Can Fluther start a banner or something else prominent for MIA Jellies?

I would think that you could send a Comment to them. I know that while I was too busy to spend a lot of time reading answers and responding, I would still log in and browse quickly.

The Comments for You section would be obvious enough of a flag, without interfering with the whole site layout.

The problem is when they have deleted their accounts.

Would it make any difference? If people leave, it could be for any number of reasons, but probably most of them are reasons that would make it unlikely that they ever respond to the website again. A banner wouldn’t change that.

I think this is a very difficult issue. Someone could die or just disappear, and the people left behind might never know. I think we may have to resign ourselves to the idea of being left in limbo. It is probably the nature of the internet, especially on anonymous sites.

I understand where you are coming from with this janbb. I too have been sad to see friends leave. Some I really miss and think of often.

That being said I think, sad as it is, we need to respect their choices. They have left of their own free will or sometimes have simply changed accounts. For reasons known only to themselves, they have chosen to cast aside their old identity without contacting some of us.

Another possibility is that the user has actually left and could come back and ask for their own identity back. This happens too. Perhaps wonderful things have happened in their lives and they are having fun. This is how I like to think of them.

As a Moderator sometimes we will be aware of user ID changes but if the person, even a friend, does so I respect his or her wishes and space unless the person approached me first to identify themself.

Regarding a banner- it would be like shooting off a flare in the sky. Chances are it would not be up at the right time or long enough to do any good.

Aside of this a banner would not be appropriate because Fluther is a question and answer site- not a social site.
I am not sure what a feed would do but again it may be inappropriate for the site.

I reluctantly have to agree wtih you @Dog. It’s just frustrating.

I understand your feeling, too, @janbb. Austinlad is one of a number that I miss. But like you I think @Dog is right.

I tend to assume that their absence is not a judgment against fluther but rather just a sign that they have moved on in their lives, for whatever reason. I have some past affiliations that I remember warmly but don’t keep up—don’t you? I’m just not in that place any more.

I’d like it if we could. I haven’t heard from @Army0f0n3, formerly @SOA for a long time. I hope he’s ok. He really did seem to be facing a dilemma before he quit signing on.

Take this opportunity to share e-mails, IM info, and phone numbers with people you want to stay in touch with. I even have in my half-assed will that my sister is to contact Allie if something happens to me.

But the idea of putting up a banner if someone doesn’t log in. That is just crazy talk. I don’t even know who Austinlad was and I’m sure that most other people don’t either.

@johnpowell Crazy talk, eh? You want crazy talk? No, you’re all right and I have shared e-mail addresses with some close friends here. Sometimes, you’re just realy enjoying someone’s posts and miss them when they’re suddenly gone. I was trying to come up with a way to do something, but you’re right.

@janbb :: I bailed for a bit because I was wasting to much time here when I should be basking in the sunshine with a good book. I didn’t die. I just wanted my life back for the summer.

They will turn accounts back on if you delete them. You just need to send a Pizza to the HQ in SF.

Thanks for the tip @johnpowell . I may have to do something similar at some point; Fluther and real life start flipping proportions sometimes! :-)

Despite posting a recent question about a Fluther person whose comments I miss reading, I agree with those before me who expressed the need for us to respect any decision by members to stop posting and/or close their account, be that temporarily or permanently.

I completely understand what motivated your question @janbb :)

@Adagio Yup, yup.

@johnpowell is completely right here. I too wonder where all of these jellies went, but this is the internet. When I deleted my account, there were people that contacted me via last.fm, and I did get one email about it as well. Few months later, I emailed augustlan and my account was activated again.

Although I really do wonder where those people go, if you plan on having any sort of a relationship with the people here, it really does help to exchange emails or be friends on other social sites or whatever. I’m personally glad nobody put up a question asking where I went when I left. It would make me feel really self-conscious, even if the poster means well.

I guess what I can decipher out of the somewhat broken things I said up there is that is somebody leaves I’m just going to respect whatever reason they have and leave it at that.