Do Flutherites give strong support to new users if they need it?

Being honest, and looking at the past – Flutherites have been kind to those newcomers with sensible questions. Those with “special” questions, or too many off-the-wall, propagandistic, leading questions, poor grammar, and poor spelling have met with jaundiced members who bite.

Newbies are always welcome.

Questions about fluther can be asked directly via IM to feedback and the chat is great for questions too.

absolutely.

Yes, the chat room is really helpful.

where is the chat?

@mattbrowne I have found the vast majority of Flutherites to be very friendly and welcoming. Of course there is the occasional jerk, but that is to be expected on any internet forum.

@squirbel, those members who are anal about spelling and grammar errors really need to take a look at themselves. I know several really great people who have spelling or grammar deficiencies but are great people whose ideas are just as valid as anyone else’s. Just because they may not have had the benefit of a good education, are there thoughts any less valuable? I think what is important is what a person says, not how they say it.

@tigran – Here’s the chat:

https://fluther.campfirenow.com/d9528

In my previous post There=Their. Which just further supports my argument.

Aw, we like you mattbrowne.

In terms of helping others adjust I think we’re overall pretty good at it, if we see what we consider trolling we lose patience quickly, but when we see people who could benefit from a little nudging in the right direction I think we do that happily.

On a side note, we actually give a lot of support in a personal way as well. I know at least two Flutherites who have helped me in emotionally challenging times. I know shilolo has saved Judochop’s life on this site. And I’m sure there are countless other remarkable stories, from simply helpful to very significant floating around Fluther.

I’m glad you’re fitting in. :)

@The_unconservative_one: And what argument is that?

I’m surprised this hasn’t been deleted yet.

@the_force: Perhaps, it’s still a question, if you didn’t come here to give your answer to it, why did you post?

@asmonet my response is an answer to the question. Fluther deletes questions rather than helping or welcoming new users. It seems flutherites are not used to subtlety.

“Do Flutherites give strong support to new users if they need it?”
I’m surprised this hasn’t been deleted yet.

You did not answer the question, plain and simple. Maybe, if you’d started out explaining your position I might have understood your intentions better. It wasn’t subtlety, it was off topic as written.

@asmonet the argument that we shouldn’t discount a person’s argument because of grammar errors.

And when did that happen? I guess I missed it.

Most have been willing to help when I may need it. There have been several that have taken the time to send me a PM to help me or just to welcome me and I think that is great. :)
Then there are the few that have the condescending tone as if our presence here is a bother to them and they wish nothing more than for us to leave and have said so either directly or indirectly. It is these people that are just looking for things we are “doing wrong” to point this out as often as possible.
Overall I think we will be accepted or we won’t, but I do appreciate those that have taken the time to help and reach out to us newbies.

@mattbrowne i’m also a newbie of sorts (although i was here before the influx of wis.dmers) and have come to enjoy this site more than i care to admit. Not only has it given me an outlet for voicing my opinions on various subjects, it has helped me make friends with people i otherwise would never have met (chat regulars… you are the best).

On a personal note i find that your questions are by far the most stimulating i’ve seen on this site so far and hope you continue to post such wonderful content. My own experience is somewhat limited so i may not be able to contribute much (if at all) to your threads but i do love reading them.

It’s been my experience that noobs are welcome with open arms if they are respectful, and contribute. You sir make a valuable contribution every time your hands meet the keyboard and for that i think you.

@asmonet if you need every little thing spelled out for you, maybe you should go back to school.

@the_force: Le sigh.
Being interested is bad? Whatever, man. :)

The argument was never whether grammar errors are a reason to shun someone. @asmonet is correct – the original question was about the attitude of flutherites to newbs.

It was I who stated that many flutherites don’t like poor grammar or spelling, thus making it a side-topic.

Don’t pick on @asmonet.

When I joined fluther in early December, I was greeted with open arms. As long as you read the guidelines, and follow them, there usually aren’t many problems. You just treat people how you would like to be treated.

I second squirbel, be kind to @asmonet.

I save my good advice for people with over 10000 points. I purposely mislead those will less points.

I would say that about one third have been genuinely friendly, one third have been slightly agitated but tolerant, and one third have been downright hostile and belligerent.

“Fluther makes money and is fast. Your site is dead. Accept it or move on. This whiny shit got old real fast. Integrate or fucking leave.”

This comment got 20 (and counting) “great comment” lurve points.

I like this thread. I wonder why. ;)

@Ivan Are you serious? I saw that comment and I couldn’t believe how rude that person was. To find out that it seems to be a common opinion on here is a bit disgusting and shows what people are truly thinking. :(

@Kelly27 I wouldn’t say that it’s a common opinion. It was rude, but from what I have witnessed, most flutherites have been very welcoming. Fluther is a second home for many of us. When you have a large number of people coming in to your home and complaining how it smells, it does get old. Especially when you made an awesome breakfast of pancakes and bacon to share with your new roommates.

@jonsblond That comment was in response to the question: What is the exchange rate for wis.dm points to lurve?

I only joined Fluther a few days ago, and so far I really like it. When I posted a question asking for newbie advice, I got a lot of great feedback and felt very appreciative. So yeah, I’d say new users get a lot of support if they need it.

On the other hand, if you’re talking about new users who start out with an attitude, they might not find people so willing to be supportive.

I don’t know what wis.dm even is, or any controversy behind this question or comments, but couldn’t help putting my 2cents in anyway. From this newbie’s experience, Flutherites have been fantastic.

When I first came to fluther, I was in pretty bad shape. I was leaving another online community and I had been pretty damaged there. I started to look for something there that I couldn’t get, so every time I turned around, I was getting another slap in the face. This was, I should be clear, because of my mental illness, not because anyone was trying to hurt me.

Despite what I just said, that community had been very important to me. Somehow, though, it had grown toxic. When people mentioned fluther, I came here to try it. I was warned I should just sit back and watch a bit, to see how things were, before I started asking and answering questions.

I didn’t take that advice. I felt like I knew this place from the moment I got here. I explained some of my problems, and instantly several people wrote to me to support me. They told me they cared about me even thought they didn’t know me, and they would be there if I needed to talk.

I did need them, and they saw me through a few episodes of depression, and I quickly started improving, both in my illness, and in my attitude towards life and my feeling about myself. I’m still working on these things, but the welcome I got here was a big help.

I needed it, and the people of fluther delivered. Always supported. Never an unkind word, at least, to me. I felt safe in discussing my rather large personality defects. They could have come down on me like a ton of bricks, but they weren’t judgemental that way, as the other site was, as often as not.

You could argue that it was me, and just a reflection of my improving health. I think they helped a lot, and still help me, when I need it. I recently had a kind of mental meltdown, and I deleted my account. The people of fluther forgave me, and asked me back. Some even said they missed me, which was nice to hear. Really nice. I didn’t hear that on the other place.

So I find fluther to be a truly caring place. I think it is unusual that way. It is a difficult thing to create in an online community. It requires a lot of maintenance. I hope everybody’s experience is like mine. It can help so much.

@Kelly27
“Most have been willing to help when I may need it” – My experience too!
“It is these people that are just looking for things we are “doing wrong” to point this out as often as possible.” – Maybe this is the root cause for the ongoing subtle friction since the wis.dm influx. And in my opinion the best way to deal with it is talking about it openly while always remaining polite. I have also become a victim of looking for things I am “doing wrong” and it was the choice of words that really hurt my feelings. I also saw it as an attack on my kind of mindset and character and my individual peculiarities. And several other silent lurkers awarded great answer points. Why was I so upset? Well, if my first weeks on Fluther didn’t mean much too me, my reaction would have been “so what” and “forget about it”. But because the nice and supporting Flutherites welcome the dialog and are really trying hard to help the newcomers I decided not to keep my anger to myself. I’m not upset anymore. I will have a private talk with the (unfriendly) person in a few days.

@daloon – “find fluther to be a truly caring place” – I feel the same way and I’m really touched by your words. It’s great to know you daloon, and I thoroughly enjoy our highly stimulating discussions.

@mattbrowne I agree that the best way to deal with it is to talk about it openly. Unfortunately, the fluther populous could not disagree more.

@Ivan – Well, it seems that I as someone who comes from wis.dm like you have been proven wrong again in my somewhat imprecise usage of terms, see

http://www.fluther.com/disc/40336/what-do-earworms-and-the-number-10594630943592952645618252949463417-have-in-common/#quip524189

Guilty as charged, or not? Has more evidence be collected to convict us? Okay, now I’m getting a little cynical which isn’t a good thing.

Maybe we have to live with this sentiment of “unwelcome invaders” for a while. Maybe it will go away over time. As I said before the majority of Flutherites have welcomed us.