Shtuffs (Askville & Fluther)
I lost most of my interest in Askville a couple of months ago. I'm still not 100% sure why. I continued to peek in now and again to adjudicate appeals, but it was mostly out of a sense of duty more than anything else. I didn't enjoy it much.
Then recently, Askville went through a radical change of policy. 16 people had their account suspended for actions they'd taken long before. Many of these people were on my friends list there, or were people I was aware of; they were, mostly, good advice-writers.
A lot of them ended up at another advice site called Fluther for the duration of their banishment. So I went over there too, to take a look.
It's not bad. Smaller and more friendly than Askville, for one thing. And it's not affiliated with some corporate behemoth (Askville is owned by Amazon.com, and you get gold coins for endorsing their products). So I just made the following post in an Askville forum. I know, I'm just asking for trouble:
Having tried both Askville and Fluther, I have to say this: the management of Fluther is MUCH more accessible and open than the management of Askville, hands down. Much friendlier, too - I can't emphasize that strongly enough. Of course, Askville probably has a much larger user population, which would make it more difficult for Askville management to do much one-on-one interaction.
But as far as I can tell, they hardly interact with Askville users in a personal way at all.
Another big difference is the commercial angle. I've always been bothered by the Amazon.com selling connection; yes, I know, that's what pays for the site, capitalism is good, you don't have to plug products if you don't want to, etc. etc. But the truth is that we DO get gold for recommending products, and I think that influences many of us - I know it influenced me!
Amazon.com is a great big company with huge amounts of money. I don't like being an unpaid shill for them. I write advice to help people, not to market products and enhance Amazon.com's bottom line on my free time. It's bad enough that Amazon.com has put so many of the used book stores that I love out of business!
I haven't left Askville, but my participation dropped off dramatically about two months ago. I think the aloof and impersonal nature of Askville management, combined with the emphasis on product placement here, is a large part of the reason why.
Plus the religious and political feuds and factions on the site are pretty stressful to deal with, come to think of it. And I mostly stopped answering questions because I was sick of worrying that someone would give me a "punishment" rating for having an opinion that differed from theirs.
*sigh*...I suppose I've just opened myself up to a world of flaming. Oh well...
I really should just go back and do some more work on that Dan Grabauskas poem. It's much more fun.
Then recently, Askville went through a radical change of policy. 16 people had their account suspended for actions they'd taken long before. Many of these people were on my friends list there, or were people I was aware of; they were, mostly, good advice-writers.
A lot of them ended up at another advice site called Fluther for the duration of their banishment. So I went over there too, to take a look.
It's not bad. Smaller and more friendly than Askville, for one thing. And it's not affiliated with some corporate behemoth (Askville is owned by Amazon.com, and you get gold coins for endorsing their products). So I just made the following post in an Askville forum. I know, I'm just asking for trouble:
Having tried both Askville and Fluther, I have to say this: the management of Fluther is MUCH more accessible and open than the management of Askville, hands down. Much friendlier, too - I can't emphasize that strongly enough. Of course, Askville probably has a much larger user population, which would make it more difficult for Askville management to do much one-on-one interaction.
But as far as I can tell, they hardly interact with Askville users in a personal way at all.
Another big difference is the commercial angle. I've always been bothered by the Amazon.com selling connection; yes, I know, that's what pays for the site, capitalism is good, you don't have to plug products if you don't want to, etc. etc. But the truth is that we DO get gold for recommending products, and I think that influences many of us - I know it influenced me!
Amazon.com is a great big company with huge amounts of money. I don't like being an unpaid shill for them. I write advice to help people, not to market products and enhance Amazon.com's bottom line on my free time. It's bad enough that Amazon.com has put so many of the used book stores that I love out of business!
I haven't left Askville, but my participation dropped off dramatically about two months ago. I think the aloof and impersonal nature of Askville management, combined with the emphasis on product placement here, is a large part of the reason why.
Plus the religious and political feuds and factions on the site are pretty stressful to deal with, come to think of it. And I mostly stopped answering questions because I was sick of worrying that someone would give me a "punishment" rating for having an opinion that differed from theirs.
*sigh*...I suppose I've just opened myself up to a world of flaming. Oh well...
I really should just go back and do some more work on that Dan Grabauskas poem. It's much more fun.