Over 5 years ago a friend of mine encouraged me to join Fluther because of the positive experiences she had as a member. Although I had never been part of a Q&A community, after exploring your digs, I decided it would be good for me, too. My first question, an innocent one so I thought, reminded me that innocent intentions are meaningless if it involves balls, zippers, or anything a prepubescent boy can spin into something nasty.

What has surprised me the most about my Fluther experience? In some cases, there’s been little separation between virtual and actual relationships in terms of how I feel about people who’ve come and gone, who’ve shared with compassion and criticism, and those whose lives have been on display without any concern about outside perceptions. In other words, I’ve experienced virtual and actual people as the same. And, it’s surprised me to feel all sorts of feelings regarding virtual people I’ve never met, as well as people I’ve not chatted with in over 5 years.