Get rid of images on the grey and the blue.

September 19, 2006 2:51 AM

The inline image debate revisited: I know this has been discussed before, and I know that images are sometimes useful in AskMe, and I know that I may have had a sense-of-humour bypass... but isn't it time we got rid of them in MeTa and MeFi? I don't think that "bloke being shagged by a robot" gif adds anything to the site at all. Or the "this is not an appropriate front page post" one. Or the "elephant poo" one. Or any of the other pictures in the thread below this one.
posted by handee to etiquette/policy at 2:51 AM (83 comments total)

I am of course fully expecting this thread to degenerate and prove my point...
posted by handee at 2:52 AM on September 19, 2006

True, sometimes they are irritating. But seeing as every Internet user holds in their mousehand the awesome power of the 'Load Images' checkbox (or whatever) occasional irritation is a sacrifice that I for one am willing to make.

It's like eating brazil nuts. Brazil nuts go rancid a lot more quickly than many other kinds of nuts, so if you eat a pile of them you are likely to experience at least one or two rancid ones. This bothers me. I could stop eating brazil nuts, but I feel that would make me less fun as a person and I want to avoid that. Thus, I take the risk.

A better idea would be some kind of algorithm that allows each joke picture to be posted exactly once per year. So once the robot shagging picture has been posted, that's it for twelve months until robot shagging season comes around again! If it's some kind of checksum it would allow people to repost the image with modifications, encouraging creativity. First you'd see various heads photoshopped onto the robot, then onto the guy being shagged, then you'd see a hatch open in the robot's chest from which ceiling cat emerges, etc etc etc. There is no downside to this idea.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:20 AM on September 19, 2006

There are maybe 5-10 people who do this sort of thing way too much, and then a bunch of other folks who will toss in the occasional image someplace which I personally have never had a problem with. I think the "oh the MeTa issue has been decided, on with the GIFs!" or "this thread will be deleted, how about a bunny fucking a balloon!" approach rarely adds anything to the site, often causes NSFW fights, and kills people's "my comments" views of threads that weren't bad when they commented on them.

Giant images that add nothing to a thread will often get removed from AskMe/MeFi, less so in MeTa though I think the thread below this one was a particularly dorky wankfest. Before the My Comments feature materialized, this stuff was often a little less noticable. The amount of inline images used here seems to ebb and flow somewhat, so hopefully we can be in more of an ebb phase for a bit. People can flag them as noise in MeFi especially.
posted by jessamyn at 3:27 AM on September 19, 2006

In the interest of continuing to be redoubtable, let me point you at my remove inline images Greasemonkey script. I know it's not a perfect solution, but it's good, considering that improving uptime is almost certainly a better use of Mathowie's time.

A warning: since Greasemonkey scripts don't run until after the page is loaded, you still might see a moment of, for instance, robot-buttsex or googly-eyes-on-a-cock before the script has a chance to hide them. If you're at work and you're worried about proxy logs, well, you're boned.
posted by Plutor at 3:31 AM on September 19, 2006

An easier alternative to Plutor's suggestion: install Adblock.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:39 AM on September 19, 2006

"I could stop eating brazil nuts, but I feel that would make me less fun as a person and I want to avoid that."

I hate that it has to be me to tell you this A Thousand Baited Hooks, but all signs point to it being too bloody late. Hint: It was never the brazil nuts.
posted by econous at 3:51 AM on September 19, 2006

I have no answer to that level of invective. Looks like I get pwned on the Internet again.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:58 AM on September 19, 2006 [3 favorites]

A better solution would be a "display/not display" option for inline images like on MeCha.
posted by caddis at 4:06 AM on September 19, 2006

I like images. Sure, sometimes they're annoying and cause my computer to bog down when I'm at home on dialup, but many of them make me laugh. Nice bellylaughs that surprise even me. Now, I don't have the most sophisticated sense of humor in the world, but neither the most plebian. I really feel like if images are amusing to me, they've got appeal across a broad spectrum.
posted by OmieWise at 4:16 AM on September 19, 2006

new tagline!

MetaFilter: how about a bunny fucking a balloon
posted by matteo at 4:27 AM on September 19, 2006

A better solution would be a "display/not display" option for inline images like on MeCha.

Even though I'm a self-admitted image whore, I fully support this idea.

I like images. A lot. I'm a dork. Wanker, tosser, spanker, whatever. Sometimes I just get tired of reading or typing and I want to spazz out really badly, and I'm a really bad spazz. Sofa king we Todd id.

I'll try to chill out more.

On preview: Nice bellylaughs that surprise even me.

That's what I'm talking about. So many of the random images I've seen have honestly busted me into pieces. Coffee spewing out my eyes type busting up.

Hell, this place will probably kill me one of these days. There's an argument for free use of the img tag.
posted by loquacious at 4:32 AM on September 19, 2006

I think putting up with random spewings like in the thread below is probably worth it for the occasional gem - those little MetaFilter webcomics someone does from time to time, the Brand New Day thing, &c..
posted by jack_mo at 4:42 AM on September 19, 2006

is probably worth it for the occasional gem

D'accord, although the Sarabia grossfests are becoming increasingly fatiguing.
posted by Wolof at 5:21 AM on September 19, 2006

I like images. Sure, sometimes they're annoying and cause my computer to bog down when I'm at home on dialup, but many of them make me laugh. Nice bellylaughs that surprise even me.

Same here. I'd be sad to see the img tag go.

...although the Sarabia grossfests are becoming increasingly fatiguing.

Yeah.
posted by languagehat at 5:50 AM on September 19, 2006

I think on balance the few valuable images outweigh the multitude of annoying images.
posted by scottreynen at 5:52 AM on September 19, 2006

although the Sarabia grossfests are becoming increasingly fatiguing

I remember requesting bunnies-humping-things pictures. Then I blacked out, something about fire, fishhooks and meat. Mongolian BBQ?
posted by loquacious at 5:56 AM on September 19, 2006

Seems like most of us so far agree that images should stay because they're sometimes cool and also, I think, contribute to the MeFi character.

But they definitely need to be held in check. Some users should get their hands slapped every once in a while.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:57 AM on September 19, 2006

It used to be that when a thread took a turn, some people could be counted on to post the most rib-bustingly apt image available, making one-as-all laugh and laud their brilliance.

Now, as soon as someone is bored with a thread, they post 5 images from their "Images_that_were_funny_once" folder in the vague hope that one will hit the spot.

I agree, it's getting too much.
posted by benzo8 at 6:00 AM on September 19, 2006

I like the images, too, even the stupid ones, but sometimes they're really too big, esp. on a snarky post where everyone's doing it. It'd be nice to have an automatic maximum size constraint, and users who don't resize their images would just have to suck up the shrinkage/distortion issues.

For the record, I love the blink tag, too, but lord awmighty the only reason that is is because people hardly ever use it.
posted by DenOfSizer at 6:01 AM on September 19, 2006

The images are fine. I'd hazard to guess that the same people who want the inline images gone completely financially also supported the third reich.
posted by cellphone at 6:02 AM on September 19, 2006

The images are fine. I'd hazard to guess that the same people who want the inline images gone completely also financially supported the third reich. Ahem.
posted by cellphone at 6:02 AM on September 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Yeah, fuck you too cellphone.
posted by handee at 6:16 AM on September 19, 2006

My bad, I try to lay off the inline images now, but sometimes I I get carried away.
posted by bob sarabia at 6:22 AM on September 19, 2006

Take away one of those "I"s.
posted by bob sarabia at 6:23 AM on September 19, 2006

Although, I think "grossfest" is taking it a little far.
posted by bob sarabia at 6:30 AM on September 19, 2006

I'm not particularly disapproving of the content of said grossfest, but I'd say that outside of very specific places the word "grossfest" is entirely apt. And Metatalk is not one of those very specific places. PLEASE DO NOT FREAK THE MUNDANES.
posted by cortex at 6:48 AM on September 19, 2006

Or any of the other pictures in the thread below this one.

Someone got 4chan in my Mefi.
posted by Dr-Baa at 6:49 AM on September 19, 2006

One funny image on topic, sure. One big trainwreck of a thread filled with endless, pointless animated gifs? GYOBW. Too often now an animated gif seems to be meant to stand in for a comment of substance.

Don't even get me started on the "this is not an appropriate FPP" gifs. The jerks that post that all know MeTa and what it's for, yet their precious opinion is valuable enough to plaster in the blue with a stupid gif that wastes everyone's time? Get the f**k out of your parent's basement already and get a life.
posted by splice at 6:52 AM on September 19, 2006

And that's GYOBFW, of course...
posted by splice at 6:53 AM on September 19, 2006

If you're trying to lay off, Sarabia, I'd hate to see it when you're on a total image bender.
posted by crunchland at 7:06 AM on September 19, 2006

Oh, and unless you guys actually create the images yourself, posting that stuff, you might as well just put a big sign over your head that says "I have no sense of humor or talent, so I had to steal someone elses."
posted by crunchland at 7:09 AM on September 19, 2006

Ethereal Bligh writes "Some users should get their hands slapped every once in a while."

For some reason it never occurs to me to flag this crap. I should start flagging some of this stuff, maybe it'll get deleted.
posted by Mitheral at 7:14 AM on September 19, 2006

One funny image on topic, sure. One big trainwreck of a thread filled with endless, pointless animated gifs? GYOBW. Too often now an animated gif seems to be meant to stand in for a comment of substance.

C'mon, you have to admit these threads are totally awesome.
posted by brain_drain at 7:26 AM on September 19, 2006

Oh, and unless you guys actually create the images yourself, posting that stuff, you might as well just put a big sign over your head that says "I have no sense of humor or talent, so I had to steal someone elses."

You should take a picture of someone holding that sign over their head and post it in a soon-to-be-dead image-filled thread. And then we can all copy your image and start doing the same in delicious irony.
posted by scottreynen at 7:40 AM on September 19, 2006

I'm pro-image, yet anti-NSFW-image.

please continue
posted by blue_beetle at 7:59 AM on September 19, 2006

I actually get a kick out of the images, when they're in trainwreck threads. Or an occasional on-topic pic that adds to the subject at hand.

This, however, is pointless.
posted by ninjew at 8:00 AM on September 19, 2006

N00BS: RUINING THE INTERNET SINCE 94
posted by fishfucker at 8:01 AM on September 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Some of you image posters are clearly eccentric. You should stop playing video games and have more real live sex, though not with each other.
posted by davy at 8:02 AM on September 19, 2006

handee: no.
posted by perissodactyl at 8:19 AM on September 19, 2006

Some of you image posters are clearly eccentric. You should stop playing video games and have more real live sex, though not with each other.

You clearly image playing some real games with each other, and you should not stop. Live, though. Posters are of video. Have more eccentric sex.
posted by loquacious at 8:34 AM on September 19, 2006

LIVE VIDEO GAMES
MORE ECCENTRIC SEX POSTERS
IMAGE NOT PLAYING
posted by cortex at 8:42 AM on September 19, 2006

GIVE LID, SAVE ME SO
EX-NIECES SCORE TOTES, MR. CROP
MAILING A PONG YET?
posted by scottreynen at 9:03 AM on September 19, 2006

scottreynen writes "You should take a picture of someone holding that sign over their head and post it in a soon-to-be-dead image-filled thread."

These guys may be better:

though not nearly as ironic.
posted by Mitheral at 9:27 AM on September 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Why don't we just have one thread that has all the usual images in it, and link to the images when needed?

My favorite are the Angelfire images, though.
posted by hoborg at 9:28 AM on September 19, 2006

Dr-Baa got Mefi in my 4chan. OH SHI--
posted by owenkun at 10:47 AM on September 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

posted by clevershark at 10:50 AM on September 19, 2006

Jesus, handee. Don't be so harsh, man.
posted by cellphone at 11:58 AM on September 19, 2006

They bore me to distraction, but I guess I don't want to see any more clampdown than we already have.

A [Show/Hide Images] button would be cool, though.
posted by timeistight at 12:23 PM on September 19, 2006

Well, if you prefer......

   OH MY          SAVE IT FOR THE PAPERS        
IT'S THAT NASTY    YOU'RE GOING TO MECCA PAL    
 PRICK AGAIN      NOW GET DOWN ON IT AND DO GOOD
                                                
      ////\       ((((                          
     /( o o       O-O-)                         
      \  o/       \- /                          
      /\|/\  ()   /\|/\                         
     // ' \\ ||  // . \\                        
   ========================       

Welcome to your non-inline-image world.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:36 PM on September 19, 2006

posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:44 PM on September 19, 2006

If we're going to get reduced to ascii art can we get the misfeature that double spaces code blocks fixed?
posted by Mitheral at 12:51 PM on September 19, 2006

Is there a greasemonkey script that will turn all comments by certain users into goatse or tubgirl images? At work?
posted by kosem at 12:51 PM on September 19, 2006

  ,--.,-"";-"-.                                                   
  .-;-/ / / .- `\  .-.                                            
 ` ( ' ' ` ;    `\/    \    THIS RAPE BLANKET IS THRUSTY AND ROUGH
    \            /      \    AND WITHOUT LUBE OR MERCY            
    / (. C . )  |   .-. |                                         
   |    _      /   (` / |                                         
    \  /}|     |    )(\ |                                         
     `-> (____.|   /  |||                          
      /  \=====|  |   |\|                                         
      |   |====|  \ _/  `                                         
      \__/=====|  |`                                              
      `-'======|  \                                               
       |=======/   |                                              
       |=======|   | .--,   THE BLANKET PART IS REALLY A MISNOMER 
       ########\   |/  /     BUT THE RAPE PART SURE ISN'T   
   jgs      |_|__||   `   `--.                                      
     ,---;-'--'\          `--.                                    
    `---`-------'-.___,___.---'

I actually, I kind of like this whole non inline images idea.
posted by cellphone at 1:05 PM on September 19, 2006

Oops, missed a linebreak!
posted by cellphone at 1:05 PM on September 19, 2006

I don't get it, is rape funny again?
posted by jessamyn at 1:55 PM on September 19, 2006

Inline images don't kill people, overaxious inline image posters kill people.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:29 PM on September 19, 2006

People who obsessively post non-apropos inline images are the exact equivalent of people who randomly shout out star trek quotes IRL.
posted by signal at 3:01 PM on September 19, 2006

Make it so!
posted by cortex at 3:03 PM on September 19, 2006

I'd be found joyous if there was just a rule that inline images have to be on topic.
posted by TwelveTwo at 3:10 PM on September 19, 2006

I'd shit in your face if such a rule existed, or perhaps in my own toilet! What joy! It would be a Kodak moment. Wow.. imagine a world with relevant inline images. You would be only one of some several joyous people. Jesus I've made a mess of Allah's beard in my excitement. Told him that might happen.

Quoted from the Wrath of Khan. Great film.
I can only hope this is in some sangenital way related to the thread.
posted by econous at 3:39 PM on September 19, 2006

I'm amazed there are only three inline images in this thread. The restraint is admirable, although it will probably result in an explosive orgy of gifs at some point down the road.
posted by brain_drain at 3:42 PM on September 19, 2006

Please don't, econous.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:22 PM on September 19, 2006

I have enjoyed most of the gif-fuckery that dumps occasionally onto metafilter.

Mostly because it appeared less frequently than on fark. Kinda like a shooting star of elephant piss and bunny-that-hump-balloon.

But getting rid of them completely? Metafilter has injokes revolving around them ... ceiling cat anyone?

If it happens at an ever increasing rate, yeah, I'd ad-block it or use greasemonkey.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 5:02 PM on September 19, 2006

I may be in the minority, but the free for all inline image threads make my day whenever they happen. (If they happened all the time, I'd feel differently).
posted by visual mechanic at 5:16 PM on September 19, 2006

People who obsessively post non-apropos inline images are the exact equivalent of people who randomly shout out star trek quotes IRL.


posted by Mikey-San at 5:18 PM on September 19, 2006

I don't get it, is rape funny again?
posted by jessamyn at 3:55 PM CST on September 19 [+] [!]

To be honest, I just pulled a random ascii from this website.
posted by cellphone at 7:35 PM on September 19, 2006

Oh good, I thought I'd missed a memo.
posted by jessamyn at 7:45 PM on September 19, 2006

I find an occasional image wank fest some of the most fun parts of metafilter. You can only handle so much bushfilter or so much shouldIDumpMyAssholeSpouseEvenThoughItsIncrediblyObviousFilter.
posted by rsanheim at 7:50 PM on September 19, 2006

I think all inline images should be pulled from Cute Overload! :).
The smiley is part of the name. Really.
And the exclamation mark, too.
Though I agree with the sentiment.
posted by bigbigdog at 8:02 PM on September 19, 2006

sometimes I I get carried away.

Yeah, like when you post multiple images in single comments, over and over again in a thread, without waiting for any kind of response from anyone. What's the point to that? Images are best when they're at least *kind of* a comment on what's gone before in the thread - even dada nonsensical crap can work that way. But when you just unload a ton of junky crap at once, and then repeat it over and over with multiple junky crap images per comment, unrelated to anything folks are saying around you, you're just being shitty with no comedy payoff.

Yes, please, slow down already.
posted by mediareport at 8:10 PM on September 19, 2006

So who are the most egregious offenders of inline image abuse? loquacious, fandango_matt, quonsar, bob sarabia... who else?
posted by crunchland at 8:33 PM on September 19, 2006

I dont want to post on a site that block's storm trooper elvis...
posted by Dreamghost at 9:06 PM on September 19, 2006

posted by brownpau at 9:09 PM on September 19, 2006

posted by pyramid termite at 10:15 PM on September 19, 2006

MetaFilter: how about a bunny fucking a balloon


posted by pyramid termite at 10:20 PM on September 19, 2006

posted by Kickstart70 at 11:28 PM on September 19, 2006

crunchland: So who are the most egregious offenders of inline image abuse? loquacious, fandango_matt, quonsar, bob sarabia... who else?

Should we wear some kind of identifying symbol for you? What the fuck does it matter?

Oh, you're probably making another anal profile list, this time of animated gif users. Glad I could be on two awesome crunchland lists. Keep up the good work.
posted by bob sarabia at 11:43 PM on September 19, 2006

posted by evilcolonel at 11:57 PM on September 19, 2006

I like crunch's list. I can never remember that stuff.
posted by Mid at 6:23 AM on September 20, 2006

OKAY Kickstart70, we get it. You're the funniest fucker on the planet.
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:37 AM on September 20, 2006

Why thank you DenOfSizer.

But could you tell me where the camera in my bedroom is now?
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:48 AM on September 20, 2006

It's in your bedroom, goddammit.
posted by cortex at 9:57 AM on September 20, 2006

This thread went pretty much exactly as expected. Half the people think peurile images are crap, half the people want to post irrelevant gifs, a group of people are compared to nazis, there's a random rape joke (nice!) and sarabia makes three posts in a row. I guess this is why I love metafilter.
posted by handee at 2:33 AM on September 21, 2006