Consumerist, just as annoying as those they fight?

April 6, 2007 6:03 PM

Consumerist recommends spamming Metafilter (among others) with your corporate complaint as a means to get attention (or retribution) from the corporate world. Watch the $5 roll in. . . .
posted by tiamat to etiquette/policy at 6:03 PM (51 comments total)

That should be "on the corporate world", not "from". Sigh.
posted by tiamat at 6:11 PM on April 6, 2007

Yes, n00bs. Self-link your complaint so we can mock you mercilessly, please. It's been too quiet lately.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:14 PM on April 6, 2007

"Submit your story to them".

Thanks, Consumerist. You know how it works around here so well.
posted by iconomy at 6:14 PM on April 6, 2007

Oh man, I can't wait.
posted by puke & cry at 6:16 PM on April 6, 2007

Since most people on the internet can't read, anywhere up to 60% of the feedback you receive will be negative.

Arf!
posted by trondant at 6:21 PM on April 6, 2007

IGNORE THE HATERS
Since most people on the internet can't read, anywhere up to 60% of the feedback you receive will be negative.



ahem.
posted by pokermonk at 6:23 PM on April 6, 2007

I can't wait to watch those posts go down in an avalanche of heckling and mockery!

No, wait. Scratch that. This sucks.
posted by lekvar at 6:25 PM on April 6, 2007

I think we may have meant two completely different things in our one word responses to the 60% quote.... If only I could read.
posted by pokermonk at 6:25 PM on April 6, 2007

Ben Popken is a dork. He was using photos from Flickr without giving credit for months before getting called on the carpet. I've also taken issue with his "edgy style". I love the concept of The Consumerist, and I think it's thrived in spite of its editor.
posted by kimdog at 6:27 PM on April 6, 2007

Are these the same dicks that used to steal images from Flickr without attribution (because it was "too much hassle" to credit), or am I thinking of some other douches?
posted by bonaldi at 6:28 PM on April 6, 2007

I left a note on that page saying that MeFi isn't for this sort of thing, for all the good it will do. Of course, there's an enormous warning about self-linking before posting here that I hope people will read.

Consumerist is fun to read, but they can be pretty obnoxious. Their reporting is not really fair. Many of the things posted there are essentially "bad callouts." They run roughshod over the little guy just like any other corporation as evidenced by arbitrarily and capriciously bannings for disagreeing with Ben's take on things, and their policy of barefacedly using Flickr photos without permission (changed after much protest).

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I were banned for this very comment, despite it being on another web site.
posted by grouse at 6:30 PM on April 6, 2007

Hmmm. Dell gave me a new laptop after screwing up a service call horribly, and all I did was blog about it once. And then told them about it. I wonder what they would have done if I had gotten it onto the FP here?
posted by pjern at 6:38 PM on April 6, 2007

Watch the $5 roll in. . . .

Ummm...that article was posted three months ago. Good lookin' out, yo.

Hey #1, see any membership spikes around Jan 9?

Also, is the doucheblogger a member himself?
posted by mds35 at 6:48 PM on April 6, 2007

Don't worry, the MeFi Police are on the case!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:48 PM on April 6, 2007

Man. There is a lot of porn on flickr.
posted by delmoi at 6:50 PM on April 6, 2007

MetaFilter: Bad cop, bad cop.
posted by phaedon at 6:52 PM on April 6, 2007

3 months ago? Geez. *wanders off*
posted by puke & cry at 7:00 PM on April 6, 2007

Submit to clearing houses: [...] Metafilter (requires registration, donation and other hoops. Basically need to be an active member already).

As the last listed of five options and the only one with an extended string of caveats, they're barely encouraging the general public to try.
posted by ardgedee at 7:10 PM on April 6, 2007

We're RUINED
posted by grobstein at 7:33 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

MATHOWIE TOOK MY $5 AND THEN BANNED THE IMG TAG dot BLOGGER dot COM
posted by Eideteker at 7:49 PM on April 6, 2007 [4 favorites]

PEPSI BLUE KILLED MY DOG!!
posted by pyramid termite at 7:56 PM on April 6, 2007

"Man. There is a lot of porn on flickr."

Is there? Up until now, I'd never been interested in flickr, but something seems to have piqued my curiosity.
posted by klangklangston at 8:08 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Actually, couldn't such a complaint be put as a question on AskMetafilter? Catching a clue from "Jeopardy!", something like "How do I Fight Back better? I got screwed by MegaCorp like so, I've done this, and I'd like suggestions on what else to do." It might be devious, I probably wouldn't get away with it, but I have seen people Get The Word Out on AskMe before (and so have you, I'd wager). Like everything else it's a matter of technique.

And the best porn is on Usenet. Especially the *.nospam.* froups.
posted by davy at 8:13 PM on April 6, 2007

This Ben Popken guy needs to watch more "dinner hour" TV, is all.
posted by davy at 8:14 PM on April 6, 2007

I wasn't aware of the Flickr theft stuff. That's some pretty contemptible shit, particularly when you're openly admitting to it while purporting to be on the side of the consumer all the while.

Ben Popken, you sir are a douchebag. Apology not accepted.
posted by dhammond at 8:16 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Who is this Ben Popken guy anyway? Yes, I really don't know, and I am too busy to do much research now.
posted by davy at 8:34 PM on April 6, 2007

He's the editor of Consumerist.
posted by langeNU at 8:37 PM on April 6, 2007

"Man. There is a lot of porn on flickr."

Is there?

yes, yes there really is. I notice this sometimes when I'm looking for one of my old tags and wind up searching everyone's tags instead. A seemingly normal tag like "toes" turns up all sorts of interesting stuff.
posted by jessamyn at 8:46 PM on April 6, 2007

Some random guy set me up as a contact on flickr at one point, and I was feeling wacky so I contacted him right back. I was a little disappointed to see that his stream was empty.

A month or so later? Naked lady. Just one shot.

A couple months later, another.

Very odd.
posted by cortex at 9:03 PM on April 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

"A seemingly normal tag like 'toes' turns up all sorts of interesting stuff."

Vanilla with sprinkles, right?
posted by davy at 9:17 PM on April 6, 2007

I thought they deleted that stuff. Maybe that was some other service I was thinking of.
(My main reaction to Flickr, generally, was just that the line between crap and art has really blurred with cheap digital cameras, and there's just so fucking much on there that I never feel like getting into it. It's kinda like blogs...)
posted by klangklangston at 9:18 PM on April 6, 2007

Ben Popken

Not THE Ben Popken ... the child pron king?
posted by Dave Faris at 9:23 PM on April 6, 2007

As with anything, it's necessary to separate the wheat from the chafe.

What with all the porn on Flickr, it must be really hard to separate anything from the chafe...

Couldn't resist
posted by birdsquared at 9:46 PM on April 6, 2007

Anybody who can type "couldn't resist" all small like that definitely could have resisted.

And I should know.
posted by cgc373 at 10:45 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't really know the site much but as far as apologies goes, that's quite a mea culpa and self flagellation he posted. No doubt it was necessary and the sincerity can be judged by future conduct, but that's not the sort of post you see from a high profile 'publisher' every day.
posted by peacay at 11:12 PM on April 6, 2007

...

A lot of the porn is hidden away in porn and "dirty pictures" trading groups. Flickr is actually down for the moment.
posted by delmoi at 11:43 PM on April 6, 2007

Okay, site's back up. To see porn on flickr you'll need to create an account, and then log on. Then go to http://www.flickr.com/account/prefs/safesearch/?from=privacy. (you get their by clicking your "signed on as [username]" then the "privacy and permissions" tab and then the "edit" link next to "Content filters". Then just check "SafeSearch off".

Then, I think you'll need to log back on at some point. But after this you can just search for whatever.
posted by delmoi at 11:58 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Well.. that was an interesting progression from a Consumerist article's mention of Metafilter evolving into delmoi giving instructions on how to view porn on Flickr.
posted by spiderskull at 1:58 AM on April 7, 2007

that's not the sort of post you see from a high profile 'publisher' every day.

It was preceded by blatant violations of the law that you don't see from respectable publishers every day either.
posted by grouse at 2:45 AM on April 7, 2007

What a consumer whore. His spoon is way too big. He is not a banana.

He is not wearing a silly hat...!!
posted by loquacious at 4:24 AM on April 7, 2007

flickrbabes.com
posted by armoured-ant at 5:25 AM on April 7, 2007

After years of fruitless searching, I finally found the tag that would result in QUALITY dirty pictures on Flickr.

That tag is "pinup". You're welcome.
posted by ColdChef at 8:55 AM on April 7, 2007

ACK! On quick review, the "pinup" tag has been soiled. Abort! Abort!
posted by ColdChef at 8:56 AM on April 7, 2007

If only AskMe had a white background...
posted by horsemuth at 8:56 AM on April 7, 2007

I've liked the last half of the thread more than the first half, that's for sure.

And, here's an observation. If you're going to be posting pictures of nude, semi-nude, or.. hell... anything resembling attractive women on Flickr, you should turn off the ability to let people add notes to the picture. I've come across a few with a box drawn around the breasts with a comment of something like "Mmmm B00BIEZ!" or equally retarded.
posted by jeversol at 4:07 PM on April 7, 2007

A seemingly normal tag like "toes" turns up all sorts of interesting stuff.

I have a photo of my feet up on my stream and a fetishist has linked to it. It was kinda weird and then kinda funny.
posted by deborah at 6:25 PM on April 7, 2007

I have a photo of my feet up on my stream and a fetishist has linked to it. It was kinda weird and then kinda funny.

and then kinda sexy?

Mmmmm feet. Wait what? I just don't get the foot fetish. Most other fetishes I get...at least a little... yes that one, but I've never had the least bit of interest in feet. Seems odd to me, but I guess it's quite common.
posted by jeblis at 12:51 AM on April 8, 2007

jeblis, that so totally sounds like someone trying to convince themselves they don't have a foot fetish.
posted by mediareport at 8:31 AM on April 8, 2007

Consumerist used copyrighted photos again today without permission. Their excuse this time was that there was no copyright notice on the original source of the picture.
posted by grouse at 3:31 PM on April 8, 2007

a box drawn around the breasts with a comment of something like "Mmmm B00BIEZ!" or equally retarded

Likewise, there are any number of simply retarded statements made in most YouTube threads.

It's rather saddening. Here we are in the midst of the greatest revolution in communications and information sharing, and what is created? Idiocy so thick you could cut it with a knife.

The only consolation I've been able to find is in deciding that most of the stupidity is very likely the work of a few thousand pimply-faced, socially-retarded teenaged boys who, for whatever unfortunate reason, find some meager sense of power, importance, or leadership by making "boobiez!" comments in every public forum they can find.

God knows what those rejects did back in the bad ol' days before the Internet. Took a shit on their neighbour's doorstep, I suppose.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:17 PM on April 8, 2007

This dovetails nicely with my recent decision to start a mad-hate towards consumerist. There was a thread where I was going to post a comment, and then I realized I had to "audition" before I could post anything. WTF? Most of the comments are insipid and uninformed but they can't allow someone to register a name and password lest their sacred site gets soiled by the hoi polloi.

I've developed a hatred for Consumerist almost as deep as my bloodlust for AT&T/Cingular.
posted by drezdn at 8:30 AM on April 9, 2007