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MetaFilter in The Guardian's 100 essential websites: Living if isolated proof that a site can be successful without pictures or video, and can also host thoughtful conversations.
posted by fearfulsymmetry to MetaFilter-Related at 9:20 AM (59 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

Jack Schofield, Bobbie Johnson, Charles Arthur, Stuart O'Connor, Mercedes Bunz, Vic Keegan, Keith Stuart, Greg Howson, Chris Salmon and more.

Which one is a member?
posted by cjorgensen at 9:31 AM on December 9, 2009


My impulse to snark is cruelly shut down by the fact that The Guardian is an old media outlet I respect. Go us!
posted by Kattullus at 9:31 AM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]


Perez Hilton's blog was also ranked. Can Jack Schofield, Bobbie Johnson, Charles Arthur, Stuart O'Connor, Mercedes Bunz, Vic Keegan, Keith Stuart, Greg Howson, Chris Salmon and more really be trusted?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:32 AM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


I don't know, but Mercedes Bunz is the best name ever. Hurr hurr bunz.
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:33 AM on December 9, 2009


without pictures or video

We're still bitter about the first one. Apparently on the second one they've never seen a SYTL.
posted by cimbrog at 9:36 AM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


We can host thoughtful conversations. Personally, I choose not to.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:48 AM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]


*places hand on rail, feels for vibration of oncoming "thoughtful conversation"*

*smiles slightly, nods to self*

*lights fuse, wedges bundle under rail*

There. That should take care of that.
posted by quin at 10:00 AM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]


ka-SPUD!

... anyone within 100 ft of the blast is covered by flash-baked fry-chunks ...

(It was a tater-bomb)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:09 AM on December 9, 2009


I confess. Mercedes Bunz is my porn name. You got me. I do tater flicks and write for the Guardian.

not really.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 10:20 AM on December 9, 2009


All those Charlie Brooker links paid off.
posted by Artw at 10:42 AM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]



Apparently on the second one they've never seen a SYTL.
posted by cimbrog at 12:36 PM on December 9 [+] [!]


SUPER, YOUR TYPING = LOLS.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:47 AM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


without pictures or video

That seems like a weird distinction. Granted, Metafilter doesn't have pics or video or other shiny diversions conspicuously displayed, but there are a good percentage of posts (and even comments) that revolve around visual and auditory goodies. The way the sentence is worded makes it sound like the authors looked at the threads without clicking any links.
posted by amyms at 10:51 AM on December 9, 2009


Talk about damned with faint praise...
posted by criticalbill at 11:19 AM on December 9, 2009


Ooh, lookie, a meme walks into a blog...

"Metafilter: Living if isolated proof that a site can be successful without pictures or video, and can also host thoughtful conversations."

Also, parsing error in my head at living, if, and that.
posted by iamkimiam at 11:23 AM on December 9, 2009


the authors looked at the threads without clicking any links.

That pretty much proves they must be members.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:29 AM on December 9, 2009 [25 favorites]


I think Jack Schofield has an account - he's been mentioned in Meta before and has mentioned Metafilter in his columns.
posted by Jofus at 11:30 AM on December 9, 2009


heh. I won't tell you what Mercedes Bunz name was when she still lived in my small bavarian home town... I think she was generally considered to be quite ridiculous when she changed her name and demanded to be called Mercedes by everyone, but just see how far you can get with a name like that...
Reporter for Technology and Media for The Guardian.
posted by ts;dr at 11:31 AM on December 9, 2009


The way the sentence is worded makes it sound like the authors looked at the threads without clicking any links.

I don't think so. Since the img tag was deactivated, you won't find any actual graphics or video on __.metafilter.com (except for incidental graphics in people's profiles and that shirt at the bottom of the screen). If you want to look at any pictures, moving or still, you need to leave the site. This is is a rarity these days.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:40 AM on December 9, 2009


I hate the appellation "essential". It's not quite praise. And it's very rarely actually essential. It's just a lame term to make a list of stuff seem more important without any justification.
posted by GuyZero at 11:41 AM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


In other words ... of course you're right that many threads are mostly talking about images or video. But again: they're talking about those things. Any specifically Metafilter-ian contribution will be in text form. (OK, I remember a couple instances where a Metafilter user actually drew an original picture and linked to it in response to an AskMe question, but those cases are a one in a million.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:42 AM on December 9, 2009


I for one, welcome our new thoughtful conversations.
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:03 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


Sure, good old sober serious us. Pictures, ok, some pictures were fun.
posted by Cranberry at 12:29 PM on December 9, 2009


Interesting to me that they don't mention AskMe at all - if it were me I'd have at least mentioned it along with the blurb even if it doesn't fit into one of their categories.

I've never seen any other Q&A site as reliable as AskMe on such a wide range of topics - and a good percentage of that usefulness is down to the mods & the boss, along with the many smart and generous users obviously.
posted by selton at 12:31 PM on December 9, 2009


Is there some way we can filter all clickthroughs from The Guardian so they just go to The Mushroom Thread? That'll learn 'em real good.
posted by haveanicesummer at 12:33 PM on December 9, 2009


heh. I won't tell you what Mercedes Bunz name was when she still lived in my small bavarian home town...

Hitlerina Bunz?
Odovocar the Ostrogoth Bunz?
Incontinentia Buttocks?
Tight Bunz?
Cinnamon Bunz?
Hott Krauss Bunz?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:42 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]


That description of the site reminds me of being in second grade and being assigned a book to do a report on, and flipping through it and thinking, "oh god this is awful it's all words and no pictures!"
posted by Rhomboid at 1:21 PM on December 9, 2009


Bunz Ovnavarone.
posted by box at 1:22 PM on December 9, 2009


That description of the site reminds me of being in second grade and being assigned a book to do a report on, and flipping through it and thinking, "oh god this is awful it's all words and no pictures!"

ALICE was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?'
posted by litleozy at 2:14 PM on December 9, 2009


In some ways Metafilter is like a Listserv of old, with the same kind of interesting conversations, but with everything exposed to the general public to read instead of being limited to subscribers.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:40 PM on December 9, 2009


The Guardian are going down soon. I have a friend who has already jumped ship. Old media indeed...
posted by i_cola at 2:47 PM on December 9, 2009


All those Charlie Brooker links paid off.

I love The Guardian, but I haven't found a Twitter feed worse than Charlie Brooker's.
posted by lukemeister at 3:09 PM on December 9, 2009


Living if isolated proof that a site can be successful without pictures or video

FUCK YOU AND YOUR ANTI-IMG-TAG HISTORICAL REVISIONISM!

Metafilter flourished because of the IMG tag, and has been in decline since it was disabled.

I whoever wrote that is a "favorites" kind of person.
posted by qvantamon at 3:39 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


I whoever wrote that favorites kind of person am!
posted by fleacircus at 4:00 PM on December 9, 2009 [3 favorites]


Hitlerina Bunz?
Odovocar the Ostrogoth Bunz?
Incontinentia Buttocks?
Tight Bunz?
Cinnamon Bunz?
Hott Krauss Bunz?


Mulva?
posted by empath at 4:05 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


> thoughtful conversations

hid the Sarah Palin threads just in time.
posted by jfuller at 5:08 PM on December 9, 2009


The 100 essential websites for a particular class of internet user.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:22 PM on December 9, 2009


Listsnobbery has now reached the point where Metafilter will now quibble even it's own inclusion on lists?
posted by Artw at 5:24 PM on December 9, 2009 [2 favorites]


If Mr Brooker would like an account here I'd be glad to pony up $5 for the cheap shark-faced bastard

I kid because I love
posted by jtron at 6:03 PM on December 9, 2009


--The 100 essential websites for a particular class of internet user.--

Yeah, that list is more like a "welcome to the internet" overview. Is there a word for creating a list for no practical purposes other than to show off your listmaking abilities? Nihilist seems close.
posted by peacay at 6:40 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


Listsnobbery has now reached the point where Metafilter will now quibble even it's own inclusion on lists?

See also TIME's list a while back. The objection then was that inclusion on such a list was a guaranteed link from MeFi, upping their pageviews considerably and majorly ka-chinging the ad bucks. It's like a self-link by proxy and it's kind of icky.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:45 PM on December 9, 2009


That's kinda clever. Awful, but clever.
posted by box at 7:16 PM on December 9, 2009


without pictures or video

>We're still bitter about the first one. Apparently on the second one they've never seen a SYTL.

Not to be *that guy*, but images got the hook since afore you even signed up. And no, We are not bitter about their absence.

Swingin' YouTube Links will have to pulled from my cold, dead hands, though.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:42 PM on December 9, 2009


Oh Lord, won't you buy me some Mercedes Bunz?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:39 PM on December 9, 2009 [1 favorite]


What a bizarre thread.
posted by Artw at 11:45 PM on December 9, 2009


Who is: Hitler's favorite stripper? apologies to Carnac
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:42 AM on December 10, 2009


Of course if we were a proper website with pix and vidz and all that, we'd be all self-congratulatory and back-slappy
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:16 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


I'm still baffled by Perez Hilton's inclusion. I realize celebrity gossip is probably the skeeviest web category there is, probably more so than porn, but Perez Hilton is just terrible. What Would Tyler Durden Do?, on the other hand, is often funny, if for no other reason than it's a celebrity gossip blog written by a Lousiana good ol' boy who seems to genuinely hate celebrities. The effect alone can be very entertaining, if you ignore the fact that half the posts are "omg boobies!", that is.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:25 AM on December 10, 2009


It's like a self-link by proxy and it's kind of icky.
Wow, that never occurred to me. What a brilliant way of driving traffic to a site. As long as you don't mind selling your soul to the devil, of course.

... images got the hook since afore you even signed up. And no, We are not bitter about their absence.
Speak for yourself.
posted by dg at 4:06 AM on December 10, 2009


Listsnobbery has now reached the point where Metafilter will now quibble even it's own inclusion on lists?

I don't want to be on any list that would have me as a member!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:30 AM on December 10, 2009


Oh Lord, won't you buy me some Mercedes Bunz?

My friends all are Teutons, I do like them Huns.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:21 AM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


That thousand year reich, though, that wasn't much funz
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:27 PM on December 10, 2009


People who don't want to be on lists:

1. grapefruitmoon
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:44 PM on December 10, 2009


The effect alone can be very entertaining, if you ignore the fact that half the posts are "omg boobies!", that is.

Well, to be fair, some of us find this part to be entertaining as well.

I loved wwtdd when I first came across it, but then as time went on, I realize he was hating on people I don't really care about at all. Often he'd be making fun of someone I had to go look up. Find out who Tena Tequila (or whatever her name is) was did not make my life better.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:52 PM on December 10, 2009


IIRC She's a pretend bixesual from MTV.
posted by Artw at 2:54 PM on December 10, 2009


I thought she was a tranny from myspace who MTV contracted to appear relevant to the internet age.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:21 PM on December 10, 2009


No, that's Miriam from Something about Miriam.
posted by Artw at 3:24 PM on December 10, 2009


Miriam?!?? But I - I mean we - uh, er, never mind, carry on...
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:50 PM on December 10, 2009


This popped into my head unbidden and now I have it stuck in my head and I can't shake it so I'm inflicting this on you. To the tune of Mission of Burma's Academy Fight Song:

I'M NOT LINKING YOU I'M LINKING ME
LINK ECONOMY
posted by Kattullus at 5:24 PM on December 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


Yeah, that list is more like a "welcome to the internet" overview. Is there a word for creating a list for no practical purposes other than to show off your listmaking abilities? Nihilist seems close.

Nihilistist.

-
posted by General Tonic at 2:04 PM on December 18, 2009


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