Is it possible to gift someone a membership?

July 31, 2006 5:18 AM

Is it possible to gift someone a membership? I have a friend sorely in need of a MeFi lifestyle awakening, but haven't seen a way to make this happen.
posted by Funmonkey1 to Feature Requests at 5:18 AM (45 comments total)

Discussed before, and I'm surprised it hasn't been done yet. I'd love to see this implemented.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:25 AM on July 31, 2006

Life? Style? Awake?
You're in the wrong shop, guv'nor.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 5:32 AM on July 31, 2006

I guess a gift certificate is a good idea but what is it about sending them a link to the site with a rave about your impressions and an offer to give them the 5 bucks if they join that wouldn't work as well?
posted by peacay at 5:43 AM on July 31, 2006

All I wanted from the guv'nor was hot water for my tea!

Seriously, it's one of those things, sorry I missed it had been discussed previously, but will guess will email matt to see if he can make it happen on this occassion.

My friend is an avid Mefite but adverse to signing up. I think it it's fear of the hive mind, but it could just be she's a pennypincher :)
posted by Funmonkey1 at 5:56 AM on July 31, 2006

what is it about sending them a link to the site with a rave about your impressions and an offer to give them the 5 bucks if they join that wouldn't work as well?

Threshold of action. People are much, much more lazy than you imagine. Also, lots of people don't have PayPal.

it could just be she's a pennypincher

You have a girl as a friend?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:01 AM on July 31, 2006

I'm continuously tempted to create an account for a friend of mine. I've told her, and she really likes the username I made up for her, but thinks she wouldn't use it enough to be a good member.

But if you ever see a member called "Iron Bonnet" (she's a conservative Mennonite with enough strength of character for ten), you'll know I talked her into it.
posted by orange swan at 6:17 AM on July 31, 2006

goodnews - a have a woman as a friend :P

Funny you mention it though, she might not be a friend any longer after I get her I sign her up to this ongoing soap opera that Mefi is....

Just kidding!
posted by Funmonkey1 at 6:19 AM on July 31, 2006

god - my grammer has gone pouring down the gutter with the rain.

she might not be a friend any longer after I get her I sign her up to this ongoing soap opera that Mefi is....

my new tagline for all my posts will be, "MetaFilter - where I feel happy being castigated for bad grammer and spelling".
posted by Funmonkey1 at 6:21 AM on July 31, 2006

Iron Bonnet

Did her son cheat his way into winning a cycling race, by any chance? I prayed for her you know.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:29 AM on July 31, 2006

Why can't you just sign up and send her the username and password you chose for her?
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:49 AM on July 31, 2006

Why can't you just sign up and send her the username and password you chose for her?

This is what I currently suggest for people. I would implement this if it wasn't a pain in the ass, all day snafu affair where I'd have a gift page and then a special email would go to your friend who would click a link to sign up.

Actually, I guess that's not too hard to do. I could implement this someday soon.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:50 AM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

Why can't you just sign up and send her the username and password you chose for her?

I wouldn't because then the gift receiver would never be able to post without thinking of me. Flattering as that might seem, I would want to choose my own username, dammit.

Actually, I guess that's not too hard to do. I could implement this someday soon.

Cool.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:21 AM on July 31, 2006

Did her son cheat his way into winning a cycling race, by any chance? I prayed for her you know.

Her son only turned a year old in June, so he's not really up to cycling speed yet, prayers or no.
posted by orange swan at 9:25 AM on July 31, 2006

Just speaking for myself, I have very few friends I would trust with my MeFi password. I have a couple I just know would get drunk and post under my name, and then I'd get hauled into the gray and hijinks would ensue.
posted by languagehat at 9:42 AM on July 31, 2006

hijinks would ensue.

Maybe even antics, or heaven help us, tomfoolery.
posted by jonmc at 10:07 AM on July 31, 2006

but then languagehat could enjoy his own flameout. Think of the multiple personality/multilingual possibilities.
The horror, the horror!
posted by patricio at 10:13 AM on July 31, 2006

Now you're tempting me...
posted by languagehat at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2006

Several people to a username... I suspected it all along... you see, it's the USERNAMES that are real, and WE are the sockpuppets.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:55 AM on July 31, 2006

Soylent Green is made of lint.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 11:01 AM on July 31, 2006

Give in to the temptation, languagehat. A weekly flame fest/pile on creates community - at least for the survivors
posted by Cranberry at 11:02 AM on July 31, 2006

I love it when mathowie talks himself into doing stuff for us.
posted by timeistight at 11:13 AM on July 31, 2006

so matt, can I pay and you think about dealing with her personally?

;)
posted by Funmonkey1 at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2006

Just speaking for myself, I have very few friends I would trust with my MeFi password.

They could of course always change the password you gave them, like on just about every other website. Or... something like that.
posted by lodev at 12:55 PM on July 31, 2006

And it shalll be known across the land as "GiveMe".
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:03 PM on July 31, 2006

They could of course always change the password you gave them, like on just about every other website.

Haven't been around long, have you? That's just one of the ways in which this is not like every other website.
posted by languagehat at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2006

Is she going to be a left wing troll, or a right wing troll?

Because, honestly, we need more right wing trolls.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 1:35 PM on July 31, 2006

Wait, how would that work when Matt has to ban someone, "and all their sockpuppets."
If I am able to buy, say, my right wing, neo-con step-father-in-law a membership, and then get into a full spouting shit geyser with him over his views (Here, better than at Thanksgiving.) and one of us gets banned,(say me.) since they're both paid for with the same Paypal account, does his big ass mouth get banned too, or what?
posted by Balisong at 1:43 PM on July 31, 2006

I got PayPal a long time ago to buy a bunch of rare music on eBay on a whim. I hated it. Whether it was so or not, I always felt my information was insecure, and that all the phishing attempts were a total bother. It was also a bother cancelling the account.

Knowing all of that, I registered again just so I could get a MetaFilter account. It was also a pain in the ass to get rid of. I've been wanting to buy an account for my girlfriend for some time as she reads the site a lot, but, alas, I will never have a PayPal account again.
posted by Captaintripps at 2:35 PM on July 31, 2006

Soylent Green is made of lint.

yes, but from who's bellybutton?
posted by jonmc at 3:43 PM on July 31, 2006

StrasbourgSecaucus

Aside from the idendity crisis you present (PA or NJ), said person being gifted a membership into this club will troll on her own without prejudice towards anyone.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 4:09 PM on July 31, 2006

I've said for years - and I'll say it again - there are only two people using this website. Me, and Mathowie's innumerable sockpuppets.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 4:33 PM on July 31, 2006

I got PayPal a long time ago to buy a bunch of rare music on eBay on a whim.

Hmm... Strangely enough (or not), I finally caved and got a PayPal account in order to buy music on Ebay- nothing rare, unless vinyl now counts as "rare". I think I signed up for MeFi the same week, and have now forgotten my login and password for PayPal.

preemptive disclaimer: I am not Captaintripp's sockpuppet.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:36 PM on July 31, 2006

When I wanted to gift(punish) someone with a metafilter account I just paypal-ed her $6 (to cover fees) and the signup link. I am sure I could have more accurately figured out the fee amount so she'd get exactly $5 but my time was worth the $0.50 or so of slop...
posted by phearlez at 9:03 AM on August 1, 2006

phearlez, you are a cruel, evil, heartless dude.

Why would anyone need or accept a Metafilter membership as a positively motivated gift?

Shame on you.
posted by Balisong at 9:14 PM on August 1, 2006

"Is it possible to gift someone a membership?"
"...said person being gifted a membership..."
"When I wanted to gift(punish) someone..."

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

"Gift" is not a verb.
posted by fandango_matt at 12:10 AM on August 2, 2006

PRIVATE SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Pedantry requires a certain degree of confidence.

("To gift" is a fine, fine verb.)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:27 AM on August 2, 2006

Well, let's see what the OED has to say:

gift, v.

1. trans. To endow or furnish with gifts; to endow, invest, or present with as a gift.
15.. Wife in Morel's Skin Cjb, The friendes that were together met He [printed Be] gyfted them richely with right good speede. 1608 W. SCLATER Malachy (1650) 197 See how the Lord gifted him above his brethren. [...] 1749 FIELDING Tom Jones I. v, Nothing but the inspiration with which we writers are gifted can possibly enable anyone to make the discovery. [...] 1884 ROGERS 6 Cent. Work & Wages I. 126 Many settlements, which afterwards grew into towns, were gifted subsequently with parliamentary representation.

2. To bestow as a gift; to make a present of.
1619 J. SEMPILL Sacrilege 31 If they object, that tithes, being gifted to Levi, in official inheritance, can stand no longer than Levi [etc.]. [...] 1801 RANKEN Hist. France I. 301 Parents were prohibited from selling, gifting, or pledging their children. 1829 J. BROWN New Deeside Guide (1876) 19 College of Blairs.. having been gifted to the Church of Rome by its proprietor. 1839 ALISON Europe xlii. §71 (1849-50) VII. 155 Thus did Napoleon and d'Oubril gift away Sicily. 1878 J. C. LEES Abbey of Paisley xix. 201 The Regent Murray gifted all the Church Property to Lord Sempill.

Yup, looks like a verb to me. Don't like it? Don't use it.
posted by languagehat at 5:36 AM on August 2, 2006

Ugh. Blech. No. Say it isn't so! Apparently I've worked in marketing too long and I'm reacting to what I thought was yet another verb-made-from-a-noun-or-adjective e.g. "We're going to product our software at the tradeshow"--where "to product" meant dress it up to look like an official release--this, from a Harvard-educated CEO. Gift me with a spoon.
posted by fandango_matt at 6:03 AM on August 2, 2006

I must say that it's a usage that generally grates with me. I think that gifted and gifting are comparatively ok, but when I hear gift as an outright verb, I have an overwhelming desire to beat the perpetrator on the side of the head with an iron rod.

It reminds me of using favo(u)rite as a verb. Which in turn reminds me to ask - is the habit of making adjectives and nouns into verbs much more prevalent in the States than elsewhere? It's what I understand but I don't know that my opinion is right.
posted by peacay at 6:16 AM on August 2, 2006

posted by peacay is the habit of making adjectives and nouns into verbs much more prevalent in the States than elsewhere?

It's certainly rampant in the (American) marketing department and firms for which I've worked; other examples included, "stopgapped," "web," ("Let's web that new copy") and "imaged."
posted by fandango_matt at 6:26 AM on August 2, 2006

I think marketspeak is probably the same everywhere. I've never heard 'web' as a verb (thankfully), 'stopgap' I only know as noun/adjective but I'm quite happy about 'image'/'imaging' as verbs. I guess we all have own stylistic preferences. I'm not averse to change and development...I just want to be the draconian overlord of approval.
posted by peacay at 6:32 AM on August 2, 2006

Haven't been around long, have you? That's just one of the ways in which this is not like every other website.

That's what I meant with the "Or... something like that."-part, which you didn't quote. Maybe this would be a nice time to implement the password changing pony.
posted by lodev at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2006

That's what I meant with the "Or... something like that."-part, which you didn't quote.

I didn't quote it because it didn't seem to mean anything in particular. Communication is often not served by trying to be "ironic."

As for the verbing of nouns, I honestly don't understand why people get so upset about it. It's a basic feature of English and has been from the beginning.
posted by languagehat at 9:09 AM on August 2, 2006

is the habit of making adjectives and nouns into verbs much more prevalent in the States than elsewhere?

I'm generally a "jus leddem tahk" descriptivist, although as a data point it might be interesting to note that here in Holland, marketing-speak (and the verbing of nouns) is also widespread in some circles, except (of course) that 95% of the marketing-speak words (verbificationicized or not) are in English.

A sentence as "Het management gaat de development outsourcen om de workflow issues te downsizen en ons te focussen op onze core activities" would not be frowned upon by anyone in any given Dutch meeting room. I have no idea what it signifies, but then I'm a hippie like that.

I mean, I don't particularly like language being used like that, but not for linguistic reasons, more for sociological ones.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:27 AM on August 2, 2006

Further reading (for FUN)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:29 AM on August 2, 2006