From what I have read and heard from those who have been here from the beginning Fluther has been hanging by a thread for at least 6–7 years since the founders moved on. Ben keeps the site up for the remaining members, some of whom are family members. There is no new development, so tweeks or changes won’t happen. Apparently the heyday was about 2008–2011 and it’s been riding into the sunset ever since.

This is enlightening (look at the date)... https://www.fluther.com/166774/hows-fluther-doing/

For the last 10 or 12 years ! ! !
N O !

I think the pertinent question is: “Wow, isn’t it cool and amazing that Fluther is still here, and that Ben keeps it open, and that people are still willing to participate?”

Fluther will never leave. That’s an evil thing to say. Take it back!

I value and estimate things based on how good, fun and interesting they are, not in terms of how many people are involved.

So, no.

I do not know if Fluther is disappearing slowly. I am certain, however, that the small user base is not conducive to either getting good factual information about questions requiring such or getting good discussion around questions that elicit ideas around dilemmas needing diverse input. At this point, Fluther really is simply an open club.

I joined it in 2007 and definitely it was slow then but 2008 to around 2010 or 2012 there were way more Jellies and way more action. Now it’s slow slow slow. I’m not going to be critical of what’s gone on in the past but I think it’s accurate to describe it as hanging on by a thread.

What I think helps is that the owners do get advertising money. There are ads on here for people who come to the site but are not Jellies. We don’t see them but they’re there.

@joeschmo We can just contribute great questions and answers refrain from hostility…etc.,

I’ve been here a long time, and it slowed down significantly a few years ago. Then again fairly recently took another blow. In my opinion the primary thing that knocked it down, and thinned participation, was people who were on the site who didn’t want debate.

Some key jellies were banned. Some jellies have passed away. Some jellies left because of personal attacks. Some jellies left because they felt too addicted, and gave it up. Some jellies left in protest to moderation being very hardsh. With all of those people gone, and very few people promoting the site, just through attrition and a snowball/domino effect, the numbers have dwindled. Auggie used to do what she could to promote the site. She was the one that got me to come here.

I’m pretty sure the thing about near-zero promotion or introductions is the main cause of reduced numbers.

I think part of the problem is that many people, including myself, don’t tell people about Fluther because part of what’s great is the anonymity. If people that I know came here and knew that I’m who I am in real life, or figured it out, It might be embarrassing. Therefore, hush hush. It’s my own little secret.

@jca2 I agree, that is part of the problem. When I first came here I told several people, and later on I was glad that hadn’t joined up. There was one person who was here for a short time, I didn’t know her well though. I wished I hadn’t told her after the fact. I don’t remember her name now.

We talk about how to raise the number of users.
How about posting I need some more info (x y or z) info in order to answer this Q.
This statement, this term is incorrect in this Q, instead of just _I don’t understand your Q
Or answer the Qs that we can answer.

Good idea @flo.

I too am guilty of cherishing my anonymity here and therefore not inviting people I know.

But I could see posting links in other communities I thought might have other interesting not-too-annoying people in them (who can write correct English)... if I could knew of any such other communities.

@Zaku Thanks.

I think you’re responding to someone else with the rest of the post. Sometimes people only read the part that addresses them (at first) in case they’re being asked a question or debated with.

Nooooo. bite your tongue! (Not too hard!)

@flo You’re right, I was saying three things in one post.

1. Your idea is good.

2. Unrelated to your idea, I was chiming in on the anonymity motive thing.

3. As a counterpoint to 2 (also unrelated to your idea), I was remarking that the anonymity thing did not need to block me (or others?) from inviting people to Fluther by posting on other sites, by simply posting anonymously in sites where I don’t have anonymity concerns.

@Zaku Ok. I thought you thought that I was the one addressing the anonymity thing opposed the one or 2 peple above.

So basically, Fluther is a dieing website without little incentive or plans to receive it? How many active members are there anyway? With just a few new questions asked per day this site looks about as fun as watching paint dry.

Welcome, @BuoyantBuddha31. There are some long-termers here, and some real friendships (and a few rivalries), and enthusiasm isn’t dead. But you might not want to walk into our little mansion and tell us it looks like an outhouse to you.

@Jeruba is much more genteel than I am. If you want to give us a fair shot, by all means, Welcome!
(And just FYI, if you choose to open by judging us, learn to spell things correctly. You lose credibility otherwise.)

Dieing.

I’m just wondering if BuoyantBuddha31 is the painter or the paint.

joeschmo – I’d rather be the painter but I’m about as exciting as the paint.

canidmajor- My spelling will improve once my vision does as I’m in the middle of a sinus infection causing my watery eyes to swell a bit.

Jeruba – Was not my intention to imply that this is an outhouse. Perhaps it’s just not a place for me as I haven’t been here several years like others.

@joeshmo hasn’t been here very long and he seems to like it here. At least he participates regularly.
@buoyantbuddha31 You could stick around and participate and help build our community again. Or not.

At BB31 I hope your vision and sinuses improve soon and help you in your spelling of dieing et al.

How your health is connected to trolling a community you once belonged to is beyond me. Absurd. To join a meta question for your first post, insulting the members and site, asking rhetorical questions and stating how boring it is, is, quite silly. Best to check out other exciting places like Yahoo questions or MSN chatrooms. Then come back and compare the levels of the outhouses. I think you will find that ours smells much better. But first, grammar and spelling.

And “receive,” which I think is BuoyantBuddhaSpell for “revive.”

@BuoyantBuddha31 It’s just the internet. Surely you have other hobbies? You are quick to judge a site without participating first. This tells me the internet might not be the best place for you to bide your time.

Do you like to knit?

He didn’t stick around. Gone knitting, perhaps.

He did say he’d been here before. Perhaps then Fluther smelt better and the paint dried slower.

You remember, don’t you, @joeschmo?

Nope. I scrolled up.

“Jeruba – Was not my intention to imply that this is an outhouse. Perhaps it’s just not a place for me as I haven’t been here several years like others.”

I took that to mean he hasn’t been here for the duration of several years like the rest of us have.

Ah. Possibly. Punctuation and clarity are helpful in communication. You are probably right, jca.

Lol I’m still here

^^Wow. Long time no see.

I don’t think this site will have much appeal for a brand new user. It appeals mainly to people who’ve been here for years (even if they’re under a new name).

The fact is that forums seem to be dying in general. A number of forums I used to post on back in the day (and were super active then) have since been shut down or are near ghost towns now. I think in some ways, the rise of social media has made traditional forums obsolete.

For example, there are a couple “dead” sites I used to post on where the users all migrated to Discord (a chat service). That’s a common thing I see happening (I’m personally not interested as “chatting” has never been my primary activity online). I don’t think sites like Fluther are long for this world. But I’ll be here until the end. :)

The debate over this is on a constant simmer that bubbles up frequently and apparently was the norm prior to my arrival here. Complicating any discussion of this issue is the division of the topic between the question of a perceived decline in the number of participants and the assessment of a slide in the quality of the questions we bat around. I think the overall consensus is that slippage in the caliber of discussion is attributable to the hemorrhaging of talent and the failure to attract comparable replacements. It’s simple to understand that either phenomena should certainly drive the other, but our submergencev in the tidepool renders our own assessments highly subjective. All of us should regard our recollections of “the good old days” with great suspicion.

How about spending the time asking answering questions instead?

Asking answering questions?

Asking and/or answering questions.

Am I not doing that?

Only in the most technical sense.

@flo What?

Lol oh you guys