AskMe Snark

March 16, 2006 8:44 AM

there seems to be a lot of pointless snarking occuring in ask.metafilter. One of the appeals of ask.mefi was the relatively calm and non-judgemental tone. Now it seems to be sliding into Usenet territory. Perhaps this is one of the inevitable stages of online communities.

So I am asking if "answer moderation" with the temporary vacationing of those who commit multiple, egregious offenses might reset things. It might not, but I can't think of any other solutions.

and yes, I have been part of the problem at times.
posted by craniac to feature requests at 8:44 AM (56 comments total)

I meant to say that it could have an auto-vacation function--if someone gets x number of complaints in ask.mefi, their posting privileges could be suspended for 24 hours until their meds kick in or whatever they're taking wears off.
posted by craniac at 8:47 AM on March 16, 2006

if someone gets x number of complaints in ask.mefi, their posting privileges could be suspended for 24 hours - craniac

So then I can just shut you up by following you around with my sock puppet army. Great! Super! I vote yes!
posted by raedyn at 8:51 AM on March 16, 2006

Are there really sock puppet *armies* ? And wouldn't that pattern become evident in time?
posted by craniac at 9:00 AM on March 16, 2006

Yeah, the "noise in AskMe" issue came up recently. But any system whereby # of flags = auto-timeout could and would be abused like crazy. Certain users have enough individual "enemies" on MeFi that sockpuppets wouldn't even be necessary to take 'em out via such a system.

The Wiki states that "Cumulative flag totals are not kept on individual users." I assume this means that there's no record anywhere of how many times any particular user's posts/comments have been flagged. Maybe there should be, just for Matt and Jess's eyes though, so they can see if a particular user is consistently getting flagged by a lot of different people, and take appropriate action. For right now, it seems that they're probably relying on their own memory, e.g., "I had to delete like ten useless comments from this guy in the last couple of days, WTF?"
posted by Gator at 9:05 AM on March 16, 2006

Hmmm. Looks like we're having a flameout in the green. Is this the first on that side of the fence?
posted by grateful at 9:08 AM on March 16, 2006

"Now it seems to be sliding into Usenet territory."

I think you made that up. I think AskMe is about the same in this regard as it's always been. It has good days and bad days. But it's so wildly the opposite of Usenet that I wonder what groups you were reading. The ones I was reading were full of the most childish and nasty people I've ever ran across. AOL chat rooms were a step up from Usenet.

Try to maintain some perspective. For a general topic forum with light moderation, AskMe is extremely focused. For it's type, it's probably the most focused you can name. Yes?
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:10 AM on March 16, 2006

Thanks to foraneagle2 I now have a new favorite catchphrase: What in the NOW is happening!
posted by iconomy at 9:13 AM on March 16, 2006

Maybe I'm just being a fragile flower, and it hasn't really changed much since its inception. And you're right, it won't ever reach Usenet depths because of the existing human moderation. Ok, just a thought, then.
posted by craniac at 9:17 AM on March 16, 2006

We don't keep any totals on flags on a user and I think even deletion tallys can't really be examined without writing all new database queries. It would be nice to be able to have a "you seem to be having a terrible day, please come back to MetaFilter when you are having a better day" option, right now there's banning which seems final and abrupt (even when it is often neither) and leaving them alone. We have sort of a nebulous "hey watch this guy/gal" if someone seems to be crapping on the site, but there has been reluctance to do something automated specifically because it could be used against unpopular users.

I caught that flameout. That was damned strange.
posted by jessamyn at 9:18 AM on March 16, 2006

*feeling a little guilty*
I have no desire to shut you up, crainiac. It was only my lame attempt at a pithy comment poking holes in that particular aspect of your proposal. Gator did this more eloquently and without being a jackass. Thanks Gator.

For the record, I do not control a sock-puppet army.

Yet.
posted by raedyn at 9:22 AM on March 16, 2006

...and foraneagle2 earned themselves some time off from the site.
posted by mathowie at 9:23 AM on March 16, 2006

That askme is stunning.
posted by cortex at 9:33 AM on March 16, 2006

For the record, I control a mere sock-puppet battalion.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2006

Mine is not so much an armed force as a collective of mutually respectful citizen-individuals conversant on the latest issues. The Sockpupperati, Wired has dubbed them.
posted by cortex at 9:41 AM on March 16, 2006

foraneagle2 crazy go nuts?
posted by loquacious at 9:45 AM on March 16, 2006

Moving back to the question, I haven't noticed that AskMe has been any different lately.
posted by cribcage at 9:47 AM on March 16, 2006

That askme is stunning.

I agree. of course matt/jessamyn had to close it, but it's one of my favorite threads in recent months: pure genius.

it's the "mark as best answer" thing that did it for me
posted by matteo at 9:56 AM on March 16, 2006

also, mad props to Felix for his Proslogium reference
posted by matteo at 9:57 AM on March 16, 2006

I totally disagree. It was "look at me," pure and simple. Nothing clever about it. The zombie thing was clever.
posted by Mid at 9:57 AM on March 16, 2006

I have a flotilla of sockpuppets with balloons in them.
posted by xanthippe at 10:01 AM on March 16, 2006

Mid, I said "stunning", not "clever". I can't say for sure what matteo meant by "pure genius", but I'm guessing he didn't mean that foraneagle2 was attempting to be simply clever, either.
posted by cortex at 10:12 AM on March 16, 2006

(And it may or may not have been "look at me" pure and simple -- it may well have been "look at me" i'm in an altered state with wildly impaired judgement. I'm not saying that makes it more permissible, but it does make it more interesting to me.)
posted by cortex at 10:14 AM on March 16, 2006

What are the excuses of all the numbskulls who replied in that thread?
posted by crunchland at 10:16 AM on March 16, 2006

There is no cabal.
(it's just me)
posted by Ryvar at 10:21 AM on March 16, 2006

I am abjectly grateful (no, not grateful, just grateful) that that thread is still there for my delectation rather than being replaced by that all-too-final "Nothing to see here, move along." I especially enjoyed this response:

I would be honored if you would mark me as best answer.
posted by bondcliff

But then foraneagle2 didn't mark it as best! That's cold, dude!

...Oh, and I have noticed a tendency towards more snarking, but not enough to worry about.
posted by languagehat at 10:33 AM on March 16, 2006

What are the excuses of all the numbskulls who replied in that thread?

That they could smell history cooking, and their restraint lost the ensuing battle with their enthusiasm?

I'm not really calling that an excuse, anyway. More of an explanation. Permissible vs. Interesting.
posted by cortex at 10:35 AM on March 16, 2006

If participating in a crap thread in ask.metafilter is your idea of making "history," you need to reassess your goals.
posted by crunchland at 10:39 AM on March 16, 2006

It's definitely a piece of AskMe history. You might as well say that if one participates in ask.metafilter at all they need to reassess their goals.

Which is not something that's going to carry a lot of weight in a comment on metatalk.metafilter .
posted by cortex at 10:58 AM on March 16, 2006

So crunchland, is your position that I fed the troll? Or is it just aesthetically displeasing to you?
posted by deadfather at 11:01 AM on March 16, 2006

If I join somebody's sockpuppet army, will I get education benefits out of it?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:08 AM on March 16, 2006

No. We've cut that because of the expenses incurred battling sockpuppet terrorists.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:20 AM on March 16, 2006

Won't somebody think of the sockpuppet children!
posted by jenovus at 11:29 AM on March 16, 2006

Can I join the sock puppet National Guard instead?
I don't think I can manage the commitment for a full-time army position. I just want the dental benefits anyway. You'll promise not to mobilize me, right?
posted by bonehead at 11:33 AM on March 16, 2006

I command the 312th Sockpuppet Assault Team. All have chairborne ranger tabs and are crack-shot comment snipers.
posted by mystyk at 11:38 AM on March 16, 2006

You'll promise not to mobilize me, right?

if you have a rich sock-puppet daddy, you're home free
posted by matteo at 11:42 AM on March 16, 2006

crunchland : "If participating in a crap thread in ask.metafilter is your idea of making 'history,' you need to reassess your goals."

If your idea of making history is participating in a crap thread in ask.metafilter, then you're a pretty down-to-earth, realistic person. It's not like we can all be the first person to land on Mars.
posted by Bugbread at 11:52 AM on March 16, 2006

I am a sock puppet army of one.
posted by craniac at 11:58 AM on March 16, 2006

What are the excuses of all the numbskulls who replied in that thread?

That they could smell history cooking, and their restraint lost the ensuing battle with their enthusiasm?

Naw, I was just really, really high.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:01 PM on March 16, 2006

Consider joining the Sockpuppet Reserve. Low time-commitment; I'll only use you as a vehicle to advance my own arguments and whim one weekend a month.

if you have a rich sock-puppet daddy, you're home free

We call those "shoes."
posted by cortex at 12:11 PM on March 16, 2006

I happen to love foraneagle2's choices for "best answer." that made me laugh more than anything else.
posted by shmegegge at 12:43 PM on March 16, 2006

Well, I'm leaning toward joining the SPNG, but if I get ordered to go into any Iraq threads, I'm going to refuse.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:04 PM on March 16, 2006

If asked to serve, my plan is to play the, "but I'm in Canda!" card.
posted by bonehead at 2:43 PM on March 16, 2006

Kirth Gerson: Why don't you just run off to slashdot or get someone to flag all of your comments as noise?
posted by soma lkzx at 2:44 PM on March 16, 2006

We don't keep any totals on flags on a user and I think even deletion tallys can't really be examined without writing all new database queries.

I wasn't aware it was so hard to write queries...
posted by cellphone at 2:52 PM on March 16, 2006

MetaFilter: Their restraint lost the ensuing battle with their enthusiasm.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:14 PM on March 16, 2006

If your idea of making history is participating in a crap thread in ask.metafilter, then you're a pretty down-to-earth, realistic person. It's not like we can all be the first person to land on Mars.

Yeah, that's about the saddest thing I've read all day.
posted by crunchland at 3:51 PM on March 16, 2006

Oooooon metafilter. Where you comment frequently. Either you see yourself, too, as a really sad individual, or you've got a perspective problem.
posted by cortex at 4:34 PM on March 16, 2006

I don't pretend to be making history.
posted by crunchland at 5:02 PM on March 16, 2006

You do seem to be making an awful lot out of the word "history", though. Did you really take it to mean "major world history" and not "history within the context of AskMe thread content/hijinx"? You seem a damn spot too smart to miss that context.
posted by cortex at 5:08 PM on March 16, 2006

I think the ability to flag one of your own comments as " best answer" is an interesting quirk.
posted by lobstah at 5:44 PM on March 16, 2006

I am a sock puppet army of one.

No, you are a sock puppet army of two.
posted by MLIS at 6:23 PM on March 16, 2006

Technically, it's still a sock puppet army of one, and one original non-sock pupper account.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:46 PM on March 16, 2006

Puppet. Sock pupper is, well, something to be enjoyed late at night when you're all alone and the moon is full, and th ...

Uh, never mind.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:46 PM on March 16, 2006

Yes--I have one real identity and original account, and one sock puppet. Because I needed to ask two questions in a week and it was worth five bucks. And the original ID stems from an old graduate schoo email id, a period of time I would like to think less of.

Oddly, I find myself writing slightly differently depending upon who is logged in.
posted by craniac at 9:16 PM on March 16, 2006

pwned!
posted by If I Had An Anus at 2:39 AM on March 17, 2006

IF you have the WILL to FOLLOW me on this JOURNEY we shall allow that ONE -
(1) (There is NO ONE)
therefore
(2) We discover that we canNOT POST because the MOD has SUSPENDED my ACCOUNT
(3) But we see the OTHER post in POST HISTORY
(4) Therefore we HAVE posted
(5) We cannot EXIT the TEMPORAL MODE *fwap fwap fwap* of the LINEAR NATURE of our POSTING HISTORY
(6) and THEREFORE you are NOT a sockPUPPET but
(7) if I am NOT also a SOCKPUPPET
(8) and I have NOT suspended my account
(9) then
(10) you
(11) ARE A SOCKPUPPET
(12) - and mathowie is responsible for the ORIGINAL POST
(13) I am, therefore a SOCK PUPPET of MATHOWIE and there is only YOU and ONE DUDE with a computer and 34,116 metafilter SOCKPUPPET accounts.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:13 AM on March 17, 2006