Afloat in a sea of commentary...

April 16, 2008 9:55 AM

Speak to me of the Recent Comments tab on the front page of the blue.

Does anyone really use this? If so, would you explain how you do to me, in small person words? For the life of me I can't see the usefulness in it - it seems like a kind of backward way to back into the subject matter of a thread.

It seems like it could be a good deal more useful if it was structured like the Popular Favorites tab but instead ranked best comments of late. (I will not declare that my little pony just yet, in case I'm missing something about the value of said page as it is...)

posted by allkindsoftime to MetaFilter-related at 9:55 AM (20 comments total)

ummm... don't use it? Not meant as a snark, but one goal in providing more functions than you can use is to provide the functions that other people use.
posted by ardgedee at 9:57 AM on April 16

If you're bored and want to see where the current commenting action is, click it. Otherwise, let it blend into the scenery.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:01 AM on April 16

Active thread tracking. Next?
posted by loquacious at 10:33 AM on April 16

I sometimes use it for MetaTalk, to see if any old threads still have activity going on.
posted by Kattullus at 10:34 AM on April 16

I go back and forth between Recent Posts and Recent Comments, to see new threads as they are posted and new comments on existing threads. I thought everyone did.
posted by yhbc at 10:36 AM on April 16

I sometimes use it for MetaTalk, to see if any old threads still have activity going on.

I can't imagine why anything like that might be going on.
posted by dersins at 10:38 AM on April 16

Why does it surprise you that some people want to see where the current commenting action is? Maybe I don't understand your question.
posted by found missing at 10:43 AM on April 16

And, what's the deal with airline food? Am I right?
posted by found missing at 10:45 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

It always surprises me to hear the different ways people use different features on the site, because I tend to (wrongfully) assume that people use the site the same way I do.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:51 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

I never even noticed it. Dang.
posted by cashman at 10:59 AM on April 16

Speak to me of the Recent Comments tab on the front page of the blue.

He's a good lad, just a bit of a temper. Go easy on'em, he's got a good heart.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:00 AM on April 16

I never use it. Of those tabs I pretty much just use the Recent Posts one, and every now and then Popular Favorites to see if I have missed something that a lot of other people liked. However, I am but one data point out of thousands. I can easily see why others would use it, say to find a very active thread.
posted by caddis at 11:27 AM on April 16

I never use it. I go for my own recent activity, favorites, click on the names of the resident brilliant people, refresh often--that sort of thing. But then, I'm always behind the curve on the latest social trends of you big-city cosmopolitan Mefites.
posted by misha at 11:40 AM on April 16

I use it all the time. It's especially good for later additions to Ask posts that I might otherwise miss.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:44 AM on April 16

Actually, Recent Comments isn't useful for that at all. This is what I get for reading and listening to NPR at the same time.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:46 AM on April 16

It's especially good for later additions to Ask posts that I might otherwise miss.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:44 PM on April 16 [+] [!]

Good idea. I think I might start using it there.
posted by caddis at 1:52 PM on April 16

Wait, it's not there in AskMe. It should be. Who cares if someone has made comments in a thread on the blue in which you haven't been participating? Whereas some of the late AskMe comments carry good information or resolution from the asker.
posted by caddis at 1:55 PM on April 16

I think that was one of the original customized views, before there were tabs and it was just a dropdown of choices. So, it's still around because there's a lot of intertia against deleting old stuff.
posted by smackfu at 2:09 PM on April 16

If I didn't post in the thread, and I didn't favorite it, the best way to see if there's recent activity on the thread is the recent comments page.
posted by desjardins at 2:41 PM on April 16

I think that was one of the original customized views, before there were tabs and it was just a dropdown of choices. So, it's still around because there's a lot of intertia against deleting old stuff.

This is the correct answer. People get attached to ways of using the site, so it was promoted to a tab when tabs were introduced. I actually used to use it back in the dropdown days when there weren't so many people and things weren't so busy, but now I live on my 'Recent Activity' page.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:53 AM on April 17