A pony walks up to a (side)bar. The bartender says....

March 20, 2010 8:57 AM

Pony request: What about highlighting fantastic Metatalk comments in the MeTa sidebar?

We only do it on MeFi, but so many of the discussions and comments here are thoughtful and interesting. Is this something anyone else might be interested in seeing? Would it be too much work to implement?

posted by zarq to Feature Requests at 8:57 AM (30 comments total)

Putting something on the MeTa sidebar above and beyond what's there now might push other stuff down and away. So, not that we've discounted this idea but sidebarring is one of the few things we do that's pretty manual. We highlight MeTa stuff on the main sidebar as it is. The point of the main sidebar is to "surface" things that people might not see already, things that are really great. So, it definitely wouldn't be too much work, but right now we have one sidebar for the whole site. Turning it into two sidebars isn't that much more work but I'm not sure if it solves a problem since there's a pretty small and tight crew on MeTa as it is, so it's more likely that people are realy reading most of it if they're even here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:03 AM on March 20, 2010

I think this might be inconsistent with the overall idea of MeTa, which is intended to be more of a temporary home for the hashing out of site concerns (and for intemperate drunken bitching) and less of a permanent record than than either of the other two major subsites. Posts scroll off the screen and are disappeared quickly on MeTa, for example.
posted by killdevil at 9:05 AM on March 20, 2010

They'd first have to make room by moving the meetups to their own subsite. HINT, HINT.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:13 AM on March 20, 2010

Metatalk: for intemperate drunken bitching
posted by special-k at 9:28 AM on March 20, 2010

down and away
down and away
pushing other stuff
down and away
got no time, friend
to stop and play
i'm pushing other stuff
down and away
pushing other stuff
down and away
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:30 AM on March 20, 2010

they're alive, they're awake
while the rest of the world is asleep
below the mine shaft roads
it will all unfold
there's a world going on
Underground
posted by Dumsnill at 10:16 AM on March 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

please do not sidebar my comments. i would rather they sustain a quiet excellence.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 10:29 AM on March 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think our next move will be to implement a sidebear.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:48 AM on March 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sidebear you say. Hmm

side note: Googling side bear also brings up side boob. Oh google.
posted by special-k at 10:52 AM on March 20, 2010

I would like a Gabourey Sidibe sidebar, so I can more easily keep track of her activities.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:29 AM on March 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

I would like a bar right to my side.

(oh wait, there it is! Happy first day of spring everybody!)
posted by The Whelk at 11:46 AM on March 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

We highlight MeTa stuff on the main sidebar as it is.

Ah! I didn't realize that. For some reason I thought the main sidebar on the Blue was only for comments made on the Blue. You'd think after all these years I'd be more observant, but noooooo.....

Turning it into two sidebars isn't that much more work but I'm not sure if it solves a problem since there's a pretty small and tight crew on MeTa as it is, so it's more likely that people are realy reading most of it if they're even here.

I was wondering about this. Once a thread goes past say, 300 comments, I suspect far fewer regulars bother to read the entire thing. I know that when it came to the 'spousing' and 'new favorites formula' thread, people were saying they had difficulty keeping up. I did too. (Of course, the signal to noise ratio also decreases as the threads go on, so perhaps the chances of someone saying something 'fantastic' decreases as well.)

But if we're highlighting MeTa comments on the main page, then it seems we're all covered. :)

Thank you for explaining, Jessamyn. Hope you're having a pleasant weekend.
posted by zarq at 11:51 AM on March 20, 2010

Once a thread goes past say, 300 comments, I suspect far fewer regulars bother to read the entire thing.

at about every 100 comments, someone should post an heroic stanza summarizing the thread to that point. also, approximately one week after the thread is posted, someone should post an elegant epitaph.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 12:17 PM on March 20, 2010 [7 favorites]

cortex: "I think our next move will be to implement a sidebear"

gimme that christian side-bear-hug?
posted by idiopath at 1:04 PM on March 20, 2010

someone should post an heroic stanza summarizing the thread to that point

This reminds me of travelers to Greek cites int the anicent world having to give detailed accounts of what's going on in the wider world to keep from being stabbed to death.
posted by The Whelk at 1:30 PM on March 20, 2010 [1 favorite]

stabbing is optional.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 2:03 PM on March 20, 2010

For some reason I thought the main sidebar on the Blue was only for comments made on the Blue.

There are AskMe comments/posts in the sidebar all the time. Those go on the blue, not the green, so I don't see why MeTa comments would be any different.
posted by Jaltcoh at 2:28 PM on March 20, 2010

Yeah, but the gray comments are dirty polarbears, so they need a professional white sidebear. $20, same as in Longyearbyen.
posted by Dumsnill at 2:37 PM on March 20, 2010

We're having another discussion about bears? Is this cause of all the SF meetups?
posted by The Whelk at 2:42 PM on March 20, 2010

bears
about
talk
fools
these
made
I
long
how
see
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:19 PM on March 20, 2010

bears bite joggers in finland. well who asked the jogger to go unprepared into the woods, doesn't she know there are bears in them there woods. and they bite. people come on please. you're fooling no one.
posted by infini at 4:18 AM on March 21, 2010

What about highlighting fantastic Metatalk comments

Does such a thing even exist?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:37 AM on March 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

"bears
about
talk
fools
these
made
I
long
how
see"

Worst. Acrostic. Ever.
posted by the latin mouse at 7:44 AM on March 21, 2010

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
posted by maqsarian at 8:51 AM on March 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

It can be called MetaMetaTalk.
posted by stp123 at 12:46 PM on March 21, 2010

Guys - we talked about Meta t-shirts before. I've got a new font I really, really take for spin. Any ideas?

(I assume this is a blank verse thread? no?)
posted by The Whelk at 12:46 PM on March 21, 2010

They'd first have to make room by moving the meetups to their own subsite. HINT, HINT.

social.metafilter.com
Meet. Date. Whatever else you want to do that involves actual face-to-face contact.
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:51 AM on March 22, 2010

Isn't drunken bitching 'intemperate' by very definition?
posted by dunkadunc at 7:56 AM on March 22, 2010

We have nothing specifically on paper but we did have a couple of nerdily excited conversations about related ideas while at SXSW, so, hey.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:23 AM on March 22, 2010

what happened? did you realize your real life friends and your online handle types were beginning to get eerily familiar?... [cue the twilight zone theme music now please gentlemen ;p]
posted by infini at 12:18 PM on March 22, 2010