Is it harder for a conservative to earn lurve here on fluther?

Nope. The highest ranking jellies are the ones who consistently give the best, most thoughtful, insightful, and well written answers and ask the best questions.

I’ve found that most people on this site are liberal, and people tend to give lurve to answers they agree with. But this site is not just about politics.

I still have trouble wrapping my head around why anybody cares about lurve. I’m far more interested in what people have to say, conservative or liberal, than winning a popularity contest in how many points I have.

probably true on the political dicussions

If I think that a conservative’s answer is eloquent, explains their position well, and generally helps me understand that side, I’ll give them a GA. If their response is the same crap I hear from every politician, without any level of personalization or nuance, or if it’s mean-spirited and generally along the lines of “suck it, d-bag” I won’t give it a GA. If the post is racist, homophobic, or sexist, I won’t give it a GA under almost all circumstances.

My guess is the people with the most lurve are the ones who are the most active on the site. I give conservatives lurve all of the time. If their answer is logical and accurate, even if it disagrees with my position on an issue I often give lurve, because I like that it makes me think. I also like when someone who opposes my opinions is willing to engage in a meaningful conversation. Now, not to confuse conservatives with the Christian Right Wing, because I see them as two different groups, although there is some overlap, I have found that a lot of time the religious people sit back, don’t comment, but dole out the lurve to the people willing to engage in the conversation. I figured this out on a religious question I asked, where I received a few PM’s from Christians who basically said they were following the Q but did not want to comment on the thread, because they did not want to deal with any negativity.

Yes. Most people here lean to the liberal side.

Outside of politically themed threads I don’t think so.
That being said, @palerider, which category do you fall into? I need to know if I should give you a GA or not.

If a Conservative can present their viewpoint in a rational manner then they are no less likely to get Lurve than a Moderate or Liberal.

The trouble is that many Conservatives can’t (or can but don’t) hold their own in a debate or discussion, cite provable falsehoods as fact, fall back on repeating dogma as opposed to critical thinking, or are just plain dicks. Those types of people don’t get any lurve regardless of political affiliation. Those Conservatives that avoid those traps can get lurve easily, whereas Moderates and Liberals who hit one of those potholes don’t get the lurve a well-spoken Conservative does.

And as @AstroChuck says, if you aren’t discussing politics then none of it matters.

@jerv yes, but these days almost everything eventually turns to the political.

edit: GQ

im a proud conservative, always willing to debate facts and topics that i am familiar with, if i dont know i dont comment.

I disagree with nearly everyone here more often than not, I think, conservatives and liberals alike. And I’m not here for lurve; I like that this site makes me a better thinker, a better analyst and a better writer nearly every day. The lurve seems to pile up even though I am so contrary. Sometimes I at least try to be pleasant about it. But don’t count on it.

i wasnt stating that my objective was to earn lurve, but only that a high ranking is probably emblematic of a liberal bias

I felt it was easier for me in the beginning to gain lurve because the few that gave me alot of lurve have maxed me out (you are allowed only 20 great answers from a single user before their lurve doesn’t count anymore).

There is somewhat of a broad line here politically on this site (compared to others like sodahead, etc) where you may have people that agree with the rights of homosexuals to get married, supporting affirmative action, helping the enviroment but at the same time opposing gun control, supporting the death penalty, lower taxes among other issues. I myself am conservative on many issues but very liberal on others. This is the one thing I do appreciate about Fluther is the political diversity on here. If you expect people on here to robotically agree with Republicans on most/all issues and “liberals” to blindly agree with all of their “traditional” issues in a robotic politically correct order then there are other Q & A websites with those types of people.

Personally from being around narrow-minded rednecks who can’t think for themselves and being exposed to a newspaper that is nothing short of being ran by Obama bashing editors I actually appreciate the more liberal political diversity on here, maybe I’m conservative on Fluther but believe me I’m a “liberal” where I live.

I’ve termed the above Republicans and liberals rather than Democrats because it seems if you jump ship on an issue or two when it comes to most Republicans today then you are considered a “liberal” anyway. I accept most on here are to the left of me but that doesn’t bother me a great deal or I would join the ultraconservative Sodahead. There are drastic political differences on here if you read most of the threads but not the robotic neoconservative types. People can actually think on this website and it’s even challenged me (sometimes uncomfortably). There are quite a few conservatives on here that have massive lurve if you look.

I actually asked a similar question about why there are more atheists than theists on here and who is more likely to get more lurve. To me it’s not about lurve itself but the fact it shows you wrote a good answer or not. I’ve been frustrated myself on this issue not because of lurve itself but sometimes I felt I gave a great answer on a topic and someone writes three words and gets 10 great answers. It’s not about lurve with me but the fact that people appreciated an answer I went out of my way for. I’m not on here for lurve but for answering interesting diverse questions. Fluther is one of the best Q & A websites I have found despite my differences with many others on here.

@Jabe73 I thought it was 100, not 20.

@papayalily Isn’t it 20 great answers equal 100 lurve? I’m off to sleep.

I give Great Question adn Great Answer marks to conservatives whenever they post a question that elicits great information or providde an answer backed up by facts and not just pure ideology. I use the same strategy in grading the liberal members.

while fluther’s head office is in California… which is a blue state… its members are from around the world so ideally it should be balanced

It’s completely possible to avoid political questions altogether. I do. (I’m not conservative but I also know next-to-nothing about politics and am not capable of writing a good answer on that subject).

Anyway – Conservatives have a Q&A site all of their very own.

Well you get a GQ from me for being so observant and the real reason liberals here don’t give lurve is their hands are too busy waving to hit the GA button! just kidding gang! XD

Yes.

@talljasperman I think most of the world is more liberal than conservative. Especially the countries that seem to partcipate in our forum. The US is one of the most puritanical of the industrialized nations from what I can tell. I guess some of it depends on how exactly we define conservative, and are we talking about social and fiscal issues.

@JLeslie Very true. Even our Liberals are relatively conservative compared to most of the rest of the world. And even Roman Catholics from Rome (Italy) think our Christians are a little too intense.

Every dog has its day.

I feel that it’s much less about your political and religious views and more about how well you present your thoughts and arguments on a topic. If a user is fond of snarky one-liners and arguments they can’t back up, then yes, they are going to have a harder time getting lurve.

Presenting yourself intelligently, reasonably, and civilly is the key to lurve regardless of topic. We like witty people, too, so long as they use their wit appropriately. :)

I’ve seen Conservatives get plenty of points, as long as they’re mature about it. That stands for pretty much everything methinks.

@MissAnthrope Hey, I do snarky one-liners all the time, and I still get lurve!

@jerv – Some snarky one-liners are more thoughtfully-placed than others. :)

@MissAnthrope It’s all about timing ;)

@downtide Yes I’ve read many posts on Sodahead. Unfortunately that Q & A website has it’s own propaganda that comes with it. There is no pushed “liberal” propaganda on Fluther despite most being more liberal on here. Personally I think Sodahead is retarded.

@Jabe73 I’m on Sodahead too. Any conservatives that want to preach to the choir can jump over there and get tons of positive reinforcement so long as you are so far to the right that you meet yourself coming back around.

@ETpro You’re on there too? Seems like troll city, alot of cocky users. I don’t think I would last too long there without being kicked off. I already live and work around these types of people so I think I will pass.

@Jabe73 I look at it as trial by fire. I float out policy ideas. Most of their users just post schoolyard taunts—ugly names, cartoons, claims I’ve been drinking the Koolaid and sich. But some come back with policy arguemnts, and whenever they do, I learn. Every now and then, I even find out they are right. So ir is a painful, but valuable exercise in refining my own views.

I am with @Rarebear

I could care less about the lurve and am here for the fun, thought provoking questions and social interactions.

I am apolitical and rarely engage in a political question.

I think it is impossible to reduce the totality of another down to a liberal/conservative stance.

We are all multi-faceted humans that defy categorizations.

@ETpro My trial by fire is already given to me where I live so I don’t need Sodahead to “smarten” me up so to say. You would love my local newspaper, and judging by the responses you’ve written on here they would “love” you too :-)

@Jabe73 I could probably make some waves. :-)