I'm back on Fluther after 12 years. It hasn't changed. Why do you still stay here?

Who were you?

@Patty_Melt not relevant

Bored. Need something to do. And I haven’t made 20,000 lurve yet!

@kritiper why are you bored? What do you do?

@ihavereturned, fair enough. I am curious, but I respect your privacy.

@kritiper, so sorry you are bored. Here’s a GA to get you closer to that 20K.

So you were on Fluther before it existed?

I think the bigger question is: Why have you returned?

To welcome you back. Eventually all moths are drawn to a hot flame.

@rebbel why yes! You caught me! Congrats!

@janbb Hmm, well nostalgia I guess. Fluther felt like an actual community. I have 2 months before I start a new job and I’m just chillin in the meantime. I returned partially out of curiosity and am shocked to still see every pixel exactly how it was. Why hasn’t anyone, such as the most loyal among you, taken over the site and updated it?

What type of people hang out here now?

@elbanditoroso thanks for the laugh :)

@ihavereturned: Nobody has access to updating anything except the owners of the site.

@jca2 so the owners just swallowed the keys and left? Where are they?

Welcome back.

Seeing as Fluther was founded in 2007, I assume you are either Ben or Andrew having some fun with us.

Why do I stay? ‘Cuz here…you’re family.

@cookieman im not Ben or Andrew. I may have gotten the years wrong but I joined when Fluther created their iPhone web app and it was featured on the Apple site. One of you should get control of this site.

I love it when people return after a long absence full of opinions about what other Jellies should do! Ben still pays the server fees out of the goodness of his heart and I’m hep with that.

That’s about when I joined too, so you’re looking more at 11 years.

I think the site is still owned by Twitter with Bendrew managing it. And by managing it, I mean doing very, very little as they’re busy with other, actually profitable endeavors.

The fact that we’re even still up and running is a gift.

I suppose someone could offer to buy the site from them.

Why not reveal yourself?

@janbb yes I am full of opinions! I need somewhere to dump them so I have returned ;)

I think it’s 90s_Kid.

@janbb why not fund it yourselves?

@cookieman you are wrong although I was born in the 90s!

Blueberry_kid? And no, Twitter never owned Fluther and Andrew is not involved at all anymore.

@janbb Nope not me.

I think you guys have something special. The fact that you can remember users from years ago is a sign of that. Fluther is special and I think you guys could make it so much more.

Fund it ourselves? But we don’t own it. It’s like saying to an apartment renter, why don’t you pay the mortgage and do all the repairs, and remodel it how you want it.

I joined in the summer of 2007.

@jca2 You are assuming that the owners would never want to sell!

“I think you guys have something special. The fact that you can remember users from years ago is a sign of that.”

@ihavereturned That was a very true statement.

@ihavereturned: Yeah but in the meantime, nobody can just take it over or make changes without the owners.

@jca2 which is probably OK. Too much change would drive people away.

Many other sites change and are NOT user-friendly or appealing. Some things are fine as they are, like fluther. A few upgrades would be nice, as we’ve all discussed, but nothing major.

Dammit. It’s never 90s_Kid.

Anyway…okay, so just Ben is still involved. Let’s, as suggested by anonymous-returning-jelly, take up a collection to buy Fluther from Ben and take control.

I’m willing to pitch in a dozen cookies.

@ihavereturned I live by myself and can’t afford cable TV so there isn’t that much to do when I’m not working. I work out of my home part time at my own business.
My boredom isn’t a bad thing. I wouldn’t trade my life as it is for anything!

@ihavereturned

Aloha. I have genuine friends here, so it makes the place worthwhile. I have occasional questions that I can get answers to, and that’s of great value.

You’ll pardon us if we seem less than thrilled to be told we’re not doing it right by allowing the site to exist unchanged. It’s not ours to change.

I for one would want no part of a group to buy the site from Ben. Governing by committee in a situation like that would be like herding cats.

Furthermore, it is of relevance who you used to be on here. It is disingenuous to pretend that you can create a new persona and expect to be treated like an entirely new individual.

@Hawaii_Jake I asked the question to understand a “why”. My suggestions further allow me to understand this “why”. I’m just trying to learn. Sorry if this offends.

Also, I am not the same person I was 11 years ago. In fact, I was a teenager. Why is it so important for you to know my old account? So you can decide how to treat me based on who I was? Instead of who I am now?

@ihavereturned This is the internet, and everyone is a troll until they prove themselves otherwise. That’s self-care in the 21st century.

@Hawaii_Jake Guilty until proven innocent. Got it

Because I’ve been addicted to internet forums since I was 14. Many of the sites I used to post on have either shut down or have such reduced activity that it’s not worth posting there anymore. This site has dwindled in membership and the site itself is need of an update, but it’s still decently active and the alternatives I’ve found are huge sites with less sense of community, little to no moderation, and huge amounts of trolling. This site is far from perfect, but I’ll take it over those.

@Demosthenes That is true! There is a good sense of community here. This is particularly interesting to me since I’m a designer for software products and wonder if there are any lessons that can be taken from here and used in other products.

@i apparently participated in ways back then that he/she is embarrassed to be associated with now.
You asked what sort of community is here now. Here’s my perspective.

Several are quite politically passionate.

Most want to help when someone has an honest issue they need resolved. Perspectives differ, and that is great, because the person who needs help gets a variety of resolutions to consider.

Humor is common among most members, also in a wide array of flavors. It is a great aspect to have, as the humor keeps us entertained when there are few or no serious issues to address. I believe the humor, and dedication to be a helpful community has been crucial to keeping Fluther alive.

We have a lovely variety of young and old, male, female, gender neutral, conservative, liberal, human, and even a space alien. There are contributors from a variety of different countries, which allows a fabulous opportunity to peek into parts of the world some of us will never have opportunity to visit.

Fluther has transcended from site, to community, and that is due to every single contributor who has ever been here. Fluther has a rich, beautiful history of pain, growth, and expanded character.

@Patty_Melt Lovely!

^I second that!

@Patty_Melt thanks for the answer! interested in the pain and growth. Can you tell me more?

@Patty_Melt also who are the political ones? On both sides. So I can follow them

@Patty_Melt FTW!

That statement should be on our homepage.

@ihavereturned, the pain has come in many forms. We have seen several beloved members pass from the living. Visiting old threads can stir joy at seeing some of their posts, but also the pain of loss.
Other pains include standing by members who are experiencing difficulties, seeing friends forced to leave, or simply arguing subjects to a point that feelings get hurt and friendships become endangered.
Growth can be seen in the times we recover from those hurtful episodes, and move forward strengthened from the experiences.

In regards to politics, I will not speak on behalf of anyone else. I am a center leaning conservative. There are some hard and true liberals here.
You can find out who which what by simply looking over the answers to some of the questions seeing activity every day. Stuff is hot right now. It is easy to find political questions every day.

@all thanks for the kind words!

Hi! Wasn’t 90s Kid from Toronto? I miss 90s Kid.

I come and go often but I always return. I have over 11 years invested in this place. I can’t quit it.

Why all the games, @ihavereturned? You make such a big deal about returning, yay you, welcome back and so forth, why not just say who you were?

@ihavereturned Also a center leaning conservative, although some conservatives find me quite liberal in some areas like environment and LGBTQ issues.

*Many conservatives left for more pleasing interactions with like-minded folks. Only a few of us stubbornly stick around so it’s not an echo chamber of liberals, and quite honestly, because a few open-minded people are actually interested in learning about the conservative perpective and trying to understand it.

I’m pretty new here still. Have you ever walked through a field or farm and came upon a still-stagnant pond? That’s how I viewed Fluther. I joined regardless of the shrinking pond and to my belief, I’ve been right about this place ;)