If you could bring a wish list of topics into the town hall meeting what would be on it?

I will wait to see what the people who run this site decide what the town meeting is about, as I wouldn’t presume to tell the Fluther Gods what it is or isn’t about. I have my own opinions, and I feel free to express my wishes (expectations) without any limitations.

I would like to know the direction that Fluther wishes to go, and how we are going to go about getting there. Fluther is growing, and as such changes are to be expected. I’d like to know what they see for the future and possible things in the works.

I’m looking to see how we can change some of the negative feelings that have come out this week, without imposing too many more restrctions or “mod“ifications – if that’s possible.

Honestly, something that has bothered me for a long time about fluther is how there seem to be a few members who the founders are reticent about banning. I’m thinking of two in particular who have been banned but who were here were a very long time. These users I have in mind were rarely helpful or positive. One would disappear for weeks on end and never responded to comments put to him and often irritated other users. The other would often insult people but do it in such a way as to be well within in the guidelines. Both these people did not violate the guidelines per se except in one case which resulted in the banning of the second user.

I would like to see a 911 tab or button we could click when a jelly is having a meltdown so we could request an EMT squad be dispatched to help the jelly undo their overtightened undies!

The personal attacks that seem to be allowed anymore really bother me. Also, when some like to pick apart the title of the question, instead of just answering the question and trying to be helpful. These are just a few things that have kept me from Fluthering as much as I used to.

Ugh! I just spent 20 minutes on an answer, and when I posted it, I was told the question was being edited.
It would be nice if there was a way to avoid this.

@jonsblond I completely agree! I belong to another forum where heated debates are the norm but personal attacks are rare as everybody there abides by the unwritten rule of attack the post not the poster.

I want to know who the hell I can talk to about my constantly rising property taxes.

I want to know why in hell the snowplow drivers have to cover up my sidewalk within an hour of having me clear it—every damn snowstorm.

I want to know what’s going to be done about the drivers coming out of Delilah Ave. who don’t stop at the stop sign… there have already been several accidents that I know about.

I want to know why the cops are the worst offenders at speeding up and down my street, which is posted at 25 MPH; this is for apparently routine travel.

I want to know why those whippersnappers on the school bus can’t walk to school; it’s not even a half-mile away! And they have crossing guards there stopping traffic anyway.

@CyanoticWasp -You need to talk to a moderator about that ;))

@lucillelucillelucille No, mod won’t help or at least just yet! Those are all bell ringer questions and @CyanoticWasp should just ask each one separately here. I may just have to ask my own as to why my neighbors leaves blow onto my lawn??

@Cruiser -Write your Congressman about that.Or have a boxing match! WTH! Problem solved!!! LOL

@lucillelucillelucille Thanks for your sage advice! Nice to have someone else’s opinion on matters so close to home! I am writing Obama as we speak!

@Cruiser -A love letter? giggles

I would like to see the issue of making accusations about unnamed people addressed. It seems like there is a clique of insiders who know who these people are, and the rest of us are left wondering if we are being talked about.

I would like to discuss the issue of transparency—what plans are in the works and why; what discussions the moderators are having; and what issues have been identified that affect fluther.

@lucillelucillelucille A lurve letter! lol!

@Cruiser—LOL—

I’d like to see no attempts at adjusting user behavior unless that behavior is threatening or abusive.

I’d like to see less categories.
Discussions v. Questions is splitting hairs and they all appear on the front page anyway.

I would like to be talked about more.

@CyanoticWasp Too bad you can’t see other’s PM’s I think you would be very proud of yourself! ;)

@wundayatta: I agree. On the thread where someone specifically asked for us to name names, I did name names and then got attacked because of it. :(

But of course, @KatawaGrey. You did the courageous and correct thing. You gave the people you were criticizing an opportunity to discuss the criticism. It’s not surprising it got a little aggressive, but it was much better than the alternative. Unlike you, most people around here only name names to the moderators, so no one knows where an accusation comes from or why the mods are doing whatever it is they do. It’s all black box, which means it is not trustworthy. It creates the seeds of dissent and disaffection.

Anyway, I really appreciated your honesty and courage, and I wish more people would follow your example when they have complaints. I think that eventually we would learn how to handle such criticisms with less rancor if we continued on this path. We need to value every single one of us, and see problems as a chance to teach and learn, not criticize and punish. If we don’t become more transparent, I can see what happened to AB and Askville and others easily happening here. I really, really do not want to ever be in a position where it turns out I was right about that. Fluther is too important to fail.

P.S. I was the one who asked people to name names. I have no problem being named. In fact, it makes me feel better than not being sure if someone is talking about me or not. We need to name names both for good (attribution) or for bad.

@wundayatta: Were you? Ay me, my memory fails… I do try to take the position that I will either name names to everyone or no one except in very extreme circumstances. I admit I have contacted a mod a few times when a certain user has derailed a thread and made several personal attacks and has been asked several times to stop. What worries me most about naming names is that perhaps it would cause more lines to be drawn in the sand rather than fewer. There have been issues where a user has said, “I told you so-and-so that I didn’t care about your opinion and I don’t want you answering my questions!” which is just terrible.

Hi all! See the main topic on the blog post right now. It touches a lot of the things brought up here, so we’ll probably be address some of these topics as well. See you there!

http://blog.fluther.com/transcript-of-town-hall/