If something similar to what just happened at AB happened here at Fluther, would you stay or go?

I don’t know much about why you all left. I’m under the impression they made it like Facebook-ish, aimed at teens, that’s all I really know. I know Bendrew wouldn’t do something like that. It’s kind of against what we’re all here for. I’m sorry I can’t answer this question because this would never happen.
The changes here are gradual and usually something we all ask for.

I agree with @Clair it would never happen.

Gotta say, I’m trying this site out. There’s a learning curve, as usual, but I’m also waiting until AB is finished doing what they are doing. It might not be all that bad. Of course, I might just go back to being a productive person again, too.

I haven’t been here long enough to fall in love with the layout, inside jokes, badges, terminology, etc. ... or other members (aside from my AB polyps who swam over here). So a somewhat radical layout change that didn’t make the site more difficult to use and didn’t degrade the qualities that I do appreciate probably wouldn’t upset me too much.

But if a heavy-handed manager / new owner came along and did something so drastic to the fundamentals of the site that most of the (thoughtful) others left, there’d be little point in staying.

@Ansible1 I would never say “it can’t happen here”. Let’s just hope not… and strongly suggest that it “should not”.

I’d be loyal to my fellow jellies :D

@CyanoticWasp All things are possible but Bendrew would not sell us out. Although I’m as hopeful as you that this would never happen.

If the same sort of thing happened I would have to leave. If I could not find another site of acceptable quality I would have to go back to spending my free time as I did before 2003; reading, listening to classical music, chopping firewood, etc.

if it happened now i think i would give up .(as just not to go through it again ). but i would give them the respect they have given all of us if it happened a bit later .. ;-)

If a similar thing happened here, I guess I would have to resport to going back to being a full time facebooker. I would only go back to AB if they would consider their old format with a small amount of changes without going “BANG” like they have. In all honestly i’m still learning the main areas of fluther, who knows – I might actually end up falling in love with this side :)

I might be forced to finally go and study. PLEASE DON’T CHANGE.

Nah…no more jumping for me! I’m here to stay, folks!

I have faith in Bendrewim. It won’t happen here.

If this site does the same thing AB did, then I give up. So far I keep checking back at AB big news, they put an edit in the forums, yippee, sarcasm of course. They are going for the dollars, not the members. Who knows, maybe if it hurts their wallet to have chased off so many users, they may get around to putting the community feel back into the site, but I doubt it.

Oh yea! I feel terrible now. I officially change my response above to say ‘Bendrewim.’ Have mercy on my blasphemy.

@Clair I hope that it won’t happen here, but in my experience, if enough money is laid on the table, principles have a way of becoming negotiable. I’m not accusing the owners of anything; just my observation on human nature.

as long as they keep chatroom for us to talk and stay connected i would stay.

Frankly, I find this site to be close to AB, can’t post pictures, no comments, no posting videos…I give up.

@POLICE You can link all of those things though. For more clean-cut browsing.

I can’t see Bendrewim taking that kind of drastic step. However, if something like that were to happen to Fluther, I’d probably stick around for a while hoping for things to change. I’d try to get used to it, because I really have a serious Fluther addiction. I enjoy so many of the people here, and learn some truly disturbing interesting things!

For a long time I was an active member of Askville. When that place started to change, I hung in there hoping the powers-that-be would see reason. It just kept going down hill, and a lot of the great members left. They were replaced by trolls and pot-stirrers. Finally, I got fed up and left. No personal drama, just a quiet exit. I’d heard of Fluther on Askville and decided to try it out. Now, I could never tolerate a site that isn’t well moderated and mainly populated with intelligent, interesting, and hilarious members. I’d be so sad to see Fluther go that way too, because there doesn’t appear to be much else out there of this caliber.

Hmm. Fluther’s gone and I have to ask myself…

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An’ if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know!
Should I stay or should I go now?

I really don’t know.

It depends on the change. I’m not on this site very much, but I do keep coming back. If they took away the lurve, sure I would come back. If I couldn’t see if there was a new answer to a question I was following, my usage would probably taper off.

I’d stay. The thing I like most about Fluther is the thoughtfulness of most of the questions and answers. If you have a question, people genuinely try to answer you in a helpful way. Everything else is just window dressing. The current format is clear and easy to use, and I love the jellyfish art. It might be annoying if Fluther were to divide questions into categories or change lurve so that it gave you status or power, because it would make things less egalitarian and people would probably spend all their time answering one type of question. I think the friendliness and helpfulness of this site is a lot more important than stuff like that, though.

It wasn’t so much the fact that it changed that got me. After all, I was there pre-points so I had already seem a dramatic change once before, so a layout change in and of itself wouldn’t do it. But if the new layout were so poorly designed that I felt the urge to say the same type of stuff that PB’d me for the first time, so poor that some part-time web designer who had never seen AB before said “What the FUCK?!?!”, then maybe. I hate incompetence.

However, I am under the assumption that the admins here are both competent and responsive to feedback, or at least responsive enough to fix bugs. The fact that AB has fixed any glitches at all the past couple of days is unprecedented haste for them.

I am also under the assumption that the current cool admins won’t be replaced by total tools. If Lex takes over here, I am gone!

And if this place gets overrun by skript-k1dd13s asking for proxy sites so they can ignore class and ask Flutherites if they might be pregnant after eating a random pink pill then chances are that I will post enough insults to keep the mods busy for a week on my way out the door.

@Haleth has a good point. Even if by some insane trick of the gods this happened, you can’t interfere with a genuine answer or thoughtfulness.

The boys (Bendrew) seem to be doing alright here at Fluther. I don’t see any big changes happenin’ (“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”). I’m not worried. :)

I don’t know where the hell I’d go, but I still wouldn’t go back to Answerbag.

It would be a little different here, because I’m new and so have made no niche for myself at all. It wouldn’t be as significant for me in that respect, like it was on AB. So I could manage the change since it, currently, would make no difference to me.

On the other hand, I like online communities with a social nature such as the older AB and here on Fluther, if it became a yes and no site or another Assbook clone, I’d probably yodel my way outta here.

I do wish this site had a better way to discuss answers —- Am I dreaming of days past?

Actually I would start one of my own with help of course.

I’d be GONE in a heartbeat…. I don’t have time to spend hours trying to figure out a simple q&A site….

I’ve been “Considering” leaving Fluther… if there are anymore problems with mods Moderating unfairly anymore…. I will . Don’t have time for Mickey Mouse games by anyone…

Don’t get me wrong. I ENJOY this Fluther site ; but want to be treated equally and FAIRLY and I’ll stay as long as that is the way it is…

@HighShaman – I have yet to see any unfairness. Then again, I was never a prolific questioner and the few I did ask were done so with forethought and careful phraseology. There is an art to it here as opposed to AB where you don’t even need to know how to spell or TURN OFF THE CAPS LOCK.

My biggest concern with changing any site would be to take the social aspect out of the site. Love to converse with my friends. If the site took my friends away like Answerbag did, would have to leave. Would be no fun without my friends. Looking forward to making friends on this site. Also, glad many of my friends are here from answerbag. They make my day just a “little bit better!”

@HighShaman In all fairness, how can you say there has been any unfairness? You are a new member. Could it be that you may have broken a rule of something that you were not aware of? I have not seen any unfairness at all. Just curious as to what you have viewed as unfair, it may have just been a misunderstanding?

Haul ass…Thanks for the great question ekans. :)

Yes.

I would honestly hope that something like that would never happen here. If it did?? I honestly don’t know what I would do?

If a new owner came along, and changed everything about the site…then I probably wouldn’t want to come back.
But, if it were just format changes, I’d adjust.

That’s the thing. It wasn’t JUST the changes. It was the way we were soundly ignored over the same issues for YEARS. The damn glitches SUCKED. How fucking long does it take to fix a damn glitch? Favoritism with ABers who were less than kind to other ABers, and taking away any hope of communicating with my friends. I mean damn, there wasn’t any part of that that had the users in mind! Not ONE! So, if any other website cut me off from my family and made it VERY CLEAR that I was not important, I’d leave in an instant. I’m surprised I put up with it as long as I did, but my family was there.

I would leave.The crap that happened to AB is the reason why I came here.

@redneckgirl

Same here.

I’m a student of *KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

* I’m simple.
* I understand things that are simple.
* I make a point of simplifying things so that I can easily undertand them.
* I simplify my statements to be easily understood.

If a decision was made to change Fluther which destroys it’s clean, simple, easily understood layout or it’s ease of navigation…

…I’d be gone in a heartbeat.

I don’t need to work to have fun.

I have to find my ways on the new AB, have to find my way around here. Not much a difference in it, is there? Have to ‘learn’ both then. Thats why Im now there and here and everywhere!!

Saboteur, wouldn’t that make you simple minded? Hehehe :)

@phillis: YES.

Silliness :)

I’d leave only if I wanted to. I don’t even mind the new Answerbag. It’s just different and not what a lot of people were used to. Answerbag users helped me through a lot and I’m not about to trash that just because Answerbag’s layout has been changed… As for Fluther, I’m new here. I don’t have any good reason to have anything against Fluther or any Fluther users.