awesome too. It’s why I keep coming here. :D

I love how he said that I suggested that AB’s are aggressive yet he didn’t check with me to see if i’ve already asked a very similar question . dork :-P
But, for me, I was intimidated. Thought it was kind of where the fancy-pants that were on their high horses came to talk about how they knew more than everybody else. Very intimidating. Then I was welcomed, met a few freakin amazing people and was never the same…
and @DominicX, you’re one of them. You’re so precious. I’m also glad you stuck around.<hugs>

Reminds me a bit of the old AB. Not the one that most people here know, but pre-points, pre-Demand Media… old AB.

However, the live previews, no-refresh-required updates, and a few other technical details are a big step up.

I got a very warm welcome…Thanks to all that welcomed me.

it was love at first sight!

Funny…I wanted to post a question about the Fluther community’s reaction to us, but I didn’t want to inadvertently open a can of worms here my second day of membership.

What’s notable about the Fluther community is the screaming lack of complaints (is that valid terminology?) concerning the sudden arrival of unexpected…uninvited guests.

The lack of negative reaction suggests a maturity level among members that makes me, as a newbie, feel most welcome.

Thank you!

@wildpotato I guess by cliques I mean that there were two members on here who everyone seemed to gang up on. I befriended both of them, as I kind of pissed me off. One I still IM with. Sorry, but some just kind of cling together.

@SABOTEUR I don’t view you guys as guests- You’re Jellies now to me and I’m very happy to have the chance to interact with you all.

@gemiwing: Jellies. OK…I have some homework to do…jellies…. (Thanks!)

@jbfletcherfan We did set up a campfire chat for you all—in fact, your migration gave us the template for how to cope with refugees coming in. You were our prototype!

I’m very impressed with the community as well in their response to the new people—and I’m happy our new users have adapted so well to the culture on here.

If i had to remind everyone of one thing, it’s that 1. More effort in the question means better answers (look at this wonderful question) and 2. Try and keep off-topic chatter in the threads to a minimum for a little bit. Ok, that’s two things.

On a side note, I think part of the reason the wis.dm migration wasn’t as successful is that the wis.dmers had no choice—their site went down. Everyone else chose to migrate here, so there’s a lot less grief and anger that needs to worked through.

2nd Answer. from first appearnces, it appears that Fluther has stricker rules regulations regarding questions and sentence structuring. on AB, just about anything would be acceptable. no so, here. they let you know right quick when a question is not suitable or has typos. it has caught me twice today. i like that for this reason, it educates a person in proper grammar and punctuation. this is a much more refined site than Answerbag.

@john65pennington – ...and more responsive as well.

I remember @jonsblond, casheroo, and many others reaching out and giving me good advice. I was going through a shitty break-up at the time. I found @Gailcalled to be very blunt (which I love), Eponymoushipster brought the humor and the sexy, abd AstroChuck also brought the funny. Jellies who stood out to me at the beginning were Loser, AlenaD, and tinyfaery.

I found them to intelligent, a fun bunch and quite unique. I decided to stay put. :)

My first thought was that everyone here seemed to know one another, which was neat. I thought “what a bunch of LOOOOSSSSERS these people spend too much time on fluther”...jk :) really all i thought was that it’d be cool to be a part of!

I discovered fluther in the app store, but not until later. I was not part of the initial influx.

When I joined I remember being put off by a few users who had been on fluther awhile. They were complaining how all the new people were ruining the site. I felt like an outsider in the very beginning.

Then a few people reached out to me and I reached out to others, and now fluther is my home. It’s my first and will always be my only q&a site.

There are a few factions here. I wouldn’t really call them qliques. There are the grammar sticklers, the Whedonites, the animal lovers, the flirty (often sexual) crowd, for example. Just find a few you fit in with. Or make a new one.

I wandered here around Thanksgiving last year from ask.metafilter.com. I found people here to be funny and smart and non-judgemental. I felt accepted right away and I’ve stuck around ever since. I’m not all that great with keeping up in chat rooms, so I’ve only been round the campfire a couple of times, but I can say the vast majority of people here are very nice, trolls are quickly and quietly dealt with and the level of discussion here is high.

Yay! Welcome, new Jellies!

@andrew Yes, I remember the chat thing. I could never get in there. I maybe made it in there twice. It was either shut down or full. I just gave up on it & never have gone back. I don’t mean to be negative. But coming on here at first is hard. I’m sure it is on ANY new site you go to. But in the end, I stuck it out, have made many friends here (I hope) & am on here all day. Your perception of being a founder here & the rest of us being new members are different, you see? Maybe all wouldn’t agree with me, but that’s MY perception.

I liked the parking.

@SirGoofy You mean you found a place to park? I’m still circling the block…...... ’-}

I’m still getting the feel for the site, it seems like a pretty good community so far.

i felt like a baby on a doorstep being claimed by a new loving caring family ;-) ...
– -there ,,, beat that mushy stuff – - ;)

My first reaction was that it looked promising. The people were friendly, I liked that most of the questions asked for the answerer to elaborate. Thankfully this site isn’t loaded with ads, the site layout I thought was cute because of the jellyfish theme. ;D

I was leaving AB when I joined. The welcome on the homepage wasn’t there just yet and I’m pretty sure there were only 10 of us here from AB.

I was surprised. I imagined that this place, like most Q&A sites, was pretty much just technical, boring and cold, as in, not having much of a social nature. But it’s not like that at all, in fact, the community seems very friendly, lively and above all, constant.
It’s so different from Answerbag haha because it feels like being at a party on a cruise ship, rather than a really busy office building where you try to find the rooms that all your friends are in.

Initial reaction, so I don’t know if this place is cliquey, if you get flamed for your opinion or what, but it hasn’t happened yet.

As for me, personally, bringing my bad habits over from AB, I’m sure I’m doing it. I stopped taking AB seriously long ago, and pretty much resorted myself to giving bitchy, nonsensical and smartass answers just so I could piss people off.

I admit it, i suck, and while I will miss being a horrendous bitch, there’s something here about how the site demands mature and intelligent interaction while formulating answers and questions that motivates me to try and be more constructive, which is why I decided to give it a try, after, as you say, my initial reaction.
I hope I’m not a disappointment. XD

Also, it’s so damn refreshing that I can browse the questions and see that not three quarters of them are about points and trolls. Very refreshing.

And also, swearing is allowed; this makes me horny.

I came on board around the time hearkat did, through the first version of the iPhone (mobile site); it wasn’t an app, just a web page formatted for the iPhone (summer 2007). I remember the top Flutherites being below 1000, and when they first broke, everyone was like “whoa, uncharted territory” and it’s been better and better ever since. I remember Ben and Andrew coining the term “lurve” as before it was just GA points!!!

As a one-time member of the mod team, I have also seen both sides of the coin in terms of enculturation happening from both new members, and old members who assimilate and help grow and enrich the culture. I can vouch for the hard work the site mods and the fluther gods (aka site admins) put into this site. It is truly a labor of love (lurve), and until recently, was just that. They deserve all the praise and proceeds coming to them, and I’m always impressed by the camaraderie everyone has in helping others, and being inclusive. The high quality of the site is a product of the community policing, the site mods, and the standards that are written into the site.

Everyone involved really cares about the integrity of this community. Sooner or later, everyone who decides to stay comes to really appreciate it.

definitely elitist community I agree with that comment I still haven’t found my clique but that’s okay I enjoy a challenge and am fond of being a loaner

I was amazed at how openly you welcomed our irritated and bitter onslaught from AB. You have been very gracious and you have made us feel more welcome than our own precious AB site did in the end.
I was drawn to Fluther immediately because it was structured so much like Answerbag had been, but it has a level of standards that AB lacked.
I like the overall design. My personal preference isn’t for cutsie names and words that need translation from perfectly usable language, but I can adjust.
Thank you for your open door!

@john65pennington You are so right- when I first came here my spelling needed an overhaul. This site has really helped in that regard.

I felt and still feel that I’m the dumb kid in a smart kids class. But usually no one intentionally makes me feels this way

@dog – That is why I love Firefox’s built-in spell-check. I have good spelling but am typo-prone so it helps me just the same.

@jerv Yes! That helps a lot. However I do Fluther from my iPhone and it is not as helpful at times.

@Symbeline GA! You’re not a disappointment and with answers like that, you defiantly don’t suck. ;)

@jerv & @Dog – I used to use the spell check add-on for firefox but was recently forced to update the version of Firefox that I was using. This has resulted in my computer being unable to use the add-ons (even with updates and reinstallations of all add-ons). Very sad. Thought this was the new Firefox but clearly this isn’t the case for you guys. Did you notice issues with this?

I’m still finding my feet but I sense a very different culture from Answerbag – surprisingly in good way. I was on AB for a year and while I was absolutely addicted I noted that it was steadily becoming more and more aggressive, defensive and cliquey. Answers were becoming shorter and more flippant. We had fun anyway. Fluther seems much more mature and mellow which is a change I probably need right now. So maybe something good has come of the AB downfall after all – for me anyway.

I liked the look of the site. Nice easy typeface. good avatar size.You can immediately identify people when you get used to the avavtars.
It is an inviting look.
I like the fact you see a version of what you are“crafting” and a prompt to post. I am absent minded and a poor typist ( having to peer suspiciously at the keyboard to make sure they havent rearranged it yet again) My answers as you will see vary in length and I occasionally quote poetry if I find one that is apt.(addicted to nonsense poetry).
All the ones I have seen so far(jellies) seem like a fair bunch exept for ‘he who shall not be named’ who went to ‘where shall not be named.’
He is disgruntled ( I think that covers it) and who can blame him if we have upset his equilibrium. He has kept it off here.That is the main thing.

@moley yeah…don’t let one bad apple upset the apple cart…his/her tirades would have been squashed here-that’s not the vibe that is representative of this community and I for one am ashamed that this unnamed person made the poor choice to lambast total strangers in that way.

Now that that is in the open-I hope we can all wipe the slate clean and enjoy each other’s company and goodwill here in what many call the best darn site on the internet!!!!

@sndfreQ – Yay!

When I first joined I was apprehensive about how the moderation worked here. I found the Fluther community difficult to please and it frustrated me. However, I am so glad that it didn’t put me off this site because now I really appreciate the mods and the fact that it’s not always simple to post a question. I also love the lurve! I always feel good when I recieve GA’s and because of the lurve and moderation on this site I really think about what I am typing.

@sndfreQ I second that motion!

As a newbie – ive got to say, i think its looking very good – nice people, friendly moderators, that communicate well, and im absolutely loving the quirky little comments shown under my user name!!!! :D
Big Thanks to everyone on Fluther!

@YCLYHO We. Drink. Your. Milkshake! That’s ones probably my favorite because it stirs up so much.

My initial reaction was; Who are all these jellies and what are they doing in my ocean? I hope I have enough food.

Now?...no worries.

It felt fake to me with those weird compliments in the top right hand corner and stuff like that. It was just weird. That was my impression from what I remember. Hey, you asked!