Cortex: My friend write, he get message, he show metafilter. Why no?

February 11, 2009 9:37 PM

So ummm... Yeah, I'm pretty sure the OP of the thread below me was asking in a VERY creative way: Why is there a metafilter policy against telling others via postings what you received in MeMail? Easy on the trigger, cortex. Just because you CAN delete and end threads, doesn't mean you should.
posted by hal_c_on to MetaFilter gatherings at 9:37 PM (75 comments total)

As near as any of us can tell the person below you was asking why we deleted their MeFi post, something which we have already explained to them in MeMail. This was not a site policy question, it was a confused user with poor English skills trying to figure something out.

Closing threads that are looking like continuations of recent trainwrecks [i.e. pita's MeFi thread which was just a copypasted URL] and that don't serve any sort of purpose in MeTa is generally speaking what we do. I'm not sure why you're suggesting that we not do that. What was to be gained by leaving that thread open?

And I'm not sure what you're talking about, there's not a policy like you describe. There's a policy against posting the contents of email others send you on to MetaFilter.
posted by jessamyn at 9:49 PM on February 11, 2009

Why is there a metafilter policy against telling others via postings what you received in MeMail?

Because it's uncool to reveal in public that which was said in private. This is a Mefi human policy.
posted by peacay at 9:51 PM on February 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

I used to think pita was just having some ESL problems, but lately am pretty convinced we're dealing with performance art. Nobody's legitimately that confused.

(And I have no idea what hal_c_on is on about. How did memail get involved in this?)
posted by ook at 9:53 PM on February 11, 2009

This is also another post [supposedly] by the same user. I flat out do not believe that pita suddenly lost the control of English that he had in his AskMe question. So, we have a predicament.
posted by jessamyn at 9:53 PM on February 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Trigger finger. Cortex should get hazard pay.
posted by netbros at 9:53 PM on February 11, 2009

Why is there a metafilter policy against pretending to be a girl dying of cancer?
Why is there a metafilter policy against unpublishing sex columnists?
Why is there a metafilter policy against shady charities?
Why is there a metafilter policy against injecting SQL exploits?
posted by Rock Steady at 9:59 PM on February 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Why is there a metafilter policy against telling others via postings what you received in MeMail?

And if I can extrapolate and figure that this is your roundabout way of asking why you got a day off yesterday for posting the contents of someone else's MeMail to you, I've explained that pretty thoroughly in email.

In short, we want people to feel comofrtable emailing and contacting other users who allow themselves to be contacted. Taking one-on-one conversations/arguments out of a general purpose thread is often good for site harmony so we encourage it. It's a real breach of trust for people to take disputes or whatever back and forth happens over MeMail/email and bring it here on to the site. So, if people do that, those comments get removed and the people involved get a day off. There's a corresponding "don't use MeMail to harass or stalk other users" rule which is similar but different.

To the best of my knlwdge, this is mentioned in the FAQ. If there's a part that's confusing you, please let me know.
posted by jessamyn at 10:00 PM on February 11, 2009

Hey hal_c_on, is this going to be your flameout thread? I mean, you've been grinding some sort of weird axe nearly every time I've seen your name since your last MeTa, so I assume you're planning on flaming out soon, and I want to know whether I should check back on this one when I get up in the morning or wait until your next one.
posted by Caduceus at 10:04 PM on February 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

mefite send me memail so i think oh nice cool i show metafilter also
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:12 PM on February 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

I WANT PIE AND BEEF JERKY
posted by loquacious at 10:26 PM on February 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Easy on the trigger, cortex. Just because you CAN delete and end threads, doesn't mean you should.

I really don't get the attitude you have - this weird, super-confrontational "Gotcha!" smugness. While it's unrealistic to expect you to know of the wonderful and storied history of MeTa, you should probably be aware that there have been many other knobs who didn't have much to offer the community beyond the lame posturing that have done the lame speaking-truth-to-power iconoclastic shtick many times already, and better.

If you actually have an issue that you'd like to see result in a constructive, good-faith conversation, you're absolutely going about it in the wrong way.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:31 PM on February 11, 2009 [9 favorites]

Subtext of question: Why can't my friends and I piss where we wanna?
posted by Jofus at 10:31 PM on February 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hey hal_c_on, is this going to be your flameout thread?

No, no. No flameout weirdness here.

I DID get booted for 24 hours for a valid reason as jessamyn has stated. I even thanked her for explaining the rules. I really didn't know that quoting or even paraphrasing MeMail stuff was worthy of being booted for a day. Because of that, I figured others didn't know it either.

The user who posted the thread that spawned this thread, seemed to be asking the same question that I had for jessamyn. I was just relaying that.

I know why I got booted. I think its fair. I just wanted that dude to know too.

So yeah, in the end:

1. I like mefi (but not like-like)
2. I'm not mad at anybody
3. I was just posting this because I thought his thread got prematurely closed (ie without an answer).

OH...and just to clarify:

No, I don't think its cool to post personal mail on here...

I only posted the harassing comments, cuz I thought "what a bastard this user is writing this...I should totally publicize this". Guess I was wrong, and I now know the rules.

Cool?
posted by hal_c_on at 10:32 PM on February 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

forgive me for
posting your ...

nah, overdone
posted by WCityMike at 11:15 PM on February 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Pretty sure the OP was asking about this and why the post was deleted
posted by niles at 11:18 PM on February 11, 2009

But until I ran across that FPP, I thought he was asking about MeFi mail or something too
posted by niles at 11:19 PM on February 11, 2009

What is your problem lately? If you hate the site so much, if you don't like the way things are done, go the fuck away.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:30 PM on February 11, 2009

For what it's worth I actually gave pita another flower which was deleted from the already-deleted thread because it was USING UP ALL THE BANDWIDTH.
posted by turgid dahlia at 11:35 PM on February 11, 2009

Oh man, someone extracted the words from pita's dictionary. It all makes sense now. Probably did it to himself, the poor bastard. Another case of regexps gone wrong. =(
posted by Eideteker at 12:13 AM on February 12, 2009 [6 favorites]

Friends don't let friends use regular expressions.
posted by Eideteker at 12:14 AM on February 12, 2009

thank you for flameout, no one gave me flameout on internet before
posted by chillmost at 12:34 AM on February 12, 2009

pita takes the hama7 posting style to the next level of minimalism.
posted by salvia at 12:51 AM on February 12, 2009

This is also another post [supposedly] by the same user. I flat out do not believe that pita suddenly lost the control of English that he had in his AskMe question. So, we have a predicament.

Just to give pita the benefit of the doubt here, he might have gotten one of his more-fluent-in-English friends to translate what he wanted to ask, which he then copy-pasted. All his AskMefi posts are pretty lucid and well-written. His other contributions, by contrast, are just brilliant.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:41 AM on February 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Can someone explain pita to me?

His posts to the blue and the gray are Wacky Foreign Guy, but his posts to the green are fully articulate. (This comment is kind of in betweeny)

The two theories I can come up with:

1) He's a troll/performance artist/comedian/prankster/troll, yanking our blue by pretending to be Wacky Foreign Guy.

2) He really is Wacky Foreign Guy, and the "friend" he keeps referring to in multiple posts is an English-speaking pal who assists him sometimes. For example by writing/translating his AskMe questions.

But if 2 was the case, you'd think his friend would have stepped forward by now to apologize and explain his cousin Balki to the crowd after he started getting in trouble in those hi-larious WFG ways.

Remember the family in Edward Scissorhands? Be an alert advocate for your pet weirdo, or he could get his fool self shot by the cops banhammered by the mods.
posted by dgaicun at 1:41 AM on February 12, 2009 [5 favorites]

jinx
posted by dgaicun at 1:42 AM on February 12, 2009

[In case pita is reading, I've helpfully translated my above post into his lingua franca]

Can somebody explain the bread of pita with me?

Their blue post office with the gray is standard of the Eccentrics Of The Levy, but its post office with the green one articulates totally. (This commentary is in small betweeny)

The tin of two theories with the increase:

1) Execution is troll/fraudulent artist/actor/troll and to lose our blue one of the requirement, of being standard of the Eccentrics Of The Levy.

2) Eccentrics Of The Levy is really standard of the "friend" it hopes, more in the post office relaunched the end to consult is a friend, of whom that speech the English, the aid to the times. For example the mark/translates its questions of AskMe.

But, if 2 were the case, would you think that its friend one job-quilt would have in front up to now undertaken, in order apologies to make and his Balki cousin with quantity after him explain began to achieve in the problem of these di-verted methods of the EOTL.

Do you underline the family as like Eduardo Scissorhands? You are an alert lawyer for your weirdo of the expert animal, or would know its individual of weak person-intimate received black point of the ace of the rotation banhammered mods.
posted by dgaicun at 2:51 AM on February 12, 2009 [8 favorites]

So yeah, in the end:

1. I like mefi (but not like-like)

So... does this mean a kiss is out of the question?
posted by gman at 4:07 AM on February 12, 2009

Oh, and like flapjax at midnight, waking to this thread was a most agreeable start to my long travel day.
posted by gman at 4:09 AM on February 12, 2009

I posted is
the words
he were in
the inbox

and which
probably you has
saving
for private

Forgive me
my friend show me
I show mefi
and why no?
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:27 AM on February 12, 2009 [13 favorites]

Can someone explain pita to me?

HTH, HAND
posted by ghost of a past number at 5:09 AM on February 12, 2009

I like-like mefi. I don't know what your problem is...
posted by ArgentCorvid at 5:28 AM on February 12, 2009

Cortex my friend
It's time to ban the world
We both know it was a girl
Back up on the blue
posted by cashman at 5:36 AM on February 12, 2009

Wow its been a good week for Mefi.

The whole of the deleted Pita thread was comedy gold, but this exchange between Roman Graves and mr_crash_davis had me laughing until tears were rolling down my face. (thanks guys it has been a rough week.)

Derail: How has this AskMe not rated a MeTa of its own? I have so many questions: What exactly is a "tater"? If tater is a penis how does one differentiate between a "softcore tator" and a "hardcore tater"? I mean a dick pic is a dick pic, right? Why couldn't she just say "penis"?
posted by Bango Skank at 5:48 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

No, no. No flameout weirdness here.

Come on. You're half way there already. 15 quatloos on a spectacular flameout!
posted by octobersurprise at 5:52 AM on February 12, 2009

Bango Skank, I have been wondering the same thing. There are at least 2 issues: 1) What is a tater? and 2) Is boss-porn-snooping the new symbol of what it takes to get 99% of MeFites to agree?
posted by pointystick at 5:59 AM on February 12, 2009

1. I like mefi (but not like-like)

But like can lead to like-like, and like-like can lead to love.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:15 AM on February 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Message : my friend show me, i show metafilter. why no?
posted by Damn That Television at 6:32 AM on February 12, 2009

One thing that has come out of this is that I see that deleted threads no longer appear in lofi which is a shame for me, because I don't use that greasy monkey stuff.
posted by tellurian at 6:44 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

jessamyn writes "What was to be gained by leaving that thread open?"

Well.... There's the obvious one: no one's time is taken up with claims that the mods are censoring or stifling discussion.

If you're convinced there's nothing more to be said in a particular metatalk -- but others aren't -- what's the harm in leaving it open? (As most threads never reach Palin proportions, the server cost is negligible. And in the unlikely case a thread you would have closed does reach Palin proportions, clearly it wasn't ready to be closed.)

Mods go through these tight-ass phases of over-moderating. Just unclench; very little that happens in any thread has any long term consequence.
posted by orthogonality at 6:51 AM on February 12, 2009

There's the obvious one: no one's time is taken up with claims that the mods are censoring or stifling discussion.

That's not the case most of the time when we do close a thread. This one was going to be a goddam trainwreck, and from what increasingly looks like someone fucking with the site under the aforementioned Wacky Foreign Guy guise. And the thread itself would sure as heck eaten up a lot of our time for monitoring it to make sure no one was flipping out.

As most threads never reach Palin proportions, the server cost is negligible.

Who said anything about server cost here?

very little that happens in any thread has any long term consequence.

Which is why it makes sense to give us shit for closing a deeply nonsensical one?
posted by cortex at 7:13 AM on February 12, 2009

MeFi, I like-like you. Do you like-like me too?

Check one:

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] Maybe
posted by CKmtl at 8:00 AM on February 12, 2009

Mods go through these tight-ass phases of over-moderating. Just unclench;

I'm not sure that the site will ever be loosely moderated enough for you. I'm also pretty sure we're not the people who need to unclench.

Put another way, a MeTa thread that comes out of the gate early as a lulzfest, especially one from a sketchy-seeming member, is something we do have to keep an eye on and one that takes moderator time. Old longboat threads where people are being wiseasses is fine. Brand new fuck-around threads are less fine.
posted by jessamyn at 8:00 AM on February 12, 2009

The user who posted the thread that spawned this thread, seemed to be asking the same question that I had for jessamyn

Help me keep my taxonomy up to date, everyone: should this be classified as expectation bias, or as selective perception?
posted by ook at 8:10 AM on February 12, 2009

Dear jessamyn,

If you ever want to trade jobs with me, just forget it.
posted by Mister_A at 8:14 AM on February 12, 2009

"why no?" is now permanently lodged in my lexicon, by the way.

why no, indeed.
posted by shmegegge at 8:19 AM on February 12, 2009

If you're convinced there's nothing more to be said in a particular metatalk -- but others aren't -- what's the harm in leaving it open?

That thread was immediately derailed by the confusing phrasing, there was little to no chance that any production conversation would have come out of it, and more likely than not, it would have devolved into people making fun of pita for the cryptic nature of the opening sentence.

Sure, there could have been a lot of funny stuff generated, but that can be said about any thread in metatalk.

For instance, this thread could now easily devolve into a discussion of the worst case scenario for people changing jobs.

Like, "It's a good thing that jessamyn and I don't trade jobs, because I would walk around here all day banning people who failed to use ümlaüts ironically enough."
posted by quin at 8:33 AM on February 12, 2009

Message : my friend show me, i show metafilter. why no?

I was hoping more taters would be involved.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:38 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

it would have devolved into people making fun of pita for the cryptic nature of the opening sentence.

Yeah I guess I forgot this part. If a MeTa question is weird/random enough and the poster is acting hinky we'll sometimes close it so we can have an offline talk with them and keep the thread from turning into a "pile on the n00b!" exercise.
posted by jessamyn at 8:44 AM on February 12, 2009

If a MeTa question is weird/random enough and the poster is acting hinky we'll sometimes close it

Dear AskMe:

Help me to become disarmingly hinky. Some people have this mysterious ability to be - hinky. Please explain this skill and help me learn it!
posted by dersins at 9:31 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was hoping more taters would be involved.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 10:38 AM on February 12 [1 favorite +] [!]


Is this eponysterical?

Now I'm hungry.
posted by slogger at 9:44 AM on February 12, 2009

Hungry for taters, eh? Wink wink, say no more, know what I mean? She's a goer!
posted by Mister_A at 10:13 AM on February 12, 2009 [3 favorites]

I just hope that when cortex pulls the trigger on Wacky Foriegn Guy, everyone's got their earplugs in.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:17 AM on February 12, 2009

My inconsequential opinion formed from watching that deleted thread unfurl is that pita is not faking his/her foreignness, but is a bit of a silly-billy.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:20 AM on February 12, 2009

Fuck it, I'm going to post the contents of my MeMail too!

From : mathowie
Date : Jan 28, 2009 1:50 PM
Subject : Your MetaFilter Post
Message : Your post has been added to MetaFilter. Here are the details:

White Nose Syndrome Decimates Bat Populations in Northeastern USA
http://www.metafilter.com/78659/White-Nose-Syndrome-Decimates-Bat-Populations-in-Northeastern-USA

Please contact us with any problems:

http://www.metafilter.com/contact/

Tired of these? You can opt-out of MeFi Mail reminders in your site preferences.
posted by Mister_A at 10:35 AM on February 12, 2009

Brand new fuck-around threads are less fine.

You paid retail for those ?
posted by y2karl at 10:36 AM on February 12, 2009

Fuck it, I'm going to post the contents of my MeMail too!

You are so banned!
posted by jessamyn at 10:37 AM on February 12, 2009

O noes!
posted by Mister_A at 10:39 AM on February 12, 2009

Check out pita's cracking-good wacky but on target bliminey jeepers-wallaby posts in this Cricket thread.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:43 AM on February 12, 2009

I'm posting my MeMail contents too:














I'm soooooo lonely
posted by never used baby shoes at 11:22 AM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can someone explain pita to me?

His posts to the blue and the gray are Wacky Foreign Guy, but his posts to the green are fully articulate.

He's the star of a film by Casey Affleck.
posted by lukemeister at 12:02 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Awwwwwww.... it's OK NUBS.
posted by Mister_A at 12:05 PM on February 12, 2009

I think somebody just couldn't resist another helping of MetaTalk's
tiny
little
dick.
posted by nanojath at 12:10 PM on February 12, 2009

Taters for all!
posted by Mister_A at 12:54 PM on February 12, 2009

In a private message, Jessamyn said I was her favorite member ever and that the rest of you were adopted. Of course, I'm too classy to copy and paste the message here, but that was pretty much what it said.
posted by klangklangston at 5:51 PM on February 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

I said it was your turn in Scrabulous, you dingus. And then you sent me all those Barely Legal articles. Then I photographed your history on your computer. Man, is this day over yet?
posted by jessamyn at 5:58 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

tellurian said: One thing that has come out of this is that I see that deleted threads no longer appear in lofi which is a shame for me, because I don't use that greasy monkey stuff.


Yeah, that has totally bummed me out. I've found some great links from deleted threads. I would like to have the deletes restored to lofi, please.
posted by dejah420 at 6:52 PM on February 12, 2009

MetaFilter: that greasy monkey stuff


Actually, after installing the greasemonkey script, I have a huge respect of the work that the mods do all over again. It seems like some days every other thread is deleted (and needed it).
posted by niles at 7:11 PM on February 12, 2009

O NOE IZ DINGUS NO T MY DADY?
posted by not_on_display at 9:06 PM on February 12, 2009

"I said it was your turn in Scrabulous, you dingus. And then you sent me all those Barely Legal articles. Then I photographed your history on your computer. Man, is this day over yet?"

Scrabulous is dead (it's your turn in Scrabble, btw), Barely Legal doesn't have articles, and I'm still not sure what you meant by "I saw your taters!"

(Also, the server has the jruns again.)
posted by klangklangston at 9:17 PM on February 12, 2009

I would like to have the deletes restored to lofi, please.

Seriously, there are like four different ways to find deleted threads at this point, none of which require us to re-break unsupported code just so. If you want to see deletions, now is the time to start gently exploring these new options.
posted by cortex at 9:57 PM on February 12, 2009

(Also, the server has the jruns again.)

So it's not just me? I keep getting "the network connection was reset" from Firefox, but I assumed it was my garbage modem acting again.
posted by niles at 10:23 PM on February 12, 2009

Someone MeMailed me a poignant, yet somewhat whimsical anecdote involving their pony, a camera, some portobella mushrooms, and a bunny wearing a tater pancake, but since I fear the ban hammer, alas, the story must go with me to my grave.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:27 AM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure if this need to be said plainly: we're not fixing lofi, please employ the many other ways of getting your deleted lulz on.
posted by jessamyn at 12:23 PM on February 13, 2009

Oooohhhh, I get it! It's an acronym!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:42 PM on February 17, 2009

....we're not fixing lofi, please employ the many other ways of getting your deleted lulz on.

       ''Beulah, ....peel me a grape.''

       Mae West
posted by y2karl at 2:33 PM on February 27, 2009