Fluther’s just great!
What does Wis.dmers mean really?

Flutherites, do you like wis.dmers so far?
Come on, you can ask better questions.

Hi prasad. Myself and other wis.dmers have recently joined b/c wis.dm (you can still check it out) is closing down. It is different, but similar. Q and A, but there the interaction is like a cross between this plus chat – whereas here it is more like Q and A with a separate chatroom. Check out wis.dm (just like that, not dot com) and you’ll see – quick, before it closes.

Hi qashqai: wis.dmers are different, and will need time to be appreciated fully. Most of us are green and very small, and do not like strong light. We feed on plankton, and live in colonies. Hopefully, one day, our species will merge.

@Zen thanks.

I’m happy with the influx. Most of the folks I have met are really nice.

One request.. This isn’t wis.dm. Don’t expect it to be.

Cool.

So far, I definitely do. It’s quite addicting. I’ll probably never get used to having my questions removed, but I guess that just comes with the territory. I’m sure just about no one likes it.

@Jiminez I miss the spontaneity and conversations and everyone jumping in and seeing comments instantly when someone responds. This is so, well, clinical?

Uh, we see comments instantly here, too?

It’ll just take some getting used to. The added plus is that there’s a chatroom here – which is the best way to get to know someone, I think.

I like the wis-dm-ers just as much as I like the “old” jellies! Which is to say, I rather like the vast majority of them, and would really like a chance to punch a handful of them in the kidneys. :D

@Zen
Why don’t we just stop to spot the differences between one platform and the other? I think this will make us take a big step towards mutual integration.

Wis.dm is dead (or dying..), and it was not Fluther’s fault. Now you are here, and you are a Flutherite as long as you ask questions and provide answers.

Full stop.

@qashqai: Stopped.
(I just wanted to contact my friends here and see how they are enjoying this so far)

@Zen
Sorry, i forgot. My warmest welcome on Fluther.
New points of view will enrich us immensely. Let’s concentrate on that rather on differences between ‘etnies’ or ‘birthplaces’.

I am a Wis.dmer, new here, but I think my situation is unique in that I hardly participated in Wis.dm for the last several months. I logged in regularly, but only read the Q’s and A’s of the masses, never contributing. Wis.dm had become like a fishtank, something I enjoyed looking at, but not interacting with. It had become too cliquish in it’s last months for my taste.

I am looking very much forward to a new beginning here, and jumping in to play with the fishes (or jellifishes) again.

@qashqai I am still so new at this. Wis.dm is VERY different. Most of the time, we didn’t even ask a proper question – you just wrote anything that popped into your head – especially in some of the social categories. The idea was to start a conversation with friends. If you had a serious question – you’d get the attention of the people first – then ask them. I have read the guidelines here – but to put it into practise will take, well, practise.

Thanks for the welcome. I think it wouldn’t hurt to maintain the civility, but perhaps introduce a bit of the nuttiness and silliness and real interaction of wis.dm here? Just a thought.

@johnpowell Awesome! We feel really welcome :)

I’ve gotta say, I’m liking it :) Still adjusting, and it’s all good.

@Zen
you are spotting differences again, are you? ;)

@jo_with_no_space Hey jo – how’s it go?

@Zen Oh there is silliness here, to be sure. Just go here to see links to a lot of it. Pay particular attention to Nimis’ ‘time-line’, and check out “frizzer” and “pancakes”. Enjoy!

@Zen Hey you, I’m good :) how’s you?

I am very much enjoying my time here. I have met some really interesting new people and I think most all of us new comers will fit in just fine. I especially like the Troll Control that moderation provides.

@FGS Amen to that!

As a Flutherer i’m glad to have all the new voices here and i’m glad that most of you are integrating so well. Like @MacBean I view the wis-dm-ers much like I view Flutherers—like most, can’t love them all.

On that note…I think it would be much better if people stopped posting questions that start with “hey wis-dm-ers” it just draws attention to a distinction that isn’t helping anybody when we’re all trying to meld together.

I dig it here.

Shecky and @Jesus_Ezekiel_Jesus Welcome to fluther!

And welcome to anyone else I may have missed

And cake! When you read the timeline @augustlan pointed to, make SURE to read the cake question! It’s bizarre.

We’re happy to have you all here!!

I am still unsure of what I am going to do with my time.. it took me awhile to mingle with people on the other site and even after being there 2 years still didn’t say half the things or ask half the question I would have liked to. But so far I haven’t seen anything I don’t like on this site and I definitely agree it is going to take some getting used to and lots of practice. I do have to say I probably wont be asking many questions and I will only put my inoput in where I think it may be helpful.

@mpjt2005

Here is kind of different. Here you are safe and welcome to ask all the question you would have liked to.

@Dog Thank you very much.

Perhaps. The jury’s still out. I don’t like that questions can be removed at any given time. I think questions should only be removed if there are multiple complaints about them. I also don’t like the comments on this question that come across like “omg, quit talking about wis.dmers”. We’re new, we’re from another site we got used to, get over it. Either we’ll merge, or we’ll leave. Only time and friendly attitudes will tell.

Yes, Fluther is great. Sometimes less is more.

Compared to wis.dm there

- are fewer questions allowed to be asked by users, but this often leads to a higher quality of the questions (the limit is 3 questions per 6 six hours).

- is less functionality, but a vastly superior performance of the Fluther servers (and all relevant features are there).

- are fewer trolls and spammers and personal attacks, but in some cases I’ve noticed the moderation to be a bit too strict (for example I think “What is your favorite car” is a interesting question, which will spark interesting debates – my answer was “green cars”), but I can live with the rules and I’m sure the moderators are open to comments when made in a polite way.

God help us

@asmonet – Yes, the comments are visible right away on Fluther as well. One difference is a more organized individual reply-to presentation within a question. And there’s more highly personalized dynamic content on wis.dm, but it was terrible for performance. As I said earlier, sometimes less is more. Fluther found the right balance. Wis.dm tried to be too perfect.

I am enjoying it so far and will enjoy it more as soon as I figure out the reply function.

@NinaBeena no one said “stop talking about Wis.dm”. I said that there is no reason to differentiate. We’re trying to merge as one group and differentiating isn’t going to help that process.

Wis.dm was like a fine German automobile. Fantastic experience, but difficult to keep running properly. There’s really no substitute for the Wis.dm platform. It will be sadly missed.

This site is lacking feature sets, preventing the same Wis.dm experience.

I like the site a lot so far, I think there is some great potential here. Now that the tempers have flared down I can see what a great place this is.

I like it here. The only wis.d feature that is driving me mad not having is being able to read others comments/answers in their profiles. I’ll always miss wis.dm, but this is a good opportunity to make new friends. And it sure is nice not dealing with page after page of trolls due to little to no moderation.

I love it as much if not more (give it time) as wis.dm

One (positive) thing I have noticed: Fluther is a hell of a lot quicker!

There are some things I really like, there are some I really don’t. That’s true for pretty much all sites. I’m just glad we have a place to keep in contact.

I’m thrilled to be somewhere where moderation actually works, and so far the level of intellectual discourse seems much higher. Frankly, I don’t miss silly questions.

I do miss being able to read the comments from individual users, and being able to see who is online at any given time.

I like it here, but seeing as we were able to ask q’s differently and now we (for the most part) are here, we have to rethink how we ask q’s, I am afraid I won’t be allowed to ask q’s soon because I am one of the slower wis.dmrs. seeing as how roughdays was attacked relentlessly I fear the same thing will happen to me, I don’t want to leave my friends, but I might have too.
I don’t want to be attacked for trying to learn how to maneuver here. like I said, I am one of the slower ones and I think it will happen eventually

@dearest_prudence I don’t know what happened with roughdays, but I do know that generally speaking we are open to people learning. Don’t be scared to give it a try, you’ll get the hang of it. :)

@adreamofautumn – but will the flutherites show me the patience?
will they tell me if I asked the q right?
I see many point out the negative, not reaffirming the positive.
look at the first couple of responses to this q itself.
zen is a smart guy and he is trying, I appreciate that. but for others like me and roughdays, it is kinda disheartening knowing we maybe “rushed” out because we don’t hold the same way of thinking as far as learning and such. I know he was attacked for spelling and grammar, he has always been that way and he does try. I have looked at the examples for good q’s, but because of my lack of education (never finished school for a multitude of reasons) I lack some of the fundamentals for asking appropriate q’s.
I had joined wis.dm and they accepted me w/open arms- flaws and all. I learned much from the people there and they had actually made my REAL life better. I can only hope that the flutherites can welcome me and do the same. I would be more than happy to have more online friends w/whom I can get a back and forth thing going. not just pointing out how poorly I’m doing, but how well I am moving along

@dearest_prudence we will be open your questions and do our best to help you. I know that the spelling/grammar gets attacked, but not usually honest mistakes, mostly just textspeak etc. It’ll be pointed out frequently, but just in good joking ways for the most part. We’re a welcoming bunch. A good question on fluther comes from the heart it doesn’t need to be “well-educated”, we just tend to get cranky when people fluther questions they are more than capable of googling the answers to themselves. The best questions on fluther make people a. open a dialogue, b. look deeper into themselves or c. make people laugh. They don’t always need to be serious informational questions.
The fluther community is just that, a community and if you are genuinely trying and not just “trolling” or hanging out in threads pointing out what is “wrong” with our community I am willing to bet the whole Collective will be there with an answer and smile. :)

@adreamofautumn thank you. from what it sounds like, I might fit in.
I just need to get a hang of the q format, warning: that might take a while.

@dearest_prudence Welcome. Just from reading the responses you’ve given here, I can tell that a lack of formal education hasn’t hurt your ability to effectively communicate in the least. Jump in! The water’s fine. :)

PS: I am a high school drop-out.

@augustlan It is not a problem w/communicating (usually) but the comprehension of the format for the q’s.
I am having a hard time understanding how to post them correclty w/o getting everyone freaked out or having them modded out
but it isn’t like I have a whole lot to ask anyway, just that when I seriously do, I will really want to post
right now, it is just practice and I haven’t heard one way or the other about how I am doing, I would prefer people let me know when I am doing alright rather than point out how poorly I posted a q and then not offer any pointers.
I need more than examples, I need to see what I am doing wrong so if it isn’t constructive, it is just critisism, I don’t neet the critisism

@dearest_prudence I’m a moderator here, and if you are ever unsure of how to word a question so that it doesn’t get moderated, please feel free to send me a comment and I’ll be happy to help you out. Also, when a question gets moderated, the asker gets an email telling them why it was removed, and offering suggestions on how to fix the problem. It is in all of our best interests to get a good question back up as soon as possible.

@augustlan thank you
that is good to know
and
thank you for offering to help me out as well, I REALLY appreciate that

You are most welcome. :)

Yes, I like it. No trolling or flaming allowed, restrictions on stupid questions, etc. It’s different, but it’s good.

No, not at all. I find the moderation process difficult to predict, not only for myself but for others as well. There have been numerous deletions of comments from intelligent thinkers that I admire. They have beneficial knowledge to pass along and it is undeserving of being removed.

Removing someones thoughts is inexcusable. Yet I see personal quibbles that are off subject remaining. This unpredictability is perplexing to me.

I recently and politely announced my desire for referrals to other sites more suitable to my persona. Upon which, there were intelligent people who suggested that I might give it another go… and so I did, but soon to be met again with another moderated question removed.

I fail to see the reasoning that justifies someones thoughts being subject to someone else’s mood of the moment. There was no profanity in my question. It was explained in detail. It invited discussion and it attacked no one at all.

Is it easier to just remove what is misunderstood rather than to ask a question in the comments and possibly start a discussion? Can we be allowed to think for ourselves here? We’re big kids now… Holding hands should be optional.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies
“Removing someones thoughts is inexcusable. ”
It’s a private site; they have the right to make rules. I think some wis.dm’ers are having trouble understanding this.

I’ve made a lot of comments here so far, including on controversial issues (heck, you know me, probably mostly on controversial issues!) I haven’t had one deleted yet. What I have seen get deleted so far are things worthy of deletion- like asking how much drugs cost in your area, personal attacks, spam, etc. I really, really don’t see the problem.

@crisw I’m glad it’s working out for you. My experience has been slightly different. I haven’t landed yet.

Sure, we all appreciate the trash talk being removed. I wish there was a button that allowed a person to accept or decline personal attacks though. I appreciate hearing someone speak from the heart and I think it’s best for me to learn how to keep it all in perspective, rather than have mommy and daddy cover my ears.

I also understand why others wouldn’t want to deal with it though. If I had the time, I’d share a few stories about how listening and patience actually helped turn a previous asshole into a friendly and decent person. When someone attacks me, I’m mature enough to understand the fear they are expressing. All they need to learn is that they don’t need to be fearful. It’s weird yes, perhaps you disagree, but I can only speak to the experiences that I have had myself.

You may not “really” see the problem for yourself Cris, and I’m glad for you. You deserve to be respected and heard. But you must admit, that you “really” see me struggling with this environment. You can’t judge my situation as right or wrong for yourself. You can only accept or deny that I find this environment unpredictable.

Good to hear from you.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies @crisw @dearest_prudence @hug_of_war @J0E @crisw Greetings wis.dmers. Hope you make me one of your jellyfishes.

It is very different here. Very. It’ll take time and patience. Some of my questions have been moderated already, and I’ve only asked a few. The chatroom, IMHO, makes all the difference. There, we can mingle and really communicate. Then, when we ask a question, you can know what lies behind it. Reading between the lines. Or, perhaps, it is a real question: One that cannot be googled; something personal, profound or philosophical.

In any case, I look forward to meeting lots of sea-urchins here – bother former wisdummers and flutherites.

:-)

@reijinni To reply to a comment, you simply type @ in the normal reply box, and a list of all the Flutherers who’ve commented on that thread will appear. Select the correct name and type your comment!

I had to ask someone about that too :P

@Zen

Sea urchins, eh? Rather an apt metaphor- spiny, prickly types who don’t take kindly to being moved, but are filled with good stuff.

except that I think uni is gross :>P

Yes, indeed. I’ve never had an issue with moderation so far. The warm welcome was overwhelming.

Compared to wis.dm there

- are fewer questions allowed to be asked by users, but this often leads to a higher quality of the questions (the limit is 3 questions per 6 six hours which is fine with me)

- is less functionality, but a vastly superior performance of the Fluther servers (and all relevant features are there)

- are fewer trolls and spammers and personal attacks, but in some cases I’ve noticed the moderation to be a bit too strict (for example I think “What is your favorite car” is a interesting question, which will spark interesting debates – my answer was “green cars”), but I can live with the rules and I’m sure the moderators are open to comments when made in a polite way and there’s also the chatroom

@crisw Perfect…

@Zen I added you too my fluther and it sounds like you got it down pat, and yes, the chatroom does help and don’t worry about being moderated, my very first q was moderatede and no, it wasn’t one of my boudoir q’s either, just a repeat:)

@dearest_prudence Thanks dear, dear. Hope to swim about with you soon. :-)

@crisw From before… I said,
“If I had the time, I’d share a few stories about how listening and patience actually helped turn a previous asshole into a friendly and decent person.”

Actually I think you have experienced this… with me. Our first encounter a year ago invited to you deal with my hostility. I attacked you, and you graciously reminded me that my attitude would not help get my point across.

My health was terrible back then with slipped disk, broken teeth and a terrible eye infection. You caught the brunt of my frustrations and handled it quite well.

Whether your patience transformed me into a “decent” person or not is debatable… but that moment has stayed with me, providing reason for deeper self inspection. I look back on those comments and see the ugliness. That allows me to see the ugliness of me. Your patience is what allowed me to come to terms with it.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies
Thanks. Those were indeed some intense times. I’ve been pretty impressed with your restraint since then.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies that was really genuine and gracious of you to admit that openly. I must have missed somehting big, but from what I gather, maybe both of you got something out of it?

@dearest_prudence Live and learn.

I’m not sure yet. I just signed up. It’s good to see you guys again.

@Killthagirl Welcome!

@Dog Thanks!

@Killthagirl Welcome, and here’s a couple of “great questions” fer ya to get your lurve started.

:-)

@Killthagirl Welcome!

@Killthagirl HI THERE!! LONG TIME NO SEE!! (Oh, funny! At first I just put one – before and after saying hi…..and it crossed the whole thing out! Of all the people I would do that too! Sorry Um….I’m glad fluther is here…but some of the moderation seems a bit extreme. I just posted a question and they held it up because it was a “platform to tell a story.” o I took the story part out….and now it just sounds stupit!!! Well…yes, I had a story to tell along with the question, but it was also a “platform” for response and thoughts on the idea I had…..it’s almost like…..how can someone sit up there and decide who gets to see what questions? Lots of people would have enjoyed my question and “story” and would have commented with stories of their own—which is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Communication? That strikes me a little wrong. I mean…in the end EVERYONE tells a story of some kind in the other….
However, I do like knowing that I’m safe from the crap here, tho. It also reminds me of the early wis.dm, when we just….fell in love! And it never was the same after all of the changes, but we stuck it out anyway.

Members flag content 90% of the time. You shouldn’t blame the mods for the removal of your question. That being said, it’s like when you ask someone how their weekend was so you talk about your amazing road trip and OMG aren’t they happy for you. It’s a really open ended question, there’s no discussion only a few anecdotes and perhaps someone who could relate.

I woulda pulled it.

Still, I’m glad you found something you like. Welcome. :)

I like a lot about the site…I just can’t really find any real rhyme or reason why some questions are allowed and others aren’t…..

You’ll get the hang of it.

@asmonet K…I thought it was a good Q tho…about creativeness and all. I’ll try to repost it tomorrow in the right format. And all.