What happens to Metafilter in the event of mathowie's death

February 8, 2006 10:10 AM

In another thread caddis said "Beth, is Matt going somewhere? I would guess that if a meteor dropped on his head tomorrow, MetaFilter would just fade into history." and it made me curious. Now that MetaFilter is a full-time job and presumably a corporation which Matt would leave to someone, is there some sort of "if I get hit by a bus" plan? [mi]
posted by phearlez to MetaFilter-Related at 10:10 AM (56 comments total)

I don't ask as a "OH NOES I needs my metafilter" (though I'd miss it) but I am curious if Matt's considered how to keep things running if he were to break a leg or have some serious accident - I'd hate to think of our generous host without an income stream when he'd most need it because the site couldn't continue to operate for long without him.
posted by phearlez at 10:11 AM on February 8, 2006

Al Haig will be in charge.
posted by terrapin at 10:22 AM on February 8, 2006

terrapin, you and I are the only people in the world who make that joke.

*raises glass*
posted by mzurer at 10:23 AM on February 8, 2006

See also. I found this comment in there most amusing and enlightening.

If I die, the site may go away forever. People move on.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:23 AM on February 8, 2006

Yeah, a successor has been chosen.
posted by Plutor at 10:25 AM on February 8, 2006

Beat me to it, Plutor.

Scary thing is, she could probably take over tomorrow and exhibit more maturity than some members.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:27 AM on February 8, 2006

Matt's disembodied head, in a mason jar, hooked up to a mecha-spider exoskeleton.
posted by boo_radley at 10:31 AM on February 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

Why is it always a bus? Other large vehicles kill people too you know. Enough with the stereotypes.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 10:33 AM on February 8, 2006

This part of that comment linked by Matt could be some kind of coda to so much that is said here:

I hope you are kidding, and I missed the joke, because if you are not, that is pretty fucking cold.
posted by OmieWise at 10:33 AM on February 8, 2006

metafilter2.com is still available.
posted by smackfu at 10:34 AM on February 8, 2006

Alvy Ampersand: "Scary thing is, she could probably take over tomorrow and exhibit more maturity than some members."

Yeah, and her blog is more insightful than something like 75% of the rest of the Internet.
posted by Plutor at 10:36 AM on February 8, 2006

Pink Floyd survived the loss of Syd Barret, Fleetwood Mac survived the loss of Peter Green (amoung others), the Rolling Stones survived the loss of Brian Jones, Elvis Presley Inc. thrived after the loss of Elvis, so MetaFilter would survive the loss of Matt.

Why would his heirs forego the revenue?
posted by timeistight at 10:46 AM on February 8, 2006

It's a bus because no lesser vehicle could take down our #1, who I am sure leaps jauntily from tree to tree, felling mighty mountains with a chop of his hand.

Hmm, I think I mixed up my song references.

And metafilter2 can stay available as far as I'm concerned. Dealing with us makes herding cats look idylic.
posted by phearlez at 10:51 AM on February 8, 2006

Oh God, people, haven't we better things to worry about? Sufficient onto the day is the evil thereof.
posted by orange swan at 10:51 AM on February 8, 2006

Why does Jerome Bettis hate mathowie?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:57 AM on February 8, 2006

orange swan, it's possible to worry about the big things and the little things. Worrying about this does not mean that we've ceased to worry about "better things."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:59 AM on February 8, 2006

It's one in the afternoon, I haven't dressed yet, and I just ate five breakfast sausages. Do I sound like I have better things to worry about?

Wait, maybe I do...
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:07 AM on February 8, 2006

Bernie:  Mr President, what's your status?

Zonker:  I'm taking a nap in the White House Situation Room.

Bernie:  The situation room?  But you're supposed to be aloft in the
emergency airborne control unit right now!

Zonker:  I know, but I'm waiting for Nancy to finish packing,
and——oh no!  I just took a direct hit!

B.D.:  I'm in charge!  I'm in charge!

Bernie:  You are not, Al.  Where's the vice-president?

V.P.:  I'm summering in Maine.  What's up?

posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:19 AM on February 8, 2006

Alvy Ampersand writes "It's one in the afternoon, I haven't dressed yet, and I just ate five breakfast sausages. Do I sound like I have better things to worry about?

"Wait, maybe I do..."

This made me laugh.
posted by OmieWise at 11:19 AM on February 8, 2006

Pink Floyd survived the loss of Syd Barret

on the other hand, the velvet underground survived the loss of lou reed for an album ... as did big brother and the holding company survive for an album without janis ... furthermore, the soft machine survived without everyone for quite some time ... and genesis survived without peter gabriel

this was not necessarily such a great thing

but seriously, it's not as if someone couldn't start a website like this one ... in fact, a certain group of monkeys already have

like matt said, people move on ... and in 5 years, it's real likely that some of the people who are worrying about this now will have moved on even if the site's still here
posted by pyramid termite at 11:23 AM on February 8, 2006

pyramid termite: "like matt said, people move on ... and in 5 years, it's real likely that some of the people who are worrying about this now will have moved on even if the site's still here"

Are you saying you expect Matt to die in five years?
posted by Plutor at 11:27 AM on February 8, 2006

In five years time, Metafilter will be neurally networked into each of us and we will all be finely-honed front-page-posting-machines. All password and jrun information will flow freely through our bloodstreams as we dance naked in the collective sub-Metafilter-conscience.

Or, i'll be sitting on a bus somewhere wondering what my password is.
posted by tpl1212 at 11:43 AM on February 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

correction: "Matt's disembodied head, in a mason jar, hooked up to a mecha-spiderMeCha-bunny exoskeleton."

Oh, yes! Yes, my precious! Soon! Soon! All in good time my little giant fluffy one! Soon his brain shall be yours and oh! OH! The hopping you'll do! Mr. McGregor's delicious garden - all yours! But first, first you must hop, and hop, and crush downtown! Soon, my precious. We must have patience.


It's one in the afternoon, I haven't dressed yet, and I just ate five breakfast sausages. Do I sound like I have better things to worry about?

What a coincidence. It's now a quarter to one and I'm stark naked, haven't dressed yet and have had no breakfast sausages. But I'm still working on my first cuppa.
posted by loquacious at 11:44 AM on February 8, 2006 [2 favorites]

I thought the contingency was just that quonsar took over. And isn't Matt just some vat-grown clone anyway? If he dies, there's just another clone de-iced.
posted by klangklangston at 11:45 AM on February 8, 2006

If Matt got hit by a bus, we'd all type this:
.
posted by horsewithnoname at 11:49 AM on February 8, 2006

In the event of a total catastrophic metafilter failure, just start here and read one page per day. There's a at least a six year supply tucked away.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:52 AM on February 8, 2006

I'm not sure what I'd do without the reassurances and cold embraces of the hive-mind collective.
posted by bardic at 11:52 AM on February 8, 2006

I think our best course of action is to take him into custody, and place him in some sort of padded room.
posted by graventy at 12:09 PM on February 8, 2006

Maybe one of those bouncy castle things.
posted by cortex at 12:27 PM on February 8, 2006

"If Matt got hit by a bus, we'd all type this:
."

Nah, I think we could do better than that.


.----------------.
|_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I]___
|____________________)
='-(_)---------=-(_)-'

posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:42 PM on February 8, 2006

Pink Floyd survived the loss of Syd Barret, Fleetwood Mac survived the loss of Peter Green (amoung others), the Rolling Stones survived the loss of Brian Jones, Elvis Presley Inc. thrived after the loss of Elvis, so MetaFilter would survive the loss of Matt.

Nah, I think that Matt is more like Jerry Garcia. No one can argue that The Dead actually survived.
posted by leftcoastbob at 12:49 PM on February 8, 2006

Some of us are in denial.
posted by grateful at 1:04 PM on February 8, 2006

As a matter of security, I don't think it's in mathowie's best interests to reveal the line of succession to the unwashed masses.
posted by tweak at 1:19 PM on February 8, 2006

like matt said, people move on ... and in 5 years, it's real likely that some of the people who are worrying about this now will have moved on even if the site's still here - pyramid termite

Yes. Five years ago there were different people here. But it's not like there's been a complete turn over.
*points to self, quonsar, terrpin, smackfu and others*
posted by raedyn at 1:39 PM on February 8, 2006

What's the significance of the "." in horsewithnoname's post? I keep seeing those one-period posts everywhere. Is it some kind of in-joke?

kidding...
posted by emelenjr at 1:40 PM on February 8, 2006

he's leaving the site to me, bitchez.
posted by quonsar at 2:40 PM on February 8, 2006

I don't think it's in mathowie's best interests to reveal the line of succession to the unwashed masses.

Hmmm, I dunno...Didn't you see Gladiator?
posted by Gator at 2:56 PM on February 8, 2006

So, there's no plan at all? Or were you serious about the "other folks have admin login and passwords" thing, minus the cryogenic suspension?

It's not really *that* weird for members of an online community to wonder what'll happen to their community in the event of (heaven forbid) a serious problem in the founder's life. Is it?

I mean, can we get a serious answer here?
posted by mediareport at 3:53 PM on February 8, 2006

So if Matt gets hospitalized long term, he just loses all his revenue, and that's it?
posted by Bugbread at 6:48 PM on February 8, 2006

think of it as the new orleans of online communities.
posted by quonsar at 7:04 PM on February 8, 2006

As long as I still get to set on Trent Lott's porch, I'll be happy.
posted by yhbc at 7:53 PM on February 8, 2006

loquacious writes "correction: 'Matt's disembodied head, in a mason jar, hooked up to a mecha-spiderMeCha-bunny exoskeleton.'"

This is starting to sound like weird Metafilter fanfic.
posted by clevershark at 9:07 PM on February 8, 2006

If Matt dies and the site goes down, then I can go to all of my friends and tell them how popular I was on the internet. There will be no evidence to disprove me.
posted by shmegegge at 9:18 PM on February 8, 2006

"This is starting to sound like weird Metafilter fanfic."

Then he's all like, "KlangKlangston, your comments turn me on..." and I'm like, "Please, Captain Kirk is licking my nipples, what can you offer?" and he's like, "How about a user number in the low four digits and you can pretend you've been here all along?" And I'm like, "Also, lemme ban people at random and you come up with flimsy justifications." And he's like, "Noooooo! But you're so HAWT."

Then it's posted on BoingBoing and everyone complains that they've seen it already.
posted by klangklangston at 10:04 PM on February 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

"Please, Captain Kirk is licking my nipples, what can you offer?"

Uh... I don't think anyone could top that...
posted by arcticwoman at 10:51 PM on February 8, 2006

That's all well and good, until someone takes Maothowie's jar-bound head to a meet-up and some boozehound drinks the precious, noggin-preservative solution through a silly straw: "Well, you shouldn't have put that little umbrella on him!"
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:59 PM on February 8, 2006

Sheesh, where do you guys think breakfast sausage COMES from???
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:40 AM on February 9, 2006

I think Matt just doesn't like pondering his own mortality before lunch. But believe me, he does think about it (and even welcome it) every time the noobs ask him why their FPP was deleted, and someone takes a jab at him for the millionth time for letting the riffraff in because Metafilter is now his primary source of income.
posted by Devils Slide at 7:21 AM on February 9, 2006

Alvy - Does this "Maothowie" run metafilter.ch? 'Cause if he does, Yahoo wants to speak with him regarding a few dissidents.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:36 AM on February 9, 2006

.ch is Switzerland. Did they lose neutrality already?
posted by occhiblu at 8:27 AM on February 9, 2006

Yeah, and her blog is more insightful than something like 75% of the rest of the Internet.

Indeed. I think she's trying to say something about My Bloody Valentine. I wouldn't have taken her for a shoegazer, either.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:06 AM on February 9, 2006

Sorry, meant to link to her blog and this comment there.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:20 AM on February 9, 2006

More of a shoe drooler really.
posted by Devils Slide at 9:33 AM on February 9, 2006

Ghak!! I crossed threads! Egon said never to do that!!!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:07 AM on February 9, 2006

(Switzerland? Damn. I meant China. Kind of ruins the joke, eh?)
posted by caution live frogs at 11:25 AM on February 9, 2006

(I still got a little chuckle)
posted by raedyn at 11:27 AM on February 9, 2006