A study in Q&A sites January 21, 2011 4:00 PM Subscribe
A study in Q&A sites: Ask Metafilter's "Why do some people wear shoes indoors?" versus Quora's "Do real Americans wear shoes indoors as portrayed in sitcom TV shows?" and its follow-on "In which North American locales is it more common to take off one's shoes when entering a home? In which is it more prevalent to leave them on?"
This is kind of chatty but after using Quora for a while what's struck me most about it is not the answers, which are often very good, but the questions which are often total shit, although the ones linked here are less egregious than most. Nearly every question contains some odd or outright wrong assumption. I'd be interested in hearing opinions on Quora vs AskMe. (And I know this is super-chatty, but that's not disallowed here, right?)
This is kind of chatty but after using Quora for a while what's struck me most about it is not the answers, which are often very good, but the questions which are often total shit, although the ones linked here are less egregious than most. Nearly every question contains some odd or outright wrong assumption. I'd be interested in hearing opinions on Quora vs AskMe. (And I know this is super-chatty, but that's not disallowed here, right?)
Typical. It should go here but Quora has a cool did-you-mean kind of page which I hadn't seen before.
posted by GuyZero at 4:12 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by GuyZero at 4:12 PM on January 21, 2011
Fixed the link. What was that question last week where some MeFite asked the same question here and there?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2011
We've definitely been thinking about making one. Here is the question: AskMe, Quora.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:33 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:33 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
What I love about this question is the frequency of its occurrence.
North America's a huge place; some people run shit farms and insist on having vintage Persian rugs at home, others walk 3 steps to their car, drive to work, park in an enclosed parking garage and have cool industrial lofts with concrete walls, ceilings and floors. Of course they have different shoe policies.
The real question seems to be "can you believe what I heard Americans are up to?", or "I saw on Seinfeld that Kramer did not offer to take off his shoes upon entering Jerry's abode." It is one of the few cases of cultural exchange dictated by a poor understanding of the American lifestyle, whereas we are more used to questions of cultural exchange based on American ignorance of a another's lifestyle.
/off-topic
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:34 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
North America's a huge place; some people run shit farms and insist on having vintage Persian rugs at home, others walk 3 steps to their car, drive to work, park in an enclosed parking garage and have cool industrial lofts with concrete walls, ceilings and floors. Of course they have different shoe policies.
The real question seems to be "can you believe what I heard Americans are up to?", or "I saw on Seinfeld that Kramer did not offer to take off his shoes upon entering Jerry's abode." It is one of the few cases of cultural exchange dictated by a poor understanding of the American lifestyle, whereas we are more used to questions of cultural exchange based on American ignorance of a another's lifestyle.
/off-topic
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:34 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
We've definitely been thinking about making one.
In that case I will definitely not be asking my question about Wii Fit and Kinect on Quora. That's OK; most of my Quora contacts are also MeFites.
posted by immlass at 4:40 PM on January 21, 2011
In that case I will definitely not be asking my question about Wii Fit and Kinect on Quora. That's OK; most of my Quora contacts are also MeFites.
posted by immlass at 4:40 PM on January 21, 2011
Quora wants users to post under their real names. Given that, many people probably wouldn't feel comfortable posting something that future employers can find for the next n decades on subjects like:
So for me, AskMe wins hands down.
posted by Ralston McTodd at 4:47 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Questions on technical topics in the asker's job field (do you want it to be known that you didn't know the answer?)
- Any health issue more serious than the common cold.
- Controversial political opinions.
So for me, AskMe wins hands down.
posted by Ralston McTodd at 4:47 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
But oddly people are perfectly willing to post stupid questions under their own names.
posted by GuyZero at 4:56 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by GuyZero at 4:56 PM on January 21, 2011
jessamyn: "What was that question last week where some MeFite asked the same question here and there?"
GuyZero: "I dunno. Isn't there a semi-policy about that?"
jessamyn: "We've definitely been thinking about making one."
Can you elaborate on that? It seems odd to discourage people from turning to multiple services for help.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:56 PM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
GuyZero: "I dunno. Isn't there a semi-policy about that?"
jessamyn: "We've definitely been thinking about making one."
Can you elaborate on that? It seems odd to discourage people from turning to multiple services for help.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:56 PM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
And anyhow, Quora has smelly feet.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:57 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:57 PM on January 21, 2011
Can you elaborate on that? It seems odd to discourage people from turning to multiple services for help..
The AskMe no-compete clause? That does seem really weird.
posted by fixedgear at 5:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
The AskMe no-compete clause? That does seem really weird.
posted by fixedgear at 5:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Wait...what's the "outright wrong assumption" in the questions about North Americans wearing shoes indoors? I do it all the time, despite the hysteria among some about "germs" or whatever.
posted by DU at 5:23 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by DU at 5:23 PM on January 21, 2011
Can you elaborate on that? It seems odd to discourage people from turning to multiple services for help.
No, it's more that we don't want people just sort of copypasting stuff to multiple sites on a regular basis just for the (even semi-scientific) lulz, because it creates sort of a weird dynamic and hints at inter-site drama.
If someone has a problem they need solved and they feel like they can legitimately improve their chance of getting it solved in a timely or effective manner by going to more than one place with it, obviously that's their call and that's fine.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
No, it's more that we don't want people just sort of copypasting stuff to multiple sites on a regular basis just for the (even semi-scientific) lulz, because it creates sort of a weird dynamic and hints at inter-site drama.
If someone has a problem they need solved and they feel like they can legitimately improve their chance of getting it solved in a timely or effective manner by going to more than one place with it, obviously that's their call and that's fine.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Another Quora / askme and is cortex moonlighting?
Heh. Actually, I was kind of entertained to discover that twice now I've been like "ooh, there's a reasonable question that I can take a shot at answering well" and it's turned out to be a mefite doing this cross-posting thing both times. I wouldn't necessarily end up answering these questions on askme a lot of the time because, frankly, other people get there first and better. On Quora I'm still feeling the place out and trying to figure out if there's anything substantial I like there that outweighs what I don't like, so I'm kind of on the hunt (in a haphazard check-in-a-couple-times-a-day-during-lulls way) for stuff that I could answer.
Smaller, newer pond. I had the same experience for a couple weeks when Stack Overflow was new. But SO, much as I like it for what it is and what it does, just didn't end up feeling like home. Quora doesn't seem like it's going to either.
I think the only other stuff I've answered on Quora is moderation-related stuff, and even there I feel sort of weird about it—I dislike the vibe of some of the questions and answers, the bizcard-in-hand feeling that a lot of people are basically using the question as an excuse to "answer" a plug for their company, the over-abundance of unanswerable superlative/absolutist stuff like "What is the best startup in X" or "What are the correct number of foos to accomplish bar in social media". I gather a lot of the biz-stuff is sort of a natural consequence of the core founding audience being Valley startup/tech/entrepreneur types and I can't blame them for not having the same preferences as me, but it does leave me sort of feeling like I've wandered into a hellish alternative universe where all the anti-self-promotional stuff we do to keep this place non-skeevy has been embraced instead of rejected. It's weird.
That said, it's interesting watching a new place spring up and I'm curious to see how they deal with the growing pains and hope it works out well enough for them. There's this flood-of-Yahoo!-Answers dynamic right now as the place blows up and it seems like the biggest challenge they've had to deal with so far.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:41 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
Heh. Actually, I was kind of entertained to discover that twice now I've been like "ooh, there's a reasonable question that I can take a shot at answering well" and it's turned out to be a mefite doing this cross-posting thing both times. I wouldn't necessarily end up answering these questions on askme a lot of the time because, frankly, other people get there first and better. On Quora I'm still feeling the place out and trying to figure out if there's anything substantial I like there that outweighs what I don't like, so I'm kind of on the hunt (in a haphazard check-in-a-couple-times-a-day-during-lulls way) for stuff that I could answer.
Smaller, newer pond. I had the same experience for a couple weeks when Stack Overflow was new. But SO, much as I like it for what it is and what it does, just didn't end up feeling like home. Quora doesn't seem like it's going to either.
I think the only other stuff I've answered on Quora is moderation-related stuff, and even there I feel sort of weird about it—I dislike the vibe of some of the questions and answers, the bizcard-in-hand feeling that a lot of people are basically using the question as an excuse to "answer" a plug for their company, the over-abundance of unanswerable superlative/absolutist stuff like "What is the best startup in X" or "What are the correct number of foos to accomplish bar in social media". I gather a lot of the biz-stuff is sort of a natural consequence of the core founding audience being Valley startup/tech/entrepreneur types and I can't blame them for not having the same preferences as me, but it does leave me sort of feeling like I've wandered into a hellish alternative universe where all the anti-self-promotional stuff we do to keep this place non-skeevy has been embraced instead of rejected. It's weird.
That said, it's interesting watching a new place spring up and I'm curious to see how they deal with the growing pains and hope it works out well enough for them. There's this flood-of-Yahoo!-Answers dynamic right now as the place blows up and it seems like the biggest challenge they've had to deal with so far.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:41 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
cortex: "copypasting stuff to multiple sites on a regular basis just for the (even semi-scientific) lulz"
OMG BUSTED
posted by Rhaomi at 5:41 PM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
OMG BUSTED
posted by Rhaomi at 5:41 PM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
Ok, so now on Facebook's questions site: "Is anyone travelling US-India? Can you carry my kindle and some stuff?"
I have a tough time not answering so many questions on other sites simply by saying "Are you fucking stupid?"
posted by GuyZero at 6:04 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
I have a tough time not answering so many questions on other sites simply by saying "Are you fucking stupid?"
posted by GuyZero at 6:04 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
That said, it's interesting watching a new place spring up and I'm curious to see how they deal with the growing pains and hope it works out well enough for them.
What gets me is the questions that are neither spammy nor useful. Stuff that 2 seconds on any search engine will tell you. Like "Why is milk exactly 2% fat???" I mean, cripes. You don't need cutting-edge social media to answer this question. Why is there an active Milk category on Quora? Now, in contrast this is classic AskMe redone on Quora. And at least on AskMe it'll generate something interesting or at least amusing.
posted by GuyZero at 6:07 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
What gets me is the questions that are neither spammy nor useful. Stuff that 2 seconds on any search engine will tell you. Like "Why is milk exactly 2% fat???" I mean, cripes. You don't need cutting-edge social media to answer this question. Why is there an active Milk category on Quora? Now, in contrast this is classic AskMe redone on Quora. And at least on AskMe it'll generate something interesting or at least amusing.
posted by GuyZero at 6:07 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
To be fair, there is a great MLK question in the Milk category. Heh.
posted by fixedgear at 6:19 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by fixedgear at 6:19 PM on January 21, 2011
I sense there's some sort of odd tag spam/vandalism issue going on there.
posted by GuyZero at 6:23 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by GuyZero at 6:23 PM on January 21, 2011
Ok, so now on Facebook's questions site: "Is anyone travelling US-India? Can you carry my kindle and some stuff?"
Huh. I clicked the link and got a page that told me that Facebook Questions wasn't ready for me yet. (And I am logged in to FB.)
It does seem weird to ask the same non-urgent question at the same time in more than one place.
posted by rtha at 6:26 PM on January 21, 2011
Huh. I clicked the link and got a page that told me that Facebook Questions wasn't ready for me yet. (And I am logged in to FB.)
It does seem weird to ask the same non-urgent question at the same time in more than one place.
posted by rtha at 6:26 PM on January 21, 2011
the over-abundance of unanswerable superlative/absolutist stuff
I've been noticing that a lot on Aardvark, too. Not quite as room-full-of-car-salesmen sketchy as Quora feels, but it does seem like the vast majority of the questions I've seen were written by 13-year-olds. (I know that's not true, because I can see some of the people's photo-icons. It still seems that way from the mind-set of the questions, though.)
posted by ctmf at 6:37 PM on January 21, 2011
I've been noticing that a lot on Aardvark, too. Not quite as room-full-of-car-salesmen sketchy as Quora feels, but it does seem like the vast majority of the questions I've seen were written by 13-year-olds. (I know that's not true, because I can see some of the people's photo-icons. It still seems that way from the mind-set of the questions, though.)
posted by ctmf at 6:37 PM on January 21, 2011
I'd never heard of Quora until mathowie mentioned it in the "adding twitter and facebook links" discussion thread. So I went to go look. There was no obvious way to just dick around looking there, so I got bored and left. Then on twitter someone posted a kickass question and linked to Quora, so I went and looked again. There were no answers. I reloaded. None. I waited 5 minutes. Still no answers. I got bored. I left. I thought of posting the question to askme, but didn't, since I wasn't the one with the question.
The question was something like "What would be required for Apple to completely manufacture the iPhone in the US?"
posted by cjorgensen at 6:56 PM on January 21, 2011
The question was something like "What would be required for Apple to completely manufacture the iPhone in the US?"
posted by cjorgensen at 6:56 PM on January 21, 2011
Yeah, I just went over there and tried to dick around. They make it really hard to find anything and then, when you do find interesting questions, the answers are eh.
Then I found this and decided to come back here.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
Then I found this and decided to come back here.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
CunningLinguist hates marriage!
posted by cjorgensen at 7:24 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 7:24 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's statistical data that shows the frequency of sex increases the chances of pregnancy.
WHOA HOLD ON STOP THE PRESSES
posted by graventy at 7:53 PM on January 21, 2011 [12 favorites]
WHOA HOLD ON STOP THE PRESSES
posted by graventy at 7:53 PM on January 21, 2011 [12 favorites]
The questions have no personality. Are there rules about how to write your question or something?
posted by rtha at 8:23 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by rtha at 8:23 PM on January 21, 2011
The high quality of questions on AskMe is definitely an under-appreciated aspect of its awesomeness.
posted by ErikaB at 8:44 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by ErikaB at 8:44 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
I find it extremely weird that quora makes the names of the answerers quite clear but you really have to dig to find who posted the question. Please correct me if I'm wrong but it's nowhere on the page; you have to go to the Change Log and scroll all the way down to the first log entry ("Question added by") to figure out who in the hell posted it. Are they trying to make some statement about encouraging people to not consider who's asking, or is this in response to their use-real-names-please policy so that people don't feel quite so bad asking odd questions.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:45 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Rhomboid at 8:45 PM on January 21, 2011
rhaomi: Can you elaborate on that? It seems odd to discourage people from turning to multiple services for help.
cortex: No, it's more that we don't want people just sort of copypasting stuff to multiple sites on a regular basis just for the (even semi-scientific) lulz, because it creates sort of a weird dynamic and hints at inter-site drama.
If someone has a problem they need solved and they feel like they can legitimately improve their chance of getting it solved in a timely or effective manner by going to more than one place with it, obviously that's their call and that's fine.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say you don't want people copypasting stuff to multiple sites "for the lulz."
Do you mean you don't want people doing it as a practical joke or to screw with other people?
Or do you mean you don't want people doing it just because they feel like it, or would just find it interesting to see the different answers, or something like that.
If the latter, I think that is a HUGE overreach. To dictate what users can and can't do on other sites is, in my opinion, not very cool at all. I don't see how how that's anyone's business.
posted by Ashley801 at 9:21 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
cortex: No, it's more that we don't want people just sort of copypasting stuff to multiple sites on a regular basis just for the (even semi-scientific) lulz, because it creates sort of a weird dynamic and hints at inter-site drama.
If someone has a problem they need solved and they feel like they can legitimately improve their chance of getting it solved in a timely or effective manner by going to more than one place with it, obviously that's their call and that's fine.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say you don't want people copypasting stuff to multiple sites "for the lulz."
Do you mean you don't want people doing it as a practical joke or to screw with other people?
Or do you mean you don't want people doing it just because they feel like it, or would just find it interesting to see the different answers, or something like that.
If the latter, I think that is a HUGE overreach. To dictate what users can and can't do on other sites is, in my opinion, not very cool at all. I don't see how how that's anyone's business.
posted by Ashley801 at 9:21 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
I know exactly what they mean by "lulz". Post the same slightly incendiary fake question on both sites. Write a blog post comparing them (like "AskMe suggested that I DTMFA! Quora suggested I give him a blowjob! AskMe sucks!") Start a dumb internet drama thing.
posted by muddgirl at 9:25 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by muddgirl at 9:25 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
The problem there seems to be writing incendiary fake questions that are not made in good faith, and insulting people, not actually the act, in and of itself, of asking the same question to 2 different sites.
posted by Ashley801 at 9:28 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Ashley801 at 9:28 PM on January 21, 2011
Which is why cortex wrote
posted by muddgirl at 9:33 PM on January 21, 2011
If someone has a problem they need solved and they feel like they can legitimately improve their chance of getting it solved in a timely or effective manner by going to more than one place with it, obviously that's their call and that's fine.Seems pretty cut and dried to me. No need to get out the anti-fascist signs.
posted by muddgirl at 9:33 PM on January 21, 2011
To dictate what users can and can't do on other sites is, in my opinion, not very cool at all. I don't see how how that's anyone's business.
If people copypaste a post to MeFi and four other sites, we'll suggest that maybe they're not really making a post because there's something they want to share with other people here.
If people post the exact same question to a bunch of AskAQuestion sites, it seems more like what they're trying to do is compare question sites, not solve a problem. Sometimes people ask questions here and they also ask similar questions on other sites. People track down those other questions and bring them into AskMe questions [rarely, but it has happened] and this creates mod issues, bringing people's personal information in etc.
So yeah, it happens that people will ask questions in more than one place, but it can cause problems, people should be aware of those issues and if your meta question is "how do these question sites compare" ask that question and don't go doing empirical research and using commenters as guinea pigs. Once in a rare while it's fine. Over and over and it becomes not okay.
We're not in any way dictating what people do elsewhere; we're just outlining how it affects things here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:43 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
If people copypaste a post to MeFi and four other sites, we'll suggest that maybe they're not really making a post because there's something they want to share with other people here.
If people post the exact same question to a bunch of AskAQuestion sites, it seems more like what they're trying to do is compare question sites, not solve a problem. Sometimes people ask questions here and they also ask similar questions on other sites. People track down those other questions and bring them into AskMe questions [rarely, but it has happened] and this creates mod issues, bringing people's personal information in etc.
So yeah, it happens that people will ask questions in more than one place, but it can cause problems, people should be aware of those issues and if your meta question is "how do these question sites compare" ask that question and don't go doing empirical research and using commenters as guinea pigs. Once in a rare while it's fine. Over and over and it becomes not okay.
We're not in any way dictating what people do elsewhere; we're just outlining how it affects things here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:43 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Popeye
{aHUg ckey-ckey-ckey}
(the 'c' has g/c 'guhkey' quickness)
Popeye (que to 1:55)
posted by clavdivs at 9:45 PM on January 21, 2011
{aHUg ckey-ckey-ckey}
(the 'c' has g/c 'guhkey' quickness)
Popeye (que to 1:55)
posted by clavdivs at 9:45 PM on January 21, 2011
Thanks for clarifying, Jessamyn, that seems much more reasonable.
posted by Ashley801 at 9:47 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Ashley801 at 9:47 PM on January 21, 2011
Those other sites are okay, but I doubt they know how big a rhino bladder is.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:25 AM on January 22, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:25 AM on January 22, 2011 [6 favorites]
Huh. I clicked the link and got a page that told me that Facebook Questions wasn't ready for me yet. (And I am logged in to FB.)
I get that too (but weirdly I used to be able to access FB Questions. They were as dumb as you'd expect).
posted by Infinite Jest at 9:12 AM on January 22, 2011
I get that too (but weirdly I used to be able to access FB Questions. They were as dumb as you'd expect).
posted by Infinite Jest at 9:12 AM on January 22, 2011
Why would anyone use Facebook Questions?
Because you want to know what's popular.
posted by philip-random at 9:28 AM on January 22, 2011
Because you want to know what's popular.
posted by philip-random at 9:28 AM on January 22, 2011
In a hundred years people are going to use this page as proof that 'lulz' and 'lulls' are etymological siblings.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:49 AM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dirtdirt at 9:49 AM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
If people post the exact same question to a bunch of AskAQuestion sites, it seems more like what they're trying to do is compare question sites, not solve a problem
This sounds like a pretty unfounded assumption, maybe extrapolated from a few examples, or imagining what you would be thinking if you did this yourself.
To me it seems pretty reasonable that if something is important to someone and they want to get as much input on it as possible, they'd ask in multiple places.
As for copy/pasting... well that's just efficient. Think and write once, then re-use where possible. It might detract from Mefi's desire to have unique content, but it's perfectly sensible from the user's standpoint.
That said, I'm not a Quora member, and I don't ask questions on multiple sites. But that's only because that would be more time consuming for me. Mostly I'd be glad to have more responses, more perspectives and more recommendations on my questions.
posted by philipy at 11:16 AM on January 22, 2011
This sounds like a pretty unfounded assumption, maybe extrapolated from a few examples, or imagining what you would be thinking if you did this yourself.
To me it seems pretty reasonable that if something is important to someone and they want to get as much input on it as possible, they'd ask in multiple places.
As for copy/pasting... well that's just efficient. Think and write once, then re-use where possible. It might detract from Mefi's desire to have unique content, but it's perfectly sensible from the user's standpoint.
That said, I'm not a Quora member, and I don't ask questions on multiple sites. But that's only because that would be more time consuming for me. Mostly I'd be glad to have more responses, more perspectives and more recommendations on my questions.
posted by philipy at 11:16 AM on January 22, 2011
We here at Metafilter have policies, we have moderators, we have a $5 fee to get in the door that keeps the clowniest clowns out, we have 10+ years of a culture that has evolved here, and we have a shitload of active users who are smart people invested in preserving that culture, who will smack you down if you mess with it or stink up the joint (which, in fairness, probably works against us sometimes).
AFAICT, Quora has none of those things. I've noticed, for example, that a lot of questions get tagged as "Questions that contain assumptions" (eg "Why do the Packers suck so hard?"). In my own desultory way, I've been tagging certain questions as "Questions that cannot be answered authoritatively" (eg "What new features will the iPhone 5 have?").
That's a long way from moderation, policies, and culture—that's just a way of indicating that some random jerk on the Internet thinks you asked a bad question.
posted by adamrice at 2:15 PM on January 22, 2011
AFAICT, Quora has none of those things. I've noticed, for example, that a lot of questions get tagged as "Questions that contain assumptions" (eg "Why do the Packers suck so hard?"). In my own desultory way, I've been tagging certain questions as "Questions that cannot be answered authoritatively" (eg "What new features will the iPhone 5 have?").
That's a long way from moderation, policies, and culture—that's just a way of indicating that some random jerk on the Internet thinks you asked a bad question.
posted by adamrice at 2:15 PM on January 22, 2011
This sounds like a pretty unfounded assumption, maybe extrapolated from a few examples, or imagining what you would be thinking if you did this yourself.
It's my best guess at what people who have done this in AskMe in the past [that we know of] were doing [when we've asked]. I've been at this for six years. If people want to avail themselves of other Q&A sites, that's their business. If they think MeFites won't find similar questions on other Q&A sites and bring them in to answering a question here, they are probably mistaken. If people just want to poll the widest possible audience and don't care much about the AskMe community, that's also their prerogative but, to my mind, it ignores what's special about this community.
It might detract from Mefi's desire to have unique content
We really don't care about unique content, but we care about our unique community. Our desire is that there is never a day in an internet future where people can type a question into a box at some meta-Q&A site and post it simultaneously to five different sites and have AskMe be one of those sites.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:26 PM on January 22, 2011
It's my best guess at what people who have done this in AskMe in the past [that we know of] were doing [when we've asked]. I've been at this for six years. If people want to avail themselves of other Q&A sites, that's their business. If they think MeFites won't find similar questions on other Q&A sites and bring them in to answering a question here, they are probably mistaken. If people just want to poll the widest possible audience and don't care much about the AskMe community, that's also their prerogative but, to my mind, it ignores what's special about this community.
It might detract from Mefi's desire to have unique content
We really don't care about unique content, but we care about our unique community. Our desire is that there is never a day in an internet future where people can type a question into a box at some meta-Q&A site and post it simultaneously to five different sites and have AskMe be one of those sites.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:26 PM on January 22, 2011
MetaFilter: Keeping The Clowniest Clowns Out.
posted by ericb at 2:30 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ericb at 2:30 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
In other Q&A site drama, after years of showcasing a round-up of questions from AskMe, Lifehacker has brought the feature back... featuring just about every Q&A site but AskMe. I'm guessing this is due to a recent "Hive Five" poll in which Ask was just beaten out by upstarts like Quora and Aardvark.
It's kind of sad, at least for me, since their old AskMe round-up was what introduced me to Metafilter in the first place.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:00 PM on January 22, 2011
It's kind of sad, at least for me, since their old AskMe round-up was what introduced me to Metafilter in the first place.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:00 PM on January 22, 2011
Don't take your shoes off in my house, because your feet smell. They really do. I know you can't smell them; that's because we generally don't smell our own body smell. But trust me: your feet smell really bad.
Be polite. Keep them inside your shoes. I can clean my floor/carpet. But I can never, ever clean my memory of the eldritch reek or your foul feet.
Thank you.
posted by Decani at 3:52 PM on January 22, 2011
Be polite. Keep them inside your shoes. I can clean my floor/carpet. But I can never, ever clean my memory of the eldritch reek or your foul feet.
Thank you.
posted by Decani at 3:52 PM on January 22, 2011
Dude, something is wrong with your friends' feet.
posted by maryr at 11:32 PM on January 22, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by maryr at 11:32 PM on January 22, 2011 [3 favorites]
I asked my real estate agent's property manager to contact the landlord to remove the mouldy, decaying, foul-dusty smelling carpet from the floors in the house I rent. So far no dice. Until then I'd like to keep my shoes on in my own house and keep my sense of grievance razor-sharp for the coming class war.
Ask.me, how should I politely propagandise to my guests about income inequality and my city's undersupply of housing stock?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:12 PM on January 23, 2011
Ask.me, how should I politely propagandise to my guests about income inequality and my city's undersupply of housing stock?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:12 PM on January 23, 2011
At least AskMe doesn't make a pretense to having a definitive answer to this question while some of the Quora answerers are playing sociologists and definitively offering answers that are also obviously wrong.
posted by GuyZero at 1:39 PM on January 24, 2011
posted by GuyZero at 1:39 PM on January 24, 2011
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posted by doctor_negative at 4:09 PM on January 21, 2011