I am. I’ve received several private messages from high-ranking Flutherites welcoming me to the site and encouraging me to stay/making friendly conversation/telling me I’ll fit right in/etc.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard – that’s good. I read some passive agressive comments form about AB’ers that made me feel not so welcome

So far I’ve gotten a few welcomes from long time Flutherites, thats about it, so far I feel welcome 100%

@Violet Could you give a couple of examples? I’ve thought everyone seemed happy to have you all. And none of us are 100% welcome all the time!! Everyone seems to have those days when some answers might be better left unwritten!

I’m fine with your all being here, just wish you would stop making 100 questions about AB.. lol

I’m too new here, but there is a guy from fluther running around on AB who is REALLY not happy with us being here.

@pjanaway: but imagine if we didn’t have fluther anymore…wouldn’t you want to talk about it with someone? i sure would. i understand it.

I feel very welcomed, this site has a much more friendly vibe about it as opposed to the new AB.

@pjanaway, what he said.

I’m not a veteran here by any means, but I lurked for quite some time and I’ve been here for my fair share of months and it’s definitely been nice having you guys here. The increase in activity really makes this place boom even more than it already has. Trust me when I tell you, an overwhelming majority of people here are happy to have you. Don’t let the minority get you down.

@parrappa that’s good to know

i’ve been here for quite a while (by my own standards anyways) and i agree with @Parrappa. There have been a lot more questions since yall have been here, and they’re really good quality questions, too. They’re fun to answer, and it seems like the place has just been more fun and excited, more festive. I’m really happy you’re here too. Who knows, maybe all those starfish awards i’m getting b/c of yall’s generosity are going to my head!

The only thing I have noticed is:

a) the vast number of AB related questions and
b) high amounts of lurve to not spectacular answers to new members, excessively… it kind of undermines the lurve system.

Otherwise, its great having new fresh minds here! :D

I’m really glad to see so many new people. Fluther has become much more lively since you all arrived. It’s awesome!

One thing I’m noticing is that there are a lot more questions now, with fewer answers in each one. The questions on the main page are really flying, way too much to get to them all. Is it customary on AB to ask a lot of questions, but write few answers? It seems kind of self absorbed to me.

@Freedom_Issues I’ve seen that person. flutherite right?
According to him/her, we’re giving away too many great answers and getting a bunch of lurve too fast.

I for one have been made very welcome here. So am gonna stay put! Well, till someone kick me to the kerb that is! lol

@Freedom_Issues – WHO?

@Rachienz – I have no idea what you’re talking about

@Freedom_Issues I’m sorry that someone is doing that. Who is it?

@faye – I’d rather not “tell” on anyone. If you want to see if for yourself, just read through some of the AB answers/comments

@Violet @Haleth @Freedom_Issues I don’t think the point is who it is, I think the point is that that person does not represent the majority of Fluther in any way. Most of us are happy to have you here. Please remember that.

@pjanaway – it will fade out. We have been through something very terrible.

I completely agree with @La_Chica_Gomela.

So we’re having this great dinner party; good food, good conversation. All of a sudden, a big group of unexpected guests show up.

Most of us say, “Come on in. Food’s in the kitchen. What would you like to drink?”

But there’s one or two dopes (who are maybe a little too invested in this party) start going ‘round starting trouble or being rude.

We have our fair share of idiots. Don’t judge us all by them.

@Parrappa -that is very nice of you to say. It makes me very happy to hear that

@Haleth – thousand of question get no answers. Some get one for 2, but there are thousands of unanswered questions.

@Allie – thank you for saying that : )

@Violet @Freedom_Issues Ha Ha, on me. I tried every thing I could think of to find someone complaining and came up empty!!

@cprevite according to the individual in question, it is not just a couple. It is a rather larger amount.

I do not know if this is true or not and it is more than just the lurve and plethora of questions.

@La_chica_gomela – I don’t know what you mean by starfish, but back at AB, we gave out points like crazy. We call each other points fairies

i feel very welcome, from the moment i arrived, with a welcome forum almost instanly set up and all, theres bound to be a little negativity though eh?

@Arisztid: I’d bet ya dollars to doughnuts it’s just a vocal minority. It’s bound to happen.

They’ll quiet down. Until then, fuck ‘em. Focus on the positive jellies.

I think we shouldn’t worry about it. There will always be naysayers, and as long as we respect the Flutherites until we are integrated (they found this place first, remember.) everything will be fine. It’s not like anyone who isn’t happy with us can do anything truly negative to us, aside from bicker on the internet. Like I said before, my experience on here so far has been extremely positive, and I’m sure if everyone behaves, it will stay that way.

@Allie I definitely feel welcome here. Everyone is friendly. =)

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard – you have such a nice positive attitude. I am still bitter about AB

I have felt welcomed. I have read the negative remarks made on AB by someone called fluther-something (can’t remember exactly) One person does not speak for a large group such as fluther. Not everyone on any site is 100% anything. They are many individuals. I plan to get to know the positive and ignore the negative.

Thank you @Violet, I’m pretty bitter about it too, but I’m doing my best to stay on the sunny side and think of Fluther as a cuter, less trolly version of the old AB that I can call my own. I’m most pleased that nearly all of my AB friends have followed suit.

I plan on keeping a open mind and so far I have been made to feel most welcome.
My last few months on AB had been heading down hill, the web site change was just the last straw. There were so many newbie on there any more that just DR for no reason, I had gotton to the point I spent very little time on site, Everyone here seems very nice and wants to get along in general, kinda like AB was way back when…..

@Violet: ”you have such a nice positive attitude. I am still bitter about AB”

Then perhaps the rude comments aren’t actually rude and you’re just perceiving them that way. Because I haven’t been reading every AB question, but I still haven’t seen anything from long-time Jellies that’s been less than welcoming…

I, for one, am very happy that you all are here. I’m enjoying all the new questions and activity. I find ya’ll to be an upbeat and congenial group, and am looking forward to getting to know you. I suspect the influx has caught a number of people off-guard, and in all societies, some people are more flexible and adaptable to change than others, and people have different ways of adapting to unexpected change. Everyone will settle in over time.

With past waves of refugees to Fluther from other sites, there was a fair amount of grousing about the moderating on this site, which can take come adjustment to get used to, and wanting Fluther to change to conform to standards/formats of other sites. Fluther is it’s own society, and it is what it is.

@Violet Then… how do people ever get answers for their questions? One of the things that first drew me to Fluther is that most questions get at least several thoughtful answers, and people try to make sure that the question has been answered well before they start joking around. On Fluther, answering a question usually gets you more Lurve than asking, and if attention matters, then you get just as much for answering as for asking. I guess I realize now why most ABers thank people for their answers, because it must have meant something to get any answer at all. Didn’t the competitiveness ever bother anyone?

@cprevite

Lurve for the great analogy.

There will be people who are rude; there were people who said rude things before the AB influx. But from what I’ve gathered there was a lot more rudeness on AB (please correct me if I’m wrong), and the great thing about Fluther is that the mean people make up a very small minority. And if they really cross any lines they can be, um (how to say this), dealt with….

@absalom
Mean people on Fluther are [redacted].

@Haleth

[redacted] frizzer if they [redacted] front for the CIA.

@G_tech – me too. I was getting tired of how the adult section was getting more slutty, and less about sharing knowledge.

110 % . i think i was even gropped a bit :-}

@MacBean – I don’t know if this person is a long time user or not. I’ll have to check and get back to you. I’ll also have to figure out when someone is a long time user ; )

@The_Anonymous_Witch – well then people must be more attracted to you then me.

@ violet . then you are to me .... or ??? ;-(

@The_Anonymous_Witch – “or ???” I’m confused. (if you are also, I was saying you are more attractive. I hope you don’t think I was saying something mean)

@Violet, you can tell how long someone has been a member of Fluther by the join date on their profile page. Although that can be misleading, because some of us (cough, cough) were on for a longer time, under a different identity. There are several people who, when the got close to 10K Lurve, closed the profile and started over under a new name.

@PandoraBoxx – you are so cute. I’m not sure what 10K lurve means, but I’m assuming it is a very high rank. We had an AB’er (Firebrand) who got up to level 100, and AB had to start making new levels/badges just for her. Then a bunch of other people passed 100 right after. Firebrand had said she may be coming after her 3rd year anniversary (12/21).
Anyway, why would you, I mean, someone, start over when they reach 10K.
PS what is Lurve

Hi Violet,
Nice to see you here.My good friend Jerv guided me to this site.AB didn’t allow me to log in after the redesigning and about that welcomeing thing,I have joined just some 30 minutes ago and I’ll check out how it goes.

@Violet :D

@Violet… I suspect that dropping established accounts to start new accounts at 10K here is like badgicide at AB. You might have not been around long enough to know about badgicide.

Basically, it is high level members would abandon their accounts for various reasons. I know that I had been tempted to commit badgicide a few times because I was becoming too well known. Others did it for various reasons. Ask Hasn’t Been… he knows about the reasons for badgicide more than I.

Lurve is Fluther’s equivalent of points but they seem to be used more sparingly than our points. Points faerie-ing, I do not think, is liked here.

@Violet, Lurve is Fluther’s point system. Here’s a link to how the scoring works.

Why would someone start over? Counterculturalism, perhaps.

i feel very welcome, but i’m sure most people are tired of hearing about answerbag, i know i am! it’s over with, let’s relax in our new home…

So far, yes. I like the format here MUCH better than the highly bastardized “new” AB set up.

I guess I’m just a lurve whore. I like a new group of people coming in because there are more people who have not maxed out on the lurve points I can get from them.

So far, yes. And I’m liking the site more and more. :-)

I’m surprised there’s a controversy. I’m sorry if anyone was made to feel unwelcome. From what I have come to know about this site, people are pleased when the population increases. I certainly am, and in the case of ABers there seems to be less of a learning curve. I for one am happy to receive our new AB overlords.

Mostly welcome, but there’s at least one person from Fluther that’s joined AB to complain about us.

There’s always at least one maroon. Whoever that person is, he or she doesn’t speak for most of us.

People have been great—I’m lovin’ it.

So far, so good Violet. Good to see you.

rI feel very welcomed here and I must say I like it here better. I know this is a different system and I LOVE it. I ask questions because I really want answers to them. When I asked them on AB they rarely got a serious answer if at all. It seemed as if the silly questions were the higher pointed questions with many answers! Of course they were all silly answers. It seemed to me and I will probablly be bashed for this…it was about points and rank.

I enjoyed meeting people and met some of the greatest people ever and that is what kept me around. I didn’t care for the points. I do notice here it is diffrent. I was taken back when I got REAL answers and REAL help for my questions. I don’t just give out “great answer” to everybody. I don’t think that is the focus here. The “points” don’t have merit but the best answers and questions do. That is so refreshing.

I want my awards to mean something. I don’t want them just randomly given because we have a fairy, like we did on AB…that annoyed me. I got points for questions I never had answers to! I saw points given for silly answers! I didn’t care for that because the points were meaningless.

I know some long time members are not happy with us being here. I can understand why. The old habits from AB have spilled over to this board and changed it. I like the fact that here you actually have to WORK to get your lurve. I don’t think some ABers understand or understood this. I for one am happy the silly questions that filled endless pages of AB will not happen here. Thousands of great questions only recieved a few answers on AB or none at all.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone. I LOVE it here, and plan to stay. The members have been wonderful and so welcoming. I have seen a few that are not too happy and I cannot say I blame them. It is not about the points here, it is about what I wanted at AB, people that actually care about what you have to say, admins that listen to the members and protect them, Mods that are friendly and helpful, and a very mature well thought out Q&A board. Kudos Fluther! Thank you for having me. =)

@buttkisses You’re not just, um, kissing ass here, are you?

LOL…no. You were joking I hope.

I feel comfortable here, but only been on since yesterday. I don’t have good computer skills so I have things to figure out, like how to bring a video from YouTube. Any tips (please make it simple)

@buttkisses… it sounds odd but I was always pleased that I did not answer in categories that gained a lot of points and did not ask questions that garnered oodles of them.

I earned my points and that is how I liked it.

I, too, have no problem with earning our lurve. If I cared about other people surpassing me in level within months of their arriveal, I would be bothered by it. Even with that said, I prefer that you earn your lurve here.

It’s easy breaking bread with an Answerbagel or baguette.

Not a batard in the bunch.

@kevbo, or a single loafer. Most of them just seem to roll with it.

I have no problem with all the questions about AnswerBag. But I have no problem with any question that meets the quidelines, even those that have been asked a gazillion times before. I suspect that some people are jealous of the attention ABers have been getting.

I assume you are mostly experienced net denizens, and know this stuff happens. Some people are less mature than others. Please don’t pay much attention to it. There are so many more interesting things to do here than to pay attention to numskulls.

As to lurve—you only have 100 lurve to give out to any individual and have it add to their lurve count. You can hand out lurve after that; it just doesn’t add to a persons total lurve. It’s just a sign that you enjoy an answer or a question.

Anyone here who takes lurve as a serious game is missing the point. The point is to stay around and have fun and learn stuff. The only reason I have a lot of lurve is because I spend so much time here. It’s purely a function of time and energy. Like I say, it doesn’t mean much of anything.

Of course, it’s not like I don’t check it, because I do take it as a sign of appreciation for my work, and I do work for appreciation, even if I deny that (I am depressed at times, and then the tone of my comments changes to a kind of whiny self-pity—nothing that anyone should pay attention to).

There should be a compendium of The Wisdom of @daloon!

As someone who went through a much messier merger, I can tell you that if you stay you will feel welcomed. When I first came I’m sure a lot of people hated me because we made a big ruckus. But I stuck it out and I feel very much at home on Fluther now. There will be those that don’t want newcomers, but you won’t be new forever.

I feel very welcomed!=)

@pdworkin That wasn’t meant to be a shameless appeal for appreciation.

Of course not! It was just a Great Answer!

Totally!

I have noticed a couple of hostile comments, but that is to be expected I guess – and us Former Answerbaggers have learned to become hardy what will the trolling and whatnot! The mods, and so many of the members have been really lovely and welcoming =) I guess I feel 99% welcome! Which is fine by me… I never felt 100% welcome at Ab anyway! =)

Fluther feels friendlier than AB. I’m adding friends here much faster than I did on AB. I like that.

100%

Yep I do but I’m still thinking about actually playing the low key role around here too, but I don’t think its going to work.

I feel 99% welcome LOL!

@Zacky Part of me has to agree.

I never feel 100% welcome anywhere, and that’s because I’m generally not 100% welcome even at my own home. (The cat hates me :P) Anywhere you go there is going to be at least some xenophobic neutrality and possibly a tiny flare-up of resentment and hostility.

However, I have felt pretty damn welcome here. People seem a bit nicer on average and the admins actually care about the place.

I don’t regret the move, and I doubt I ever will.

Yes!I love the new car ! :)

Only just arrived but it feels friendly already.I like the fact I can see the avatars
It makes it easier to recognise people and connect with those you have more interactions with.
Reading the comments here has helped a lot.

Are the perceived rude comments the product of you being from/posting about AB? Maybe some people take issue with the question or comment itself.

A lot of the jellies saying that being rude/testy/sarcastic is not the norm are right, in general. However, everyone here (some more than others) can get snippy, self-righteous and mean, at times.

It’s not all shiny and happy here. Be prepared.

So far, I feel welcome. Alot of my favorite people came over from AB as well and I hope that as we melt into the fluther melting pot, that the fluther members will come to enjoy them as much as I do.

I do feel very welcome. The staff at Fluther did a wonderful by welcoming us Baggers with a chat room and personal AB blogs to help us adjust. Its been more than great to still see all the same beautiful faces. I’m glad I still have a way to keep in touch with them.

never heard of ab ers but hope that you are all having a good time here in fluther land… if not drop by a few 10k parties there is usually lots of cheer and fun times to be had there!

@daloon – we can ony give 100 lurve to one person EVER?

@Shatzee – I know! How cool is that!

@Cruiser – and that other 1%?

@Zacky – so are you going to stick with AB?

@Violet; you can give more GA’s but only the first 100 points count. Also, if you want to say more you can use the edit button for about 10 minuets to add to a previous post instead of adding to the current one. It’s not like IMing.

Yep, I feel welcome. I’ve only heard one person get all bitter and angry about the new AB members… so much so that they actually created an account on AB to insult people. However, I think that it’s remarkable that Fluther has so many members, and I’ve only found one bad apple.

Yes…I got some warm welcomes here.

We don’t have ranks. We don’t have high-ranking flutherites. We don’t have strata. We just have flutherfolk, some of whom have been around for a long while and accumulated a lot of points (“lurve”). When somebody reaches 10,000 (or 20,000), we throw a party, but otherwise most of us don’t pay a lot of attention to it. I try to notice if someone is very new, usually indicated by a low number of points, but otherwise it doesn’t matter. We get to know people by the kind and quality of their posts.

Moderators do have additional responsibilities, but I don’t think any of us think of them as holding a rank. They post as ordinary members when they don’t have their Moderator capes on.

Please ignore whoever is giving us a bad name at your old place. If you’re here now, you’re a flutherite. And you’re certainly welcome.

Well, I feel 100% welcome so far, but have only been here about [ looks at watch ] 10 minutes. : )

I was feeling quite welcome until I learned that we may have inadvertently disrespected Flutherites already here by using the lurve the same way we used points at The Place That Shall Not Be Named. Since I have a personal issue with not wanting to impose on people, I question (maybe inappropriately) whether I should stay here or not.

At The Place, I always considered it a sign of respect to point someone for taking the time to respond to my question or comment. I understand it’s different here but what is a great/quality answer (the standard by which lurve is supposed to be applied)? Who determines what a great/quality answer is? I dunno…just one of the things that trouble me now.

Another thing is, I’m beginning to tire of discussion about what’s going on over there.
Again, it’s that personal issue I have about not wanting to impose on people, but I just think it’s rude to discuss that place in the manner in which we have. It’s like Americans going to another country and refusing to learn the language or follow the customs. I would respectfully suggest that whatever issues anyone has with that place be dealt with there, not here. We’ve been allowed to vent…I think it’s time we got with the program.

In My Humble Opinion

@SABOTEUR, don’t worry about it. Some people fling armloads of lurve about routinely, and others are very exacting in their own minds about what constitutes a great answer and won’t give a GA for anything less. I think most of us are somewhere in between. We follow our own inner guidelines. There’s a cap on how much lurve any one person can give another, so you’ll soon run out for those you’ve been ladling it out to. It all evens out. It’s no disrepect, and I’m sorry if you’ve got that impression. Small cultural differences won’t matter for long.

@Jeruba: Thanks

@SABOTEUR – I agree with the points/lurve too. I have no problem with talking about The Place That Shall Not Be Named. We can’t just ignore what happened. Some of us devoted years of out lives to that Place, and we HAVE to talk about it. I think if you don’t want to talk about it, or if the fluther-ers don’t want to read about it, they can easily avoid the few questions about the Place. The question will fade. Stick around a bit longer.

@Violet: I agree…as I said (and as my wife reminds me) I’m often overly sensitive about offending other people. I do recognize there’s a grieving process going on. I guess I was startled by reading about the “silent majority” who resent our being here (for the reasons already stated). I’ll get over it.

When a bunch of us migrated over from askville.com we went through the same thing. Now it is rarely mentioned.

I really believe that when the hullabaloo blows over, ABers cease being ABers and are Jellies (or are both), the anger dies down, etc., we shall integrate into this website. Those who cannot shall go somewhere else.

It has been that way every time AB got an influx from various places. There was a ruckus, both sides were upset, and, eventually, the dissatisfied ones left or just became part of the crew.

The problem Fluther is having, I believe, is the mass of people coming from this. I have no clue how many it is so far but I have never heard of a mass migration of this size before.

I do not know if other migrations to Fluther have been of this size.

Without a doubt!!!! The people here have been MORE THEN GOOD TO ME/US!!!! I’ve not gotten any bad/mean/nasty comments. Though I understand that the Flutherites are tired of hearing about us ABers. But I think once we get seattled into this new “homey” area we will be out in the “general“population. We will not depend so much on our AB friends and will be able to get out and visit with the older members of this site and get to know them. Coming up with NEW friends is ALWAYS a GOOD thing!!! I TOTALLY LOVE the fact that the staff/moderators on this site jumped into action on day one and set up a nice live chat area for all of us to get in touch with each other. (and stop jammin’ up the homepage with our CRIES for our AB friends.) That is more then we have had done for us in the 11 months that I was on AB. Seems this group of people really appreciate their users and have concern and care for how they feel. That is something that I have never ever ever ever seen on Answerbag. So I really want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of the flutherites that have welcomed us with wide open arms and took us in as part of your family!!! From the bottom of my heart I thank you! Looks as though the Answer Bag refugees have found a new home!! AND I for one LOVE IT!!!! HIGH FIVE!!! (((HUGS)))

@Arisztid As of Saturday (early afternoon) there were 175 new users. A moderator on this site answered a question about it. I haven’t been on since Saturday evening, because of the flu, but you are right when you say MASS!

Today Fluther, tomorrow the world! Mwahahahaha! : D

@CaptainHarley – Actually, I was thinking of waiting a couple of weeks before going for world domination. That should be enough time to secure the supply routes, mass the troops, etcetera instead of just going in half-prepared and understrength…

though i lost many of my friends in the great cataclysm of AB i feel very welcome here

@SABOTEUR – I think a comment I left here was deleted. It was saying I thought you were a chick because of your avatar.. did you get that comment?

I personally am thrilled to have so many wonderful users. The complainers can go chew on bricks for all I care. The people who have come here should feel welcome, and if you’re not, just tell me and I will give you a bug fluther jellyhug.

@Violet We only remove if a comment is against Fluther guidelines and even then the space/username/avatar remains and the text is replaced by “Removed by Fluther Moderators:”. Just sayin’ :)

Those who will be staying please feel free to mosey on over to this question and add yourself to it. We would love to get to know you all better!

@Dog I am a bit boring. I do not think I could come up with 25 random facts about myself

@Arisztid Yeah- I used lots of fillers such as “I wish there were only 10 things…”

@Dog are there any of those “get to know you” quiz thingies floating about?

@Arisztid… here ya go, bro! : ))

http://www.fluther.com/disc/33755/25-random-things-about-you/

@Dog I am in the same boat; I’d be hard pressed to come up with 5 random facts and 5 fillers. I’ve just never been good at those types of things.

@Violet: Ah…you’re referring to Dorothy’s ruby red slippers. I chose that for an avatar when Fluther, (with it’s jellies and lurves, etc) reminded me of Dorothy’s reaction when she arrived, somewhat abruptly, in Oz (“Toto, I have the feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”). I understand your confusion. For the record, I’m a 52 year old married black man.

@SABOTEUR: Then you should definitely invest in some ruby red slippers!

@MacBean: I did, via the avatar, but I’m past that now. It’s on to the Playhouse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp7G18nQxvU

@Arisztid, Even I can come up with 25 interesting things about you and I don’t know you even 1% as well as you know yourself. C’mon Ari…fess up! :o)

And @jerv, same for you dude. I want to see some lists taking shape! These good folks deserve to know why we admire you both so much.

@Jewel I’ll see what I can do but don’t hold your breath. I will do it, but it won’t be quick so just be patient ;)

Ok I answered the 25 random thing question.

Me too

@MacBean – gotcha ; )

i felt very welcome at first .. it was great .. but now that the mods have relaxed their watchover .....people are learning the little known fact that jellyfish have stingers . and can attack in groups .

Jellyfish Sting Symptoms
Symptoms include an intense, stinging pain, itching, rash, and raised welts.
The progressive effects of a jellyfish sting may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lymph node swelling, abdominal pain, numbness/tingling, and muscle spasms.
Severe reactions can cause difficulty breathing, coma, and death.
A sting from a box jellyfish or other venomous types of jellyfish can cause death in minutes.
Prevention
Wear protective clothing (gloves, wet suits, dive skins) when swimming in jellyfish-infested areas. Avoid picking up dead jellyfish. Dead jellyfish may still have live nematocysts that can still release toxins (even after they have dried up).

Avoid going into known jellyfish-infested areas. If you do, know what type of jellyfish are common to the area.

Be prepared to treat a jellyfish sting. Have a basic first aid kit (make sure it has an oral antihistamine in the kit) prepared and bring it with you.

Take a course in basic first aid before heading to the beach, snorkeling, swimming, or scuba diving.

In the evening or at night when swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving, take care to look for jellyfish on the surface of the water.

Expel air from the alternate air source while ascending during scuba diving to disperse any jellyfish directly above you.

Educate yourself as to the type of jellyfish that may be in the waters in which you are swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving.

Bring Safe Sea Jellyfish After Sting® pain relief gel in case you do get stung.

Do not swim in waters where large numbers of jellyfish have been reported. Wearing a wet suit or Lycra dive skin can prevent stings.

If you have a known insect sting allergy carry an allergy kit, which contains injectable epi-pens (epinephrine, adrenaline). Make sure those with you know how to administer the epi-pen in case you are unable to do so.
Do not touch any marine life while swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving. Most marine animals have a protective coating that when touched, is rubbed off when and exposes the animal to bacteria and parasites; moreover, touching, “playing,” or moving marine animals is stressful for them. Corals are easily damaged when touched and the area if the coral touched by hands, fins, or the body will die. To protect the ocean environment, when swimming, snorkeling, or scubadiving look, don’t touch, and leave only bubbles.

I’ve made myself feel welcome:)

You are welcome here @TominLasVegas !

Also a note regarding above that should be said:

Much of the time moderation staff activity is based on flags by members. The moderators are volunteer and pop in and out. Sometimes we are cruising the site but if we do not have much time we will check for flags and act on them first.

Please flag content that is against the guidelines as soon as you see it then let the Mods handle it. Do not engage in verbal sparring as the entire question goes down the tubes.

We are not biased in our quip removal. If a personal attack happens we remove it whether it is a new Jelly or one that helped found Fluther.

Hope this helps a bit.

Yes- love the place, When do we Eat the Ribs??? btw- AB is s l o w e l y getting better, the Dots we were used to have different links to do the same. Change is hard.

Its all good @Dog .

100% for me… the moderators (especially dog) are very happy to help… flutherers are a little more laid back… less drama, more love!

@Tomfafa – I disagree, but thank you

Ok this is BS.Enough with the censoring and “suggestions”. I just had another answer deleted and Ive had 3 questions removed by the Mods. Is this REALLY any better than AB?

@TominLasVegas There are different standards here. What sort of stuff have you been having deleted anyways?

@jerv

I had a funny answer that was not at all vulgar or rude deleted without explanation. AND I had 2 questions that they wanted me to edit and even after I did they removed. Again nothing obscene or vulgar.

@TominLasVegas and @jerv
I had 3 questions sent back for editing, that really didn’t need any editing. They wanted me to add more detail, but details were not needed. Also, I was trying to as a question about fluther, and I wasn’t allowed to post it. I was told to just go ask a moderator.

Me too! That does it! I’m going back to AB!

@Tomfafa oh no… I really don’t want to go back there

That does it! I’m staying here!

@Tomfafa – lol!

[mod says] Anytime you all have a question about moderation, please let us know. We’re happy to help in any way we can. When a question is returned to you for editing, there is a “button” you can click on to ask a moderation question. That’s probably the quickest way to reach a mod.

@TominLasVegas Was your funny answer the first or second answer? Those will always be removed, as they tend to derail the entire question. Funny is certainly allowed, but only after the question has a couple of serious answers. Otherwise, most of the answers just try to “out-funny” the first ones.

For more information on how to ask a great question and what things tend to get removed, be sure to check out the guidelines.

Lastly, know that even moderators and the founders of the site have had things moderated away. We’re equal opportunity sticks-in-the-mud. ;-)

@TominLasVegas ; a lot of vulgar questions ARE acceptable here, as long as they follow the guidelines. Vulgar questions for the sake of being vulgar will be modded, but serious, well formulated questions, marked NSFW have stayed, even if they are vulgar.

I think I found one of the people who went to AB from fluther talking all kinds of crap:
http://www.answerbag.com/profile/1154727/?which=all#activity
anyone know her?

@Violet From the reading I’ve been doing, you seem to be incorrect.

@avvooooooo did you read her answers and comments? Like this one: http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/8552097

@Violet Yes.

@avvooooooo and you still don’t think she’s from fluther?

@Violet Nope. There’s too much Answerbag specific knowledge in some answers. It looks to me like its a second account to be used to complain. Then again, I’m not invested in it at all so maybe I’m seeing it more objectively.

@avvooooooo – I noticed that too. Who has 2 accounts on AB, and (at least) one on fluther? I find that strange. Maybe her new AB account is just to be a bitch.

@Violet From the comments, that doesn’t seem to me to be someone who has a fluther account at all. I’ll look more at it tomorrow, but I didn’t pick up on anything other than a “that stupid site over there” vibe myself with the reading that I did. Then again, I might be missing something since I’m not that good at navigating that mess over there.

Bedtime!

@avvooooooo – but she knew all about lurve, and jellies. Doesn’t really matter, she’s still a bitch
(I know I’m a bitch too, but I’m not in denial)

@Violet Not sure how that person came across that knowledge, but I’ve been doing some reading there is a whole lot you can find without ever creating an account and I was wondering what all the fuss was about and even a special needs monkey could find out about those terms and their use with the discussion about fluther that’s been going on over on AB.

@Violet I just sent you a PM.

@avvooooooo – She is a sock puppet

@Violet That’s not really a term we use here, but I get what you’re talking about. Its the same thing I suggested above. For the record, fluther is ok with people having second accounts to ask questions they don’t want to on their main account as long as they don’t game the system.

@avvooooooo this chick has 20+ accounts

Unfortunately, some Flutherites don’t like change any more than we do :-p
They see us as an unwelcome invasion.

But you can’t judge all of Fluther by the actions of a handful of people. And I feel very welcomed here :-D

Though, truth be told, I do miss the editorial freedom we had on that other site – I don’t care much for the censorship moderation here…

And Flutherites, try to think of it from the reverse angle…
.
Hypotheticaly, supopose you log on to Fluther one day and you find that they’ve taken away the Activity For You link and the page that shows you all the new comments to the Questions You’re Following. All you can do is ask questions and see the answers just to your own questions. And on top of that, the site is full of advertising everywhere interspersed between answers and everything.
.
And, hypothetically, suppose you ask Andrew “what gives?” and he says it’s his site to do with as he pleases and it’s staying that way and if you don’t like it you can leave.
.
I’m sure you’d all be shocked and sickened! And you’d probably want to defect to another site. And even if you have every intention to be loyal to the new site, you’d still need to talk about the horrific thing that just happened to you. Losing a home isn’t something that you can just dismiss lightly…

For those that are still here, I’m glad you stayed. Can you believe it’s been almost a year now? :)