Is the social section the best thing that ever happened to Fluther?

Social was added very soon after I joined, so I really don’t recall a Fluther without it. I like it, though.

Thank you Neffie!

Mods: Thank you! Debated on social vs meta!

I like Meta.
I don’t really like social. It’s allowed for some incredibly stupid questions to be asked.
If you’re just here to be social, then at least take it to PM rather than the threads.

No. Because in social, I can’t be a strict, evil moderator.

But really, though, I much prefer the questions of General over those in Social. And I greatly prefer the quality of responses in General over those in Social.

Well, i asked the question under social, but the mods changed it. Think it could go either way, but no big deal!

No.

Me joining was the best thing that ever happened to Fluther.

Now go make me a sandwich.

Yes. It spares me the tedium of choosing what questions to shun. Lot of people seem to get their kicks from the banter; I find it makes me feel as though I have new cavities.

I’m not fond of it. I find general too serious and social too flighty. I wish we had the old system. Meta is ok. I like serious stuff with just the right leavening of humor.

@wundayatta:Finding just the right leavening of humor is like asking Goldilocks which bed, chair and porridge temp. she preferred.

@gailcalled well, i’m easily amused. That could be good or bad…depending on your perspective of things! Plus, I enjoy people…well, most of them!

@bob_ loll what kind and what do you want on it?

Nah, I tend to answer more question in the general section. The quality there is closer to what originally drew me to Fluther.

@gailcalled As I recall, she quickly did find the ones that were juuust right! Ah, the things you learn from having kids. (oh snap!) ;-)

@syz understood! I answer very few questions in the general area. Too stiff for me! but, that is what makes the world go around! Be a dull World if everyone thought the same!

Its all one big blur.

long weekend!

Some people rather interact, some like to be analyical, some like to spare and debate, etc., and the three sections seems to encompass the site as a whole. It allows @syz, @wundayatta and @gailcalled have an area to do what makes them happpy…the general section. Then, there is Chaz, Bob (get your own damn sandwich), Sarcasm (he really like Chaz, doesn’t give a hoot..loll) etc. that like to “shoot the breeze!”

So, we are just one big happy family! Loll…

Can’t wait to see where this goes!

I like it because I get to choose how I feel that day and go for it. I like the questions in general better (usually) and I like social for the conversations. I like meta because sometimes I get to stretch my marketing brain and I get the benefit of talking about Fluther, which I love.

I’m glad General was created, Fluther was starting to feel like Facebook without the pictures.

@gemiwing exactly, i don’t feel like “being stiff” everyday. My gosh, occasionally, it’s good for the soul to misspell a word, put a comma in the wrong place, etc! Sometimes, do it on purpose to get attention from Gail! loll

@BoBo1946: I ignore 99% of mistakes in English usage here. It’s too tiresome. Personally, as you know, I like the challenge of writing a terse, clear and understandable sentence. It comes in handy in the strangest places.

One can be accurate and funny; that does not equate to being “stiff,” whose use I don’t understand in relation to writing. Leaving now to dance naked in the garden.

@BoBo1946 What part of “I find general too serious” did you not understand?

@gailcalled well said! -:))

@wundayatta “Too”?

@wundayatta oh, well excuse me! An oversight on my part! Is there anything you like about the change? just saying!

@gailcalled oh, sounds like fun! ummmm….all about perspective! Fortunately, we all don’t see the World the same way my dear!

@BoBo1946 Nope. Not a thing. It think the quality of the questions has declined. I find the atmosphere to be less friendly. I find the struggles over categorization of questions to be tedious. It was much better before. But still, even thought the quality of the questions here has declined, in terms of what interests me, there are still better questions and answers here than elsewhere.

But other sites have their own strengths that fluther can not match without changing its mission. Anyway, mix and match. It all works out fairly copacetically.

I miss the old way. Where there was humor, but things were kept on track.

@wundayatta well, i was here only a short time before the change. Cannot really address that!

Think everyone does not like change. Having worked for a major company for 25 years, could i talk about that comment for about 2 weeks! that would be a good question! Change!

@BoBo1946: You asked for opinions. You got them. No one is asking you to see the world in the same way as I do.

@gailcalled loll..just stating mine Gail…if that is okay!

@BoBo1946 I find it kind of condescending when someone tells me the reason I don’t like a change is because I don’t like change. Noone ever seems to think that maybe the change is for the worse.

I am someone who probably embraces change more than most people. I think it keeps the mind sharp, and it’s fun to learn new things.

I like change. But I didn’t like this one.

@wundayatta speaking for myself….NOT you! good grief!

@BoBo1946: I am aware of of your view on this. You mentioned it first in the question and then several times more. We get it. You love the “social” category.

@gailcalled well…i guess being redundant is something that i must put on my “bucket list” Gail….thank you so much for reminding me my dear. Sorry, if this bother you! Hope you have a really wonderful day!

@ChazMaz help….loll. The senior members did not like this question! Bowing as i leave!

http://i30.tinypic.com/2a9rv2q.jpg

@BoBo1946 There you go again! I liked the question fine. I just disagreed with your opinions. It seems to me that you often misinterpret my comments. Maybe you don’t read them very carefully. I don’t know.

Similarly, your comments are sometimes unclear, leading to my misinterpretation. I thought “Think everyone does not like change” was a blanket generalization. I didn’t know you refer to yourself in the third person.

Well, I bow down before your greatness, your highness. ;-)

This is why I like general. 24642523 off-topic responses aren’t allowed.

@rangerr You know, that’s an off-topic comment XD

I concur with @marinelife in that I preferred how the site was before the split.

Splitting up Q/A sites can be deadly. Believe me on that note.

I prefer just to look at my fluther’s questions.

@wundayatta lol…uh, if you read the comment again…about my company that I worked for etc..etc..blah blah…NEVER said @wundayatta did not like change…Did NOT single you out… I personally don’t like change myself, sir. Maybe, you are reading to much into it. It was NOT intended for just you. Sorry, if i was NOT clear, maybe that is why i like the social section. People there don’t “play on words”.....

Thought you and Gailcalled both attacked me from the “get go” and i never wanted this..that CERTAINLY was not the intent of the question. I was kidding Gail about commas, etc…think most people would see it that way. It was done “tongue in cheek,”...

@wundayatta well, i was here only a short time before the change. Cannot really address that! Think everyone does not like change. Having worked for a major company for 25 years, could i talk about that comment for about 2 weeks! that would be a good question! Change!

Still trying to see where this was condescending toward you…for the life of me, cannot find it.

Lurves to everyone….sorry about the misunderstanding. Seems like my words were taken wrong.

@BoBo1946 You’re taking it out of context. Earlier, you wrote, “Is there anything you like about the change?” You said, it seemed to me, that you believed everyone doesn’t like change.” I assumed I was part of everyone. I don’t think we all don’t like change, but more importantly, I think it is condescending to say that, because it suggests that people don’t like changes not for any particular or relevant reason, but simply because everyone doesn’t like change (for no reason at all).

It’s very dismissive. It’s saying, “Oh, you just don’t like change.” As if there are no substantive reasons the person doesn’t like something. As if you oppose it simply because it’s different, and that it is a knee-jerk reaction.

Sigh.

@wundayatta it is over….no problem! Have a good one! As the man said in “Cool Hand Luke,” “what we have here is a failure to communicate!” On my part…

Oh goody! Could we please now go and solve the great problems of humanity? Via humor, I mean!

do my best! do anyway you can…with or without humor!

I liked fluther better before the change. There are way too many inane questions now and I am getting tired of all the chatting in the social section. As soon as I see users quipping back an forth, I stop following. Chat in the chat room (hence the name) or take it to PM. I ask so many fewer questions these days because I don’t want a lot of gabbing when I want an answer (which happens in social), but I don’t want the restricted answers of the general section either. Oh, well.

@tinyfaery You knocked it on the noggin.

@tinyfaery I know, right? Anyway, how are you today?

:/

@bob_ You had me at “too.” Pastrami, coming up.

I have a bit of a different perspective. For those not in the know I left the site back in September 09 for my own reasons, and have only returned this past week. When I left the site’s questions were all grouped together. Having come back to see them fragmented, I love it! In my mind there always needs to be a division between the site and meta issues simply because only a small subset of users care enough about the community to read and reply to these types of questions, so removing them from the general pool of questions as well as those questions’ guidelines, is advantageous in facilitating frank and honest discussion about the site with the people who care most about it.

The division between social and regular to-the-point questions is interesting. I’m not sure if I like it or dislike it, but I think I’m on the side of liking it, because it lays out what kinds of answers are preferred and allows people to better moderate themselves in accordance.

The site I originated from, Metafilter, has its own question subsection, Ask Metafilter. Over time they chose to focus only on questions with answers, social chatty questions are discouraged and in fact not really allowed. This has caused the community to take on a different flavour, especially considering that some of the most popular questions would qualify today as being chatty and would have been deleted, but weren’t because the guidelines were not as stringent back then. I do wish they would implement a more chatty question section, because it is fun to chat with people and to learn about them. And this issue arises often in MetaTalk (their divided site-talk section).

Having returned almost a year later, I prefer the way the place acts now compared to how the place was before. But I think that is because I have always preferred answering question to making friends (while it is nice and I love you all, it’s not really why I joined the site). That said, it does feel different now. I liked the older threads where it was a balance of the both but I really disliked it when the chatty aspects dominated and changed the direction of the question. Now the site feels more dedicated to its purpose of answering questions, while also letting people who enjoy chattyness do so in the social section. In this regard it does also seem as if the site is more aimed to welcoming new users rather than fostering the relationships with current users, which is an admirable goal in a company looking towards the future but which will inevitably cause discontent amongst some folks who enjoyed it the way it was before.

I much preferred the original lack of organization of the site when it was smaller and the quality was high, but people could still be nonchalant and funny. That being said, for the direction the site was headed in just before the changes came about, I think that the changes were necessary and handled quite well. While I wish we could go back to the original Fluther, I find the new categorization of questions to be a fairly successful replacement.

@dynamicduo reminded me of something. Before the split, questions used to have more people looking at them, thus more answers. This lead to more interesting discussions that I used to enjoy reading and occasionally chiming in on. These threads have seemed to have petered out and this has made fluther a lot more boring. Not that it’s horrible now… Just not as good as it used to be.

@zenele It took you that long? You can’t find good help these days… * shakes head disapprovingly *

@bob_ hope you know well enough to know that i was kidding with you about the sandwich!

@BoBo1946 We don’t kid about sandwiches. Now go to your room and think about what you did.

@bob_ lmao!!!!!!!

What did I miss?

I was eating a sandwich.

@ChazMaz loll… ummmm….no, you missed “nuttin!” Lucky you!

I prefer the new way. I love General and only approach Social after all my General answers are used up.

General > Social.
Hands down.

Social > General.

Put your hands up in the air and wave them like you just don’t care.

I prefer social myself…nothings all THAT serious! lol

I like the old way better.

@Coloma nothings all THAT serious

but it is “all serious” if a person needs help with something. Not everyone is here to be social. That’s not even the reason why this site was started. Don’t get me wrong, I like the social part of Fluther when I want to escape from daily problems, but I like that I can get an honest answer from people I trust if I need help. What’s wrong with that?

@jonsblond

Of course…just kidding around..I like to be able to inject a bit of humor in the midst of seriousness. :-)

I like the contrast of the different sections.

@Coloma I know. You are a breath of fresh air at times, and that is definitely needed here. :)

I always post my questions in Social, just because I feel that no one will feel limited in what they respond with. I’m still unsure of the split itself though. I understand the need for Meta, but not too sure the need for a general and a social section.

@casheroo General = Real answers, no bullshitting, no being off topic or unhelpful.
Social = Mix of real answers and a lot of random, off-topic, funny answers.

Ooh, I remember the fluther site back in May 2009. I fell in love with the quality of fluther. It was “small,” but much more comfortable; it was a happy family. It still is somehow, but I miss some people. Hands down, I love how it used to be. However, I see how the community has grown, and I think the different sections are really a great idea! It keeps things organized. There’s always a section I always wanted, though- debates. But no, it’ll mayhaps cause too many problems and trolling. Heh. (:

@tinyfaery I liked fluther better before the change. There are way too many inane questions now and I am getting tired of all the chatting in the social section. As soon as I see users quipping back an forth, I stop following. Chat in the chat room (hence the name) or take it to PM. I ask so many fewer questions these days because I don’t want a lot of gabbing when I want an answer (which happens in social), but I don’t want the restricted answers of the general section either. Oh, well.

Wow! It is so ironic to see you write that. You were one of the people telling me to get the hell out if I didn’t like the new system back when it was brand new and I was warning of exactly what you said.

I took your advice, anyway. I’ve cut way back on the level of my participation here. I stop following many more questions. I click not interested three times as much as I used to. It’s not just because I have less time. The questions really have been getting less interesting. Although they are still more interesting than on every other site I’ve tried.

Oh well.

@wundayatta Hah, that is ironic.

@bob And that ain’t the only irony. Other people who were telling me to shut up and leave have also asked questions or made comments complaining about the things I warned of._

Words: they come back and bite you in the ass.

Nostalgia is a tricky thing. Once was told, there are only two good jobs, the one you just left and the one you are going too. Life was always better yesterday than today.

Then why is it called “the present”? Today is the only gift,

true…..

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

ummmm…very true!

I tend to prefer the future to the past. You can’t go back to the past. But you can learn from it.

@wundayatta very true…i’m a walking proof of that! After this bad morning, may not be walking much longer! lol Afternoon will be better!

@BoBo1946 What happened? I hope you are ok.

@wundayatta….i should know better! Got in a heated debate, but a civil debate with Dutchess, and regret not walking away. I’m old enough to know better. Anyway, have a good afternoon.

http://www.fluther.com/90520/do-women-when-conversing-with-men-expect-them-to-spend-part/

@BoBo1946 Lord. I’d say it must be something in the water but we all live in different countries.
I like the Social section with it’s stupid questions because I’m stupid.

@Aster hey, i’m no Einstein for sure! I stay in the social area also! Take care! Everything is fine…any day above ground, is a good day!

@BoBo1946 Well, I’ve taken the afternoon shift on that question. Sigh. True confessions of a boob man. I mean bobo man. Or is it the other way around? No matter.

loll..have fun!

Absolutely. More people from wis.dm are back enjoying Fluther !!