Disguising or couching AskMe "opinions" as comments July 24, 2007 2:51 PM Subscribe
I noticed in this askme thread some comments that were against the guidelines, so I flagged and moved on. Jessamyn posted and both posters responded to their deleted comments here and here, couching their previous complaints into something resembling more of a proper AskMe answer, progosk perhaps more flagrantly.
Consider this a callout on the seemingly accepted practice of providing an AskMe derail, as long as you also provide a throwaway answer. Also consider it a callout to users to just swallow their objections and move on, rather than a complaint against moderators (I know we've discussed editing half a post in similar situations before and don't necessarily want to go there).
On preview of the thread again, the OP has been forced to respond, and progosk is still arguing their point.
I had no intention to offend anyone.
My answer was not intended as a throwaway, and I honestly believe my questions had merit in clarifying what was at stake; rather than a derail I intended it as a rider that might answer the question on a less than superficial level.
You're saying that an AskMe thread is not the right venue for that sort of added considerationP
OK - noted.
(I made no complaint against moderators, please don't accuse me of doing so.)
posted by progosk at 3:10 PM on July 24, 2007
My answer was not intended as a throwaway, and I honestly believe my questions had merit in clarifying what was at stake; rather than a derail I intended it as a rider that might answer the question on a less than superficial level.
You're saying that an AskMe thread is not the right venue for that sort of added considerationP
OK - noted.
(I made no complaint against moderators, please don't accuse me of doing so.)
posted by progosk at 3:10 PM on July 24, 2007
A-ha! Thanks for the link, though the context there is how to best phrase an Askme as to avoid unhelpful responses, rather than the obligations of posters themselves.
posted by artifarce at 3:13 PM on July 24, 2007
posted by artifarce at 3:13 PM on July 24, 2007
I'm saying your comments are opinions unrelated to the poster's question (which regardless of your askme comments, was not confusing to me, nor to some other posters).
...implying that whatever the specifics of your gesture, there might be an underlying issue that is not being addressed. Are you paying the caretakers too little? What is it that has led something normally spontaneous such as appreciation to become scheduled bi-weekly on rotation?!
Why are your inferences and questions important? Did the OP hint that they were paying too little, or is this merely rhetorical on your part?
To quote the OP:
Now, I have an out of whack altruistic nature so I'd lean more towards the dancing unicorn and fireworks angle. I really like the teachers and want to do something appropriate.
I saw very little hesitance here, and interpreted the OP's use of quotes as indicative of the nature of their project--"appreciation" becoming a physical endowment of some sort and thus different than the usual concept of a feeling. You interpreted it as a negative thing in opposition to the actual content of the post (please, reread the question) and posted several opinions accordingly.
posted by artifarce at 3:21 PM on July 24, 2007
...implying that whatever the specifics of your gesture, there might be an underlying issue that is not being addressed. Are you paying the caretakers too little? What is it that has led something normally spontaneous such as appreciation to become scheduled bi-weekly on rotation?!
Why are your inferences and questions important? Did the OP hint that they were paying too little, or is this merely rhetorical on your part?
To quote the OP:
Now, I have an out of whack altruistic nature so I'd lean more towards the dancing unicorn and fireworks angle. I really like the teachers and want to do something appropriate.
I saw very little hesitance here, and interpreted the OP's use of quotes as indicative of the nature of their project--"appreciation" becoming a physical endowment of some sort and thus different than the usual concept of a feeling. You interpreted it as a negative thing in opposition to the actual content of the post (please, reread the question) and posted several opinions accordingly.
posted by artifarce at 3:21 PM on July 24, 2007
You're saying I should have recognised that the OP would have no use for the gist of my answer, for the suggestion that maybe a real solution was not simply frameable in terms of unicorns vs. homemade strudel?
You may be right. (Though that leaves me with the feeling that this place is just a little less engaged and a little more superficial than I always hope it will be.) Ah well...
posted by progosk at 3:31 PM on July 24, 2007
You may be right. (Though that leaves me with the feeling that this place is just a little less engaged and a little more superficial than I always hope it will be.) Ah well...
posted by progosk at 3:31 PM on July 24, 2007
(I made no complaint against moderators, please don't accuse me of doing so.)
Wasn't accusing you of doing so. Was saying this post wasn't a callout on my part against the moderators.
posted by artifarce at 3:34 PM on July 24, 2007
Wasn't accusing you of doing so. Was saying this post wasn't a callout on my part against the moderators.
posted by artifarce at 3:34 PM on July 24, 2007
Just for the sake of orientation: "[...] the OP has been forced to respond [...]" Where was that?
And, borrowed from the other MeTa thread: "[...] nowhere in the question does the original poster ask for clarification on the standards and practices for showing appreciation to those whom you pay for a service." But... isn't that precisely what was being asked for? Literally, it read: "What's an appropriate gesture?"
OK. Time to move on.
posted by progosk at 3:41 PM on July 24, 2007
And, borrowed from the other MeTa thread: "[...] nowhere in the question does the original poster ask for clarification on the standards and practices for showing appreciation to those whom you pay for a service." But... isn't that precisely what was being asked for? Literally, it read: "What's an appropriate gesture?"
OK. Time to move on.
posted by progosk at 3:41 PM on July 24, 2007
But not before conceding your last point - about the mod complaint - I definitely read that one wrong.
posted by progosk at 3:43 PM on July 24, 2007
posted by progosk at 3:43 PM on July 24, 2007
I just thought that question was strange because of all the quote marks. Like "appreciation" (nudge nudge wink wink).
posted by puke & cry at 3:53 PM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by puke & cry at 3:53 PM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]
Just for the sake of orientation: "[...] the OP has been forced to respond [...]" Where was that?
Oops, my turn to misread something. That was misha's comment, that I read as from the OP.
Guess we are sitting in this thread alone, eh? So I'd just add that if you want engagement and lack of superficiality, there's plenty of places on Metafilter you can find that. Askme is a very literal "answer the question." So if the OP had asked "I have a problem with this practice of appreciation, what's your take?" that'd be the venue to engage in that discussion.
Additionally, I saw jessamyn's comment as clarifying which direction comments should not be going, so additional comments (also by mkultra) seemed to fly in the face of that as "oh, well, can't say that? how about this?" which is more what I found worse, regardless of one's initial understanding of the question.
posted by artifarce at 3:58 PM on July 24, 2007
Oops, my turn to misread something. That was misha's comment, that I read as from the OP.
Guess we are sitting in this thread alone, eh? So I'd just add that if you want engagement and lack of superficiality, there's plenty of places on Metafilter you can find that. Askme is a very literal "answer the question." So if the OP had asked "I have a problem with this practice of appreciation, what's your take?" that'd be the venue to engage in that discussion.
Additionally, I saw jessamyn's comment as clarifying which direction comments should not be going, so additional comments (also by mkultra) seemed to fly in the face of that as "oh, well, can't say that? how about this?" which is more what I found worse, regardless of one's initial understanding of the question.
posted by artifarce at 3:58 PM on July 24, 2007
Plate.
Of.
Beans.
Some days, it just doesn't pay to light a match around here.
posted by konolia at 4:13 PM on July 24, 2007
Of.
Beans.
Some days, it just doesn't pay to light a match around here.
posted by konolia at 4:13 PM on July 24, 2007
konolia, it should be some consolation that we hate because we care. There are plenty of places in the world where people hate because they hate. Isn't this better?
posted by dg at 9:10 PM on July 24, 2007
posted by dg at 9:10 PM on July 24, 2007
I had my first comment on AskMe deleted the other day - and it felt great! Finally, I feel like I'm a proper member of the metafilter family, or "MeFa".
I'd like to thank all the people who made that deletion possible: the site administrators, whose tireless weeding in the garden of metafilter creates the necessary nutrient-rich niches for fresh sprouts of truth, warmed by the bright sun of community cohesion, to burst through the cap of fecund intellectual soil that each thread provides; Jesus, for suffering brutal torture and a horrible death at the hands of the religious and military powers-that-were in Palestine in approximately 33 C.E. and returning to life after the statutory minimum period to announce that, henceforth, God was "totally cool, in principle" about saving every one of us from an eternity of damnation; and my Mom, for allowing my father's penis to enter her vagina and ejaculate semen into her body, so that a single spermatozoa could combine with one of her ova to form the zygote that eventually would, thanks to a combination of my parents’ boundless love and their firm-yet-fair discipline, grow up to be the person typing this today. God bless you all.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 2:40 AM on July 25, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'd like to thank all the people who made that deletion possible: the site administrators, whose tireless weeding in the garden of metafilter creates the necessary nutrient-rich niches for fresh sprouts of truth, warmed by the bright sun of community cohesion, to burst through the cap of fecund intellectual soil that each thread provides; Jesus, for suffering brutal torture and a horrible death at the hands of the religious and military powers-that-were in Palestine in approximately 33 C.E. and returning to life after the statutory minimum period to announce that, henceforth, God was "totally cool, in principle" about saving every one of us from an eternity of damnation; and my Mom, for allowing my father's penis to enter her vagina and ejaculate semen into her body, so that a single spermatozoa could combine with one of her ova to form the zygote that eventually would, thanks to a combination of my parents’ boundless love and their firm-yet-fair discipline, grow up to be the person typing this today. God bless you all.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 2:40 AM on July 25, 2007 [1 favorite]
Is it OK to answer a question with a question of your own?
posted by Sailormom at 10:55 AM on July 25, 2007
posted by Sailormom at 10:55 AM on July 25, 2007
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Oh, yeah, we are.
posted by dersins at 2:57 PM on July 24, 2007