Pony request: Silent Meta, Hidden Filter

April 12, 2011 2:14 AM

Would it be possible/easy to set up a MetaFilter account which allows for tagging, favorites etc., but has no ability to post comments?

MetaFilter accounts are very useful for being able to tag posts as interesting, and to tag particular posts as interesting (I know the term "favorite" is contentious, there, but the functionality works the same way...). In general, browsing as a member is a much richer experience than browsing without a membership. However, it's all to easy to get tempted into contributing.

The obvious answer to this, of course, is self-control, but assuming the social impulse is hardwired, is there an easy way to shut off posting on an account?

posted by running order squabble fest to Feature Requests at 2:14 AM (77 comments total)

An official SILENCED ALL MY LIFE feature? What a great idea!
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:27 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

It ought to be simple enough for someone who knows how to do these things to write a browser extension or greasemonkey script to disable the comment box. Perhaps if you say what browser you use somebody might oblige?
Or you you could do what I do to limit contribution and cultivate a crushingly low sense of self esteem, so that every time you write a comment you think to yourself "meh, nobody will want to read that" and close the window rather than clicking "post".
posted by nowonmai at 2:39 AM on April 12, 2011 [12 favorites]

The obvious answer to this, of course, is self-control, but assuming the social impulse is hardwired, is there an easy way to shut off posting on an account?

Talk to a genetic counselor about that hardwiring.
posted by hal_c_on at 2:47 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

However, it's all to easy to get tempted into contributing.

Generally we want you to contribute. User contributions is what makes this site what it is (i.e. awesome). I don't see why this is a problem?
posted by shelleycat at 3:17 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

However, it's all to easy to get tempted into contributing.

That's the point of a community site, isn't it? I'm not sure I understand why you would perceive this as an evil temptation to be avoided -- or why the devs would help you.
posted by londonmark at 4:22 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

You could just throw some duct tape over your keyboard no?
posted by pwally at 4:24 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you have a desktop you could unplug and hide the keyboard if you had metafilter in your bookmarks.

Then you can join the league of lurkers without any temptation.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 4:31 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Warning: I just spent 5 minutes testing the voice recognition portion of my phone. It is pretty amazing that I can say things in the words just appear. I can say things like, ' I like turtles.' and ' herbert bar uters' (well it didn't like hurf-durf butter eaters). All i am saying is make sure you shut off any voice recognition software too. Side note: herbert bar uters would be a good name for a band.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:49 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

The obvious answer to this, of course, is self-control

But the easier answer is to ask someone else - or something else - to control you instead.
posted by three blind mice at 4:51 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

There is no setting for this in your profile. You would need to use a greasemonkey script or something like that. But, I think self-control is the way to go. You can do it!
posted by Roger Dodger at 4:51 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

IANYD or your carpenter, but I'm pretty sure this is why they make hacksaws.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:54 AM on April 12, 2011

One day you will see something SO egregious that you will need to post. I promise.
posted by By The Grace of God at 5:08 AM on April 12, 2011 [6 favorites]

Apologies - it certainly wasn't my intention to suggest that people in general shouldn't contribute. That would be weird.

The Grace of God has sort of nailed the user behavior I was thinking about. Partly this was inspired by watching the very intense and increasingly personal discussion about the Goldstone Report. It's possible that at some point one of the participants is going to find the Golden Snitch and the Arab-Israeli conflict will be resolved as a result of a breakthrough made on MetaFilter, but it seems relatively unlikely.

I've seen essentially the same battle, conducted at the same emotional temperature and intensity, taking place about other things - it's a running joke, isn't it? "I want my cat circumcised and declawed, should I use an Apple or Android device to do it?" or words to that effect. And, going on from that, once you accept that almost anything can be somebody's Israel-Palestine, it becomes basically impossible to post anything without it potentially ending up as a casus belli.

I realise this question relates to finding a technical solution to a psychological issue - the desire to be a part of a community which produces good content combined with the impossibility of knowing what isn't going to lead to conflict (which is generally bad content). But it got me thinking about the classic input interface challenge of Don't Shoot the Puppy, and then I was up late, and I got curious. And I've liked the variation between technical solution (greasemonkey script), personal solution (self-control) and humorous nuclear option (remove all text input devices, cut off your hands) in the responses so far.

Clearly, changing MetaFilter itself wouldn't be the only way to tweak behaviors - and it certainly wouldn't be the funniest. A login which preserved the power search elements of membership but consciously removed the social aspects just seemed like an interesting possible way to cut the user experience cake. So, "pony request" was possibly misleading. "Metapony", possibly?
posted by running order squabble fest at 5:12 AM on April 12, 2011

You could join Team MetaFilter over at Health Month and create a custom "don't rule" limiting your weekly comments on the site to zero.
posted by TheCavorter at 5:31 AM on April 12, 2011 [5 favorites]

And, going on from that, once you accept that almost anything can be somebody's Israel-Palestine, it becomes basically impossible to post anything without it potentially ending up as a casus belli.

Not to be glib, but I bet if you gave into temptation and contributed more, across all different types of threads, you would find that we're not that combative. Yes, there are certain issues to avoid, but they are really easy to spot.
posted by Think_Long at 5:35 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

If your interest is in experimenting with user participation dynamics, why not create an account that is unable to read Metafilter but can post and comment.
posted by ardgedee at 5:36 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

And, going on from that, once you accept that almost anything can be somebody's Israel-Palestine, it becomes basically impossible to post anything without it potentially ending up as a casus belli.

posted by running order squabble fest

Also: eponysterical.
posted by Think_Long at 5:36 AM on April 12, 2011

It can probably be done easily with a user script, by not displaying the post buttons, or the textarea, or something like that, but if you lack the self-control to avoid posting, then doing that probably won't work. I tried changing my .hosts file so I couldn't get to metatalk, and you can clearly see how well that worked. Any trick you can do to, you can easily undo.

My suggestion is to start give yourself some sort of short term goal : "I won't post the next time I feel the inclination to," or "I will type it out, but I won't press the post button". Give yourself a small treat. Then increase it to the next two times.

Short of that, try unplugging your keyboard. That way, you can click on stuff, but you can't actually type anything.
posted by crunchland at 5:43 AM on April 12, 2011

And, going on from that, once you accept that almost anything can be somebody's Israel-Palestine, it becomes basically impossible to post anything without it potentially ending up as a casus belli.

Uh, so?

I've certainly encountered people here (and other places) who were clearly so over the top enraged about some topic that their incoherent rantings made me wonder if they could pass a Turing test. Sucks to be them I suppose.

On the other hand, if the notion that someone out there might be using a solid state amplifier for some purpose (to pick something random and odd) makes you apoplectic, you've made some really poor mental hygiene decisions in your life. That wouldn't make a post on building your own $5 amplifier (using a cracker box as a housing) a sin on my part.

Making such a post with only a single link to a Make Magazine blog post would be a sin on my part though, so don't do that.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:01 AM on April 12, 2011

I imagine the following in a user stylesheet (or one of the browser plugins like Stylish) would do the trick:

#commentform { display:none; }

Or, for a more hardcore solution, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to get Privoxy or similar to block the form, then you could route all your browser/phone/whatever traffic through the proxy and never see a comment form again.
posted by jack_mo at 6:02 AM on April 12, 2011

The user named this post was deleted for: has been doing this for over four years now.
posted by Curious Artificer at 6:11 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sounds like a revenue opportunity for Matt. $5 for the standard Mefi membership. $10 for a membership that doesn't allow posting.
posted by COD at 6:20 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

The obvious answer to this, of course, is self-control, but assuming the social impulse is hardwired, is there an easy way to shut off posting on an account?

A small script hiding the comment box should work in most cases but the site's fundamentally not built to allow you to do one thing [favorite] while not doing another [comment]. And in case you haven't seen it before, here is a story I like about will power.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:44 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

And then $20 for the "ooh but I have to post just this once" waiver.
posted by hydrophonic at 6:46 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oh, Privoxy and Stylish are interesting - that could be a replicable solution.

Not to be glib, but I bet if you gave into temptation and contributed more, across all different types of threads, you would find that we're not that combative. Yes, there are certain issues to avoid, but they are really easy to spot.

I thought that initially while looking at the Goldstone Report discussion, but then I noticed that I had been strangely combative about the suggestion that Ripley in Aliens was in narrative terms a masculine figure. Then a gag of mine early on in the same thread about how much MetaFilter seems to love My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic came back to bite me later on, as a sign that I lacked the maturity to discuss Sucker Punch. At about the same time, Mayor Curley took a shot at (not to my knowledge MetaFilter's own) Lani Guinier, in a thread which up until then had not involved her.

At which point I got to thinking about how if you were sociable by nature but also conflict-averse, or didn't react well when confronted with aggression in some other way, the ability to post to MetaFilter could be envisaged as a price you paid for the power search features. Which was an inversion of the way I had generally envisioned MetaFilter membership, which got me thinking about where the value of MetaFilter membership might inhere, and it all sort of went from there. I'm not suggesting that this would necessarily be a valuable offering, although actually both ardgedee and COD have great ideas. Mizaru/kikazaru/iwazarufilter, anyone?
posted by running order squabble fest at 6:56 AM on April 12, 2011

Ahem.

Join us. Joooiiiiiinnnnnn Uuuuusssssssssss.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:23 AM on April 12, 2011

Let's call it a "stalkpuppet account".
posted by fake at 7:24 AM on April 12, 2011 [10 favorites]

I noticed that I had been strangely combative about the suggestion that Ripley in Aliens was in narrative terms a masculine figure.

Heh, I thought that's what this was about.
posted by knapah at 7:31 AM on April 12, 2011

the ability to post to MetaFilter could be envisaged as a price you paid for the power search features

I would look at the ability to post on Metafilter as an opportunity to become a better person by refraining from making destructive and/or ad hominem comments. This is a community, and the quality of the community is what we make of it. We can all ask ourselves before hitting that "Post Comment" button "Will this really contribute anything?"

I'm not claiming that every comment of mine has always been a boon to the community—I'm only human, like (I assume) everyone else here. But I close windows after writing responses and not hitting the Post button at least once a week.

Even if this is not iwazarufilter, it doesn't need to be iwazaru wo enai filter either.
posted by adamrice at 7:31 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

What is the desire to favorite posts?

... OK, that's a bit more existential than I intended it to be, but why do you want that functionality? Is it that it's just inherently pleasing to say "I approve of this comment" ? Or is it to bookmark them? I'm just not sure why you need a MetaFilter account at all if you aren't interested in the ability to comment/post. (Not that giving to support the site or have an ad-free experience is a bad idea.)
posted by maryr at 7:50 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's like you want to gaslight Metafilter.
posted by The Whelk at 7:54 AM on April 12, 2011

I hate technological solutions that address what is fundamentally a personal problem.

Example: Can you block facebook at the firewall so employees can't look at it anywhere but the break room?

Answer: Yes, but it's better to tell them not to go there if there's a problem with doing so.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:06 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

What is the desire to favorite posts?

An easy-to-access warehouse full of interesting comments, not necessarily due to approval of said comments.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:20 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was horrified at how rapidly your desire to refrain from commenting as turned into so many people's personal crusade to persuade you that you are wrong. So I took pity and made a Safari extension that hides the comment box. If you use Safari, and if such a relatively minor obstacle to posting might keep you out of fruitless arguments, then it might help. If not, I learned how to do something today anyway.
posted by nowonmai at 8:24 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

nowonmai, thanks. Much appreciated.
posted by zarq at 8:51 AM on April 12, 2011

nowonmai, thanks. Much appreciated

You wouldn't say that if you were using it, buddy.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 8:52 AM on April 12, 2011 [15 favorites]

the quidnunc kid: "You wouldn't say that if you were using it, buddy."

MMMF! MMMMMMFF! MMMMMMMMFFFFFFFF!
posted by zarq at 9:00 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hrm. I'm the only person who has ever used the mmmmff!! tag?
posted by zarq at 9:03 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

Here is another technical solution you may like. Have a greasemonkey script that changes nothing that you can see, but never actually posts anything. Then the poster can actually write stuff and click post but it never shows up.
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:07 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

That might actually be sorta brilliant.
posted by maryr at 9:10 AM on April 12, 2011

Then the poster can actually write stuff and click post but it never shows up.

Or it shows up, but only on their computer. You could call it My Own Private MetaFilter.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:12 AM on April 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

Obscure Reference: "Here is another technical solution you may like. Have a greasemonkey script that changes nothing that you can see, but never actually posts anything. Then the poster can actually write stuff and click post but it never shows up."

Call it Self-Hellban.
posted by zarq at 9:12 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

really??? that's what browser bookmarks and tags are for...
posted by tomswift at 9:15 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I like Rock Steady's name better. :D
posted by zarq at 9:17 AM on April 12, 2011

I wrote a greasemonkey script that makes everybody's comments filthy nasty. It runs in my mind.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:21 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

Just yell at the monitor instead of posting. Keeps you out of arguments with internet denizens, but might be bad in an office setting.
posted by Big_B at 9:21 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I can't unsee the "mmmmff!!" tag.

knapah: Heh, I thought that's what this was about.

A little bit; I found myself looking at that and thinking "you know, I think Aliens is a great movie, but I'm not dating Ellen Ripley. There was no need to tell Nathan V that his interpretation was terrible, when all I meant was that I disagreed with it strongly." Which made me think about the way people were posting in the latest Israel/Palestine thread, where not only did people keep coming back but kept coming back and all but calling each other apologists for state murder, supporters of terrorism, useful idiots...

(Then I got called a blazing troll asshole for failing to take the Zack Snyder masturbation libel seriously enough, which helped me to feel more karmically balanced, but I remained curious.)

maryr: What Greg Nog said, basically. Favorites seem to do two things - to express approval for a sentiment and to mark something as interesting - which aren't mutually exclusive. I favorited the quidnunc kid, above, because it make me chuckle - so it's almost like a tip jar. But I also favorite things with links I don't have time to look at, or arguments I want to look at in more detail. I guessed that was a normal dual usage? If it was just keeping track of interesting discussions, that could be done with a Delicious list, although it would be less elegant.

Thanks for the Safari plugin, nowonmai! I'll be interested to see how it changes my experience. I really like Obscure Reference's idea as well - a sort of therapists' office punching pillow...
posted by running order squabble fest at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2011

I'm going nuts here.
posted by milestogo at 9:33 AM on April 12, 2011

Then I got called a blazing troll asshole for failing to take the Zack Snyder masturbation libel seriously enough

Not that I'm disagreeing strongly, but after having gone and read that thread a little more thoroughly, I think your read on it is a little (not terribly) askew. I get that you're just learning the ropes here and taking this to MeTa is a fine thing, although it seems a little bit like this MeTa thread is sort of a sleeper "Hey I got called a troll!" thread at the same time as it's ostensibly helping you solve the problem of not fighting with people about things you feel passionately about. So just to mention that, which cortex already did in the thread...

If people feel the need to call people trolls, we'd much much rather they'd do it in MeTa than here. If you're upset that someone called you a troll you can contact us via the contact form, open a MeTa thread or follow-up in the thread with some reasonable obviously non-trollish discussion which usually removes all doubt. I know this is difficult, especially for people who have the sort of strong feelings and presentation that may get them labeled trollish in the first place. But yes, it's a serious accusation here too, but one that is not dealt with by fighting about it in the thread.

We'd really prefer people didn't bandy about calling people trolls, is what I'm saying.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:36 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's like you want to gaslight Metafilter.

Yeah, well, that didn't work out so well for Paphnuty.

Just yell at the monitor instead of posting. Keeps you out of arguments with internet denizens, but might be bad in an office setting.

I get tremendous mileage from this. But then I work from home.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:40 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

[MONITORIST!!!]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:44 AM on April 12, 2011

running order squabble fest: "I can't unsee the "mmmmff!!" tag."

Aaaaand my work here is done.

Which made me think about the way people were posting in the latest Israel/Palestine thread,

The tone in that thread sucked from the get-go. Most I/P threads do. They're sort of a special exception to the usual rule around here -- we're mostly a pretty civil, non-ad hominem, non-personal attack bunch but it's an incredibly difficult and contentious topic and people have trouble containing their emotions. So it's easy to dip into outrage.
posted by zarq at 9:52 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I favorited the quidnunc kid, above, because it make me chuckle - so it's almost like a tip jar

That's right, and favoriting "the quidnunc kid" has brought joy to millions of people around the world.

Let's hear some more testimonials about how favoriting "the quidnunc kid", or just sending him money, or even rushing up to him in the street and hugging him and saying, "I feel your pain. You are special, to me, and to the world. Now let me express my love for you in a more intimate way" can improve YOUR life.

"I favorited the quidnunc kid once, and the next day I received 30 silver dollars."
-- J, Tax collector.

"I once touched his cloak as he walked by, and my leprosy cleared right up!"
-- Ms. A. Lady, Charity Recipient

"I thought the "+" button meant, 'crucify him'. "
-- Governor P. Pilate, Handwasher.

These ACTUAL testifications show how favorationing "the quidnunc kid" is in accordance with scripture and good-sensibleness. Plus, it's tax deductible. Act now to avoid schism.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:05 AM on April 12, 2011 [12 favorites]

Ask your administrator if "Mmmmff!!" is right for you.
posted by xod at 10:13 AM on April 12, 2011

Mmff mf mmff mf mmf

mf mmmf mmmff
mff mmfff
mfff mmff mf
mmf mmmffffff

mff mffff
mmf mmmf mmmffffff
mmfffff
mff mmmmffffffff

mmmfffff mf
mmfff mfff mmmmfffffff
mf mmfff
mff mf mmfff
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:40 AM on April 12, 2011 [4 favorites]

And if you think that's the stupidest thing you've ever read, you haven't read this.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:44 AM on April 12, 2011

Don't not post! The fact that you've favorited some of my comments clearly shows that you are a valuable member with important opinions, and also you smell really nice.

Seriously, though. I write out and delete about as many comments as I end up posting. If I* can learn self control I'm confident that skill is accessible to others.

* a bibulous hothead with "brain problems"
posted by jtron at 10:45 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

I CAN'T GET MY HEAD OUT OF THE QUIDNUNC KID'S TIP JAR. MMMMMFF!!

Jessamyn: Well, I wasn't keen on being called a troll, or indeed a flaming asshole, especially over something as odd as the Zack Snyder masturbation libel, and at the time I wasn't hugely keen on Cortex's equivalence - but in the cold light of day, which schoolyard scuffler likes to be told he's as bad the other?

But I think I'm over it. The same guy was calling someone a troll over the sitting down to pee libel at about the same time, as it turns out, so I'm guessing that this is just a thing that happens. It did get me thinking, though, and it reminded me of when Barbelith put in very tight daily comment limits, both to stop people arguing and to make people think about the value of what they were writing. And because I commented early on in the Goldstone Report thread its escalation was in my "recently added to" list, and it all kind of coalesced into the idea of having a "silent" MetaFilter account, or setting.

I mean, if it would help I could use the comment form now, but I'm guessing the moment has gone. I'll know for next time, though.
posted by running order squabble fest at 10:45 AM on April 12, 2011

(Not that I am planning that there'll be a next time! By my own mouth condemned!)
posted by running order squabble fest at 10:47 AM on April 12, 2011

(Where's mmmmff!! when you need it?)
posted by running order squabble fest at 10:48 AM on April 12, 2011

It's Raining Florence Henderson: "Mmff mf mmff mf mmf

mf mmmf mmmff
mff mmfff
mfff mmff mf
mmf mmmffffff

mff mffff
mmf mmmf mmmffffff
mmfffff
mff mmmmffffffff

mmmfffff mf
mmfff mfff mmmmfffffff
mf mmfff
mff mf mmff"

That sure was a fun weekend!
posted by hydrophonic at 10:52 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

While we're at it, can I get a Clippy that says:

"It appears that you are attempting to make a comment about your dog. If you have made a comment about your dog in the past week, I'm afraid your dog commenting functionality has been disabled. Please wait until next week to make another comment about your dog."
posted by taz at 10:55 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, don't feel bad if people get snippy with you over what seem to be insignificant quibbles. You'll quickly figure out when you've actually violated some cultural norm and when the other person is being a jerk. HINT: it will probably be about a 1 v 99% relationship
posted by jtron at 11:07 AM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cats, on the other hand, feel free to comment about any time. A reminder will be given if you fail to include the required Zomgkitty! Picture.
posted by librarylis at 11:07 AM on April 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'll be working on a greasemonkey script that makes you pay me $5 before you comment.
posted by klangklangston at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2011

cultivate a crushingly low sense of self esteem

that is SO much fun to picture on somebody's to-do list.
posted by herbplarfegan at 11:33 AM on April 12, 2011

join the league of lurkers

...the list continues.
posted by herbplarfegan at 11:35 AM on April 12, 2011

And if you think that's the stupidest thing you've ever read, you haven't read this.

Having freedom makes the freedom-haters more free to hate freedom!
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:31 PM on April 12, 2011

And in case you haven't seen it before, here is a story I like about will power

Here is a better story about will power:


So I then got this idea about driving a cheescake truck
Cause I figured at the end of the day I could take the leftover cheesecakes home
And I love cheesecake
So I went to the cheesecake company
And they asked me if I could drive a truck
And I said yes
And they said "You're hired!"
So the next day I got in the truck with all the cheesecakes
And I drove about a block and I just had to have a cheesecake
So I pulled over and opened the truck and got a cheesecake
And I also took one for later
And I took one for my friend Farm Boy
And I took one to bring home
And by that time I had eaten one of the cheesecakes
So I took another one

So then I figured I might as well stop by my house to drop off all the cheesecakes
So I take five cakes to eat on the way
and I drive the other block and a half to my house
Now its lunch time so I eat ten cheesecakes
And a cheesecake for dessert
(I should point out by the way that all of these cheesecakes were very delicious)

Anyway, I decided the only thing to do would be to eat all
the rest of the cheesecakes and hide the truck somewhere and leave town
And I miss everybody alot
But I'm not very sorry
Because they were very delicious cheesecakes
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:13 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I used to have a Will Powered Generator, but eventually Will got too weak and I couldn't keep him from sliding off the bicycle seat even with a whole roll of duct tape.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:04 PM on April 12, 2011

I figured out how to solve the don't post problem... I deleted my first account, and I'm not gonna screw up this one 'cuz I don't have another $5
posted by tomswift at 3:22 PM on April 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

hmm.. I used to have a Wil powered generator, but HE fell off the seat into some crappy movie about a dead body...and the rest was history.
posted by tomswift at 3:23 PM on April 12, 2011

Here's what we can do. E-mail me your password. I'll change it to keep you out. Send me 5 bucks a month, and then any time you want something favorited or whatever just send me an e-mail and I'll take care of it for you.

Barring that, you could also just comment and not take everything everyone says to heart.
posted by graventy at 4:25 PM on April 12, 2011

I figured out how to solve the don't post problem... I deleted my first account, and I'm not gonna screw up this one 'cuz I don't have another $5

Are you making fun of me?
posted by herbplarfegan at 5:06 PM on April 12, 2011

"Are you making fun of me?"

If I knew who you really were, I could answer that...
posted by tomswift at 5:59 PM on April 12, 2011

Roger Dodger: "You would need to use a greasemonkey script or something like that."

There is already a Stylish script that removes the comments box. It removes a few other things too (like oh, comments) but I'm sure it could be edited to only hide the post box fairly easily.
posted by IndigoRain at 11:53 PM on April 12, 2011

Yeah, well, that didn't work out so well for Paphnuty.

Poor, poor Paphnuty. (To the tune of Tom Jones' Delilah.)

Have a greasemonkey script that changes nothing that you can see, but never actually posts anything. Then the poster can actually write stuff and click post but it never shows up.

That's mostly how I work my weblog - write out a post, read it, delete it.
posted by jack_mo at 7:12 PM on April 13, 2011