Help me celebrate 10 years? Have a ponder on some questions with me?

Aloha! It’s nice to see you back.

I have thought about my growth since I joined here in 2009. The quick answer is that I’m much calmer. I owe that to years of meditation.

I wonder if the internet still has a place for Fluther. The internet is going to be unrecognizable in 10 years with AI spreading into everything.

I suppose it’s progress.

Well, so far, this little corner of the internet still exists. Fewer members but I still enjoy my participation here. I will say I’ve gotten tired of certain topics here over the years and won’t engage on them and I rarely share deeply personal issues any more. But I did get a lot of support here when I was going through my divorce years ago and some people like gailcalled really helped me. And I have formed some deep friendships and met some of those friends IRL as well.

It’s nice that we’re still hanging in there. And many thanks to Bendrew.

@Magical_Muggle Yours is a fantastic post. I makes me smile to think of how you’ve changed and how your world view changed with you.

What have I learned? I have learned that most people here really do care. A few members have passed away over the intervening years and the outpouring of affection and sentiment was truly heartwarming.
When johnpowell, augustlan, gailcalled and others died people came here from other sites to show their respects. It was beautiful.

Congratulations on finding us again and of course, your personal growth.

I’m 50 so I was an adult working at a car dealership back then, in my 20’s when I started my FB account and started exploring.
The internet is great for people like me who tend to be introverted and have curious minds. Previously you haf to grab a dictionary or head to the library to research thing’s or even school work.
Having so much information available is still pretty neat to me and I learn something every day.
A drawback is less face time with people, and I understand some people ONLY socialize online which is self-isolating, and can lead to depression over time. There are other drawbacks like porn, scammers, pedo stalkers, etc…

Great to see you back. I’m going to take some time now to go back and read some of your questions and give you feedback. But it’s people like you that make this place worth coming back to.

Hi. I doubt that you remember me, but I remember you as the girl who liked to hang out on TJBM threads and liked Harry Potter unless I mixed you up with someone else. I also joined in 2013 too, and my anniversary was in March. And like you, I have changed a lot since I last joined. I earned a master’s degree. I’m working as a teacher in a relatively stable environment. I’m no longer the girl that struggled to find friends and had to put up with toxic people just to avoid being alone. I have a much more lively social life. I made a ton of genuine friends now, and I’m much more willing to cut off toxic people. I’m now belonging to several circles and I have fun with them that is why I’m in and out of this site lately. I just have too much to do :D

This site has been the foundation for my growth. I learned what to look for in people and how to behave well. I was able to cut off some toxic people out thanks to this site. Because of that, I am now able to see red flags in people and do something about it before harm is done. I also learned critical thinking, which was a tool to help me avoid being tricked into certain ideologies and counteract problematic arguments. I’m living a much better life than my younger self.

Sites like Fluther are much harder to find now, since big sites like Reddit have gathered everything into one place. But if you look hard enough, you will find one. I’m currently in an online support group that has been really kind and helpful. Also, people are now getting tired of one big website controlling everything after several scandals have broken out, so maybe we will return to the old Internet where everything has its own website. I doubt Fluther will go anywhere because there are still dedicated people here to keep the site going, and we have been going since 2006.

My only complaint is that there are fewer things to do here now. I wish we had more games and discussions like the old days. Regardless, I still enjoy my time here, and I hope we can hang out again in TJBM.

I am so happy to have another Harry Potter enthusiast here!
Welcome back!

I can’t express how lovely it is to have these responses

@Hawaii_Jake I like to hope that with this shift to AI, people start seeking the classic and old-school again, I think I’ve done that without really realising

@janbb it’s so lovely to see you on this thread, I remember you well from several threads I visited, I’m glad to see you’re still going strong here
And also so lovely to see you too @Dutchess_III yours is a screen name I think I’ll always remember seeing around, I’m glad you’re still here too!

@LuckyGuy thank you so much for this response, it means a lot to know someone is a little bit proud of me for that – but oh my I love your insight, and I think you’re right. Incredibly sorry to hear about John, I remember seeing him around, but how beautiful that communities like that can happen even on the internet!

@KNOWITALL I think you’ve hit some of my fascination with the internet on the head, it is so incredibly interesting to have all that access to information all of the time, perhaps even more interesting though is I think I’ve taken it for granted so much of my life because I grew up with it, and maybe that might be why I have noticed such a self-growth, it was literally tracked online when most other generations had separation… Not sure where I’m going with that but nonetheless

@chyna that is so incredibly kind, thank you – I’m very interested to see your insights when you get the time

@Mimishu1995 congrats on 10 years too, and more importantly the Masters Degree! OF COURSE I remember you! And that’s definitely me, loved a good bit of TJBM even if I was a bit of a menace on some of those threads, what number are we at anyway? I hope you know that you were one of the people I looked up to the most on this site, and always adored your answers – I think you were actively studying history at the time? But you do have that love for noir film didn’t you? It’s so lovely to see you’re still around and thank you for such a lovely answer – I do hope site like Fluther come back (and you’re right, if Fluther hasn’t gone anywhere since I joined, it probably won’t be any time soon)

Thank you very much @filmfann, I’m happy to be back! Harry Potter will always have a place in my heart (I thought about changing my screen name but a) couldn’t figure out how to and b) everyone knows me by this one)