I left to give more time to schoolwork. I came back, changed my name subtly (no more last name floating around), and I’ve considered leaving again. Fluther doesn’t feel the same as it used to, and I don’t have the same connection with other users that I used to, partly because those users left, and partly because I’ve grown up and my tastes have changed. I’ve come across far more answers now where I’ve wanted to write something along the lines of “No, you’re wrong”, and stopped myself, mostly because I don’t know the person. I miss the days where every computer question wasn’t answered with “Take the computer somewhere” or “It’s a virus”, and I miss the days where a nice little quip of encouragement or side joke wouldn’t get modded as “Off-Topic” or “Unhelpful”. I miss the days where @gailcalled could correct someone’s grammar and the person wouldn’t get confrontational. Ultimately, though, Fluther is still Fluther, and I think anybody that leaves because “the site changed” or “the feel is different” isn’t really correct. The users change, and for me, I didn’t leave because the user change, I left because I changed, or was going to change, and I didn’t have the time for Fluther. I came back, but many don’t. Sure, Fluther has changed, but I think, more importantly, my perception of the site has changed, and questions that I used to shrug off now leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Everyone is attracted to Fluther in their own way, and even those that eventually get their panties in a bunch because the moderation is excessive or for other reasons were attracted to the site enough to feel obliged to join. My argument is that if you leave because “the site changed” or, like @Imadethisupwithnoforethought said, because people stop agreeing with them, you’re in the wrong. The site is the same as it was when you joined, but the people who use it, and you yourself are different and no longer mesh as well with the site. To me, that’s why people leave.