How can I post a question on AskMeFi using the anonymous account?

March 17, 2006 6:39 AM

How can I post a question on AskMeFi using the anonymous account ? When I login using my username and try to post a question, I see a link to post the question anonymously but if I have already posted in the past 1 week, then this link does not appear.
posted by inquisitive to MetaFilter-related at 6:39 AM (24 comments total)

You're going to this page right? What happens when you click that link?
posted by jessamyn at 6:44 AM on March 17, 2006

Let me save everybody the hassle here. You cant post twice in a week if it's anonymous or not. You just have to wait a week. By the way, you kind of out yourself here so I would wait at least a month until you post Anon.
posted by wheelieman at 6:46 AM on March 17, 2006

Also, from the page Jess linked to: Questions may not be approved for 24-48 hours, so time sensitive questions need not apply
posted by wheelieman at 6:47 AM on March 17, 2006

Actually, wheelieman, if you do the anonymous one first, you can then post again non-anonymously without waiting. At least it's been that way in the past.

(Hope I haven't outed myself too much as a past anonymous asker)
posted by agropyron at 6:47 AM on March 17, 2006

How is the herpes, agropyronanonymous?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:50 AM on March 17, 2006

jessamyn, I was not able to get the link for this url :
http://ask.metafilter.com/contribute/post-anon.cfm

What I did:
I logged in the site.
Clicked on the AskMeFi link
Clicked on Post a Question link

Then I get this:
According to our records, there's a problem. It is one of either two things:

You've asked a question in the past week. There is a limit of one question per week, which you've used up. Make them count, because you'll only get one a week. .....


The URL you gave was the one I was looking for .. From which page you got that ?
posted by inquisitive at 6:54 AM on March 17, 2006

inquisitive, it is linked on the 'post a question' page that you get if you have not recently asked a question.
posted by agropyron at 7:10 AM on March 17, 2006

Oh okay, that makes sense. So agropyron is right. If you ask an anonymous question first you can still see the "post a question" page. If you ask a non-anonymous question first, you don't get another anonymous question that week.
posted by jessamyn at 7:13 AM on March 17, 2006

In my opinion, it should be one question per week no matter what. Questions scroll too damn fast... Maybe even up it to two weeks.
posted by Roger Dodger at 7:50 AM on March 17, 2006

One question. Everybody gets one question.
posted by cortex at 7:56 AM on March 17, 2006

Occasionally I've wondered in people just use anon as a way to jump the one week wait. I guess not. Good.
posted by raedyn at 7:58 AM on March 17, 2006

Then again, if they know how it works right now, they could use a pre-emptive anon to jump the wait.
posted by cortex at 7:59 AM on March 17, 2006

This is one of them epony-whatchamacallit posts, right?
posted by dios at 8:41 AM on March 17, 2006

Login with your username and password. Then go to the address bar in your browser. Type in "http://ask.metafilter.com/contribute/post-anon.cfm" and hit the Enter key, whether or not you've used your question for the week. You're done.
posted by WCityMike at 9:15 AM on March 17, 2006

Huh. Clever.
posted by cortex at 9:39 AM on March 17, 2006

Fear not. I'm sure we can all rely on Matt to filter out the anonymous submissions which have no privacy issues, so people may attempt to game the system, but they'll be thwarted.
posted by crunchland at 10:27 AM on March 17, 2006

So if I want to ask why my cat is meowing so much, but I've already posted this week, I have to invent a story about the cat being involved in a custody battle so it has a reason for being anonymous. Got it.
posted by agropyron at 11:10 AM on March 17, 2006

I can see the responses now: "Shame on you for using the poor cat as a pawn in your breakup saga. Instead of dragging this out in a lengthy court battle just so you can feel like you 'won,' you should think about the best interests of your pet. You probably cheated on your spouse anyway, so you don't deserve a kitty."
posted by Gator at 11:22 AM on March 17, 2006

don't forget decalwing it.
posted by edgeways at 11:26 AM on March 17, 2006

Now that's just cruel and heartless. How is the poor thing supposed to fly with decals on its wings?
posted by gleuschk at 11:46 AM on March 17, 2006

Forget the declawing! Take it in have its nads cut, and ask if it should be circumcised at the same time!
posted by five fresh fish at 11:58 AM on March 17, 2006

Wow, a circumcision mention over an hour ago and no personal crusader has posted yet... Is that a record?
posted by SuperNova at 1:51 PM on March 17, 2006

We diverted a few of 'em into a focus group on smegma-management before they could get a comment in.
posted by cortex at 4:25 PM on March 17, 2006

smegma. it's not just for placenta anymore.
posted by quonsar at 6:45 PM on March 17, 2006