Ask MeFi commented about on Download Squad

August 8, 2006 1:39 AM

Yahoo Answers is a disaster - Ask MeFi commented about on Download Squad.
posted by IndigoRain to MetaFilter-Related at 1:39 AM (27 comments total)

YA and what it has become is a really good indicator of just how good the community that Matt and Jess have created here. Yes, the place has some faults, such as those instances where newbies ask questions or make comments that result in the Metafilter gunship welcome wagon being rolled out, but by and large what we have here is a site that is full of good will and populated by largely intelligent individuals.

So I guess I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone who has ever criticised Matt and Jess's mod-decisions that if they hadn't done such a good job, AskMe could be like Yahoo Answers today. The fact that it isn't is something we should all be grateful for.
posted by Effigy2000 at 1:53 AM on August 8, 2006

5. Some time ago someone posted "What's the worst possible question to Ask MetaFilter?" to Ask MetaFilter. The responses were hilarious, and someone went and asked a few choice ones on Yahoo Answers. It was hilarious and awful. I'll try to find the actual thread from AskMe when I get home from work.

Links Please!!!!

And yes - Matt & Jess do a wonderful job. It may not be for everyone and it may not get everything right, but it's still a fantastic community and Ask is a green delightful highlight to that community.

Thanks all.
posted by seanyboy at 2:00 AM on August 8, 2006

it was once useful but now is overrun with ... chat-happy posters ... who simply disregard the guidelines knowing there will be little to no retribution.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:15 AM on August 8, 2006

Original MetaChat thread.
posted by onalark at 2:21 AM on August 8, 2006

Though I bitch, it's only because I love. Turns out y'all are some smart fuckers, and that's made for an amazing resource.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 2:32 AM on August 8, 2006

Metatalk
posted by onalark at 2:34 AM on August 8, 2006

(The above posts of mine are reference links to the Mefia-invades-Yahoo-Answers Affair of June 2006), apologies for the derail.
posted by onalark at 2:35 AM on August 8, 2006

There, but for the grace of mathamyn, goes AskMe.

Nevar forget.
posted by dg at 3:32 AM on August 8, 2006

What is a type of dog to keep inside that does not shead and is easy to house train?

What's wrong with this one? Unless 'shead' is not in fact a mis-spelling of 'shed' but instead means something like 'has a head' or 'eats sad'.

I'm buying & selling used computor, Electronic goods in big or small quatity.?

Using both grammar and punctuation this asker has ingeniously combined a question with a statement in a way that makes both of them near meaningless. The use of the '.?' interroperiod is particularly clever. To the extent that it fails as a question it succeeds as situationism.

Whats the simplest way to maintain plush toys?

Obviously a better place to ask a question like this would have been one of the Something Awful forums.

IF i am not Jewish but i had sex with a Jewish girl does the Jewish get mad than now they mix with my blood?

Honestly, the kind of moderation that would remove a question like this has no place on a website hosted in a free society.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:59 AM on August 8, 2006 [2 favorites]

The answer to that last question is definitely "yes".

In fact, I'm pretty sure anyone, of any sex, ethnic group, or religious persuasion would be mad.
posted by taz at 4:19 AM on August 8, 2006

Not only that but, if you are mixing blood, you are probably (but not defiintely) doing sex wrong.
posted by dg at 4:28 AM on August 8, 2006

How can religious people continue to believe so many things that have been proven wrong?

I could swear we've had this exact question on AskMe.

if you are mixing blood, you are probably (but not defiintely) doing sex wrong.

Not according to Theodore Sturgeon.
posted by languagehat at 5:49 AM on August 8, 2006

I would say it's all caused by one single datum: The average age of users. To use yahoo you have to be old enough to use a mouse, but to use AxMe you have to be atleast old enough to borrow your parents credit card to pay for a membership.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:01 AM on August 8, 2006

Not just age, but the fact that there is an actual barrier to entry. People are here because they really want to be.
posted by knave at 7:10 AM on August 8, 2006

I really wanted to read the answers to "Are public affairs a protagonist for work ethic in america?"

It was removed, though.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:36 AM on August 8, 2006

Another odd MeFi praise mention: Anil showed me the normally curmudgeonly John Dvorak sang the praise of MetaFilter among several others as the few examples of community done right in the current wave of everything social software. That guy hates everything but apparently loves us.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:32 AM on August 8, 2006

AskMe: Does the Jewish get mad?
posted by klangklangston at 9:08 AM on August 8, 2006

John Dvorak sang the praise of MetaFilter among several others as the few examples of community done right

*nervously awaits the imminent collapse of MetaFilter*
posted by gsteff at 10:54 AM on August 8, 2006

Not only did he praise us, he also doesn't know Metafilter too well.

I've picked communities where there is no "real" community attached. By that, I mean that unlike systems such as Friendster and other socialization networks, there are no "mixers" or real face-to-face meet-ups to glue the community together. These folks are kept together by the mechanisms and usefulness of the communities themselves.

Those things you guys keep planning and going to? Not real meet-ups.
posted by graventy at 11:55 AM on August 8, 2006

Devorak doesn't do his homework very well:
-snip-

I've picked communities [including metafilter] where there is no "real" community attached. By that, I mean that unlike systems such as Friendster and other socialization networks, there are no "mixers" or real face-to-face meet-ups to glue the community together.

I think metafilter works because:
1. People ridicule stupidity, sometimes this gets out of hand as in when it is hard to define what is stupidity
2. People get banned
3. Yet, there is plenty of kind acts and there is enough connection to keep a core going.
posted by edgeways at 11:57 AM on August 8, 2006

snap!
posted by edgeways at 11:57 AM on August 8, 2006

I used to think that John C Dvorak invented the Dvorak keyboard, but that is not true. It was the whole curmudgeon bit that had me convinced -- like he was so cranky about the qwerty keyboard he decided to make his own.
posted by Mid at 12:43 PM on August 8, 2006

a qwerty keyboard? never heard of it.
posted by the cuban at 1:47 PM on August 8, 2006

Priceless as an example of I am really altruistic if you pay me:

"3. I agree, I answered a couple of times but I got bored after. They lack stimulation. If they would give some prizes (gadgets, trips ...) for top users, would be more appealing. Without stimulation is just another service created just-because-competition-offers-one-too.
Posted at 9:41AM on Aug 7th 2006 by Claudiu Spulber 0 stars"

Did Mathowie read that and immediately start best of August competition?
posted by Cranberry at 2:26 PM on August 8, 2006

In Dvorak's defense, it's only a teeny percentage of members who attend meetups...
posted by mediareport at 7:08 PM on August 8, 2006

>a qwerty keyboard? never heard of it.

<sees what you did there>
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:51 PM on August 8, 2006

John Dvorak sang the praises of MetaFilter

Imminent demise predicted.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:53 AM on August 9, 2006