This is all very amusing September 21, 2011 6:46 AM   Subscribe

How many "how many..." FPP's in one day is too many?

Has this sorta thing, flash-mob-style posts building off each other, has that happened on MeFi before? How many times?
posted by Taft to Etiquette/Policy at 6:46 AM (158 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

I don't know the history, but it got old w/the second one this time.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:50 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


Yeah, it's striking me a little weird, enough where I have this fear of clicking on any of the FPPs for fear of something bad happening.
posted by Kitteh at 6:50 AM on September 21, 2011


There was Elephant Day about five years ago. That one was amusing. Not so sure about this one.
posted by Hactar at 6:50 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


If the posts have interesting content, who cares?
posted by josher71 at 6:54 AM on September 21, 2011 [14 favorites]


That elephant day thread is all sorts of amusing (as are any threads with pictures).

Oh, and loquacious had *WAY* too much coffee that day. There are 365 comments in that thread, and I think that he wrote about a third of them...
posted by schmod at 6:56 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


What if they don't?
posted by box at 6:56 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


What if they don't?

The mods will delete them.
posted by josher71 at 6:57 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


I flagged them all. And I haven't had coffee yet. So sue me.
posted by Splunge at 6:59 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


And that post was deleted. I'm not seeing this as anything other than a minor mod/user annoyance.
posted by josher71 at 7:00 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


They don't. When you're looking for a single link to justify "getting in on the fun" you are specifically not creating the best post you can.

The data wankery behind who actually has been on the space shuttle and how to quantify that is quite interesting. YMMV may vary, but I'd suggest a new car.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:03 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


December 26th, 2010 was Zelda Day.
posted by griphus at 7:06 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


J.S. Bach wrote Invention No. 4 a very long time ago, but I was playing it just now. Invention No. 4, in the key of D minor, is relatively simple. I had totally mastered the first third of it and the last third, but the middle third was tripping me up. Many notes were sharped, and I was not playing them sharped. Frustration set in and I eventually smashed my computer. (Well, it's an expensive computer, so I only pretended to smash it.) Take fifty average high-school kids who consider themselves guitar players. How many of them can play "Stairway To Heaven"? Forty-eight out of fifty? How many know the difference between the Ionian mode and the Aeolian mode? Three out of fifty? Those other forty-seven just don't have the desire to dig deeper into music, to explore. Everyone is limited by God-given musical ability. No matter which deity you believe in, you're stuck with a certain aptitude for music, but even if you're born "tone deaf" that doesn't exclude you from the magical world of music.

You just have to dig deeper into the mystery.

Have you ever seen a whole bunch of balloons released? Hundreds of balloons in all different colors, floating up and away... wouldn't it be funny to see someone at the end of the balloons, holding on for dear life, also floating up and away? Funny to us maybe, but not to them. They thought it would be amusing to grab onto the balloons, but they didn't expect to be carried away. They're in shock the first few seconds when they still have a chance to jump and survive. Before they know it, they're high in the sky, hoping a helicopter will come and rescue them. Eventually the balloons pop and they fall to the ground and die.

And you just have to learn to let go.

And I'll let you in on a little secret. There are plenty of people who dig into the mystery, but you know something? Not all of them let go.
posted by Edogy at 7:07 AM on September 21, 2011 [6 favorites]


I bet it's those meta chat folks. Lord knows what plans they cook up in that den of sin.
posted by Think_Long at 7:08 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


Have you ever seen a whole bunch of balloons released?

I misread that as "baboons" and was promptly disappointed with the rest of whatever the hell you wrote. Instead, I'm going to picture a city savaged by hundreds wild baboons and giggle to myself in my office.
posted by griphus at 7:09 AM on September 21, 2011 [14 favorites]


Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis many.
posted by maryr at 7:11 AM on September 21, 2011 [8 favorites]


It would be great if anyone who has an awesome post lined up would consider skipping the emergent theme so we don't have to look at that post with a jaundiced eye, and if folks with mediocre links they've scrounged up would skip posting them so as not to turn a short ha ha fun thing with otherwise good posts into a thing where everything gets flagged to shit and we have to either nix or not nix a bunch of borderline posts while everybody's annoyed.

Is my blearly take, not having had any caffeine yet. I nixed the wikipedia-link post before I even saw the front page and am still catching up; that was a poor post even outside of the theme-posting context, and its deletion prior to others should not be read as an endorsement of the others.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:12 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


How many posts must a poster post before you can call him a poster?
posted by daniel_charms at 7:20 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


YMMV, but I'd suggest proving it's worth discussing and commenting on it there instead of defending 13 chatfilter puns about rock bands.

*Shrugs* Either people want to talk about the information in the link or make stupid jokes after getting up on single word. Sometimes threads roll like that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:20 AM on September 21, 2011


Oh cortex! J'accuse!
posted by gwint at 7:22 AM on September 21, 2011 [6 favorites]


Somebody please make the "How many licks does it take to reach the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop" FPP. I would do it if I hadn't already used my FPP. Here's a link to get you started.
posted by troll at 7:22 AM on September 21, 2011




Somebody please make the "How many licks does it take to reach the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop" FPP.

Um...
posted by gwint at 7:24 AM on September 21, 2011


It's already been posted and deleted, troll. Also the Deleted Post greasemonkey script is quite utile.
posted by Edogy at 7:26 AM on September 21, 2011


Oh cortex! J'accuse!

That is the second-worst post I ever made to the site. The worst one was deleted. If I'd taken my time and just made a really solid post about Mancini a few days later, it would have been probably better all around.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:26 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Edogy: "It's already been posted and deleted, troll. Also the Deleted Post greasemonkey script is quite utile."

Right now it's making the front page look like cortex is playing Word Whomp.
posted by zarq at 7:27 AM on September 21, 2011


Haha, wow. I actually have that greasemonkey installed, just didn't see it before it got posted.

MetaFilter is weird like that.
posted by troll at 7:28 AM on September 21, 2011


Now I'm curious; what's the single-day record for the number of deleted posts?
posted by troll at 7:30 AM on September 21, 2011


STOP HAVING FUN ON THE FRONT PAGE.
posted by stp123 at 7:34 AM on September 21, 2011 [6 favorites]


Now I'm curious; what's the single-day record for the number of deleted posts?

How many deleted posts are there on one day?
posted by cashman at 7:34 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]




STOP HAVING FUN ON THE FRONT PAGE.

Again, how many skittles can I hold in my mouth?
posted by Ahab at 7:37 AM on September 21, 2011


That was both weird and a lot of fun.

I have absolutely no idea how that happened. There was no planning involved. I totally respect cortex for trying to keep a lid on it.
posted by twoleftfeet at 7:37 AM on September 21, 2011


Timeline of events for me.

1) Saw the page about photographs, and nearly posted it to metafilter. Didn't.
2) Saw the original "How many" posts and thought "Yay! They look the same."
3) Then thought "I can get me some of this. I AM SO CLEVER."
4) Posted the link.

I did post it in jest, and in full knowledge that it'd put some hackles up. And in the hope that it'd help provoke a slew of other "How Many" posts.

Sorry. I kinda still think it's funny, but I guess the moderators aren't having the best time of it.
posted by seanyboy at 7:39 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


People, living in a post-modern, information-rich world should lead us to more civility rather than less!
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:40 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


How many hugs does everyone need?
posted by cashman at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


The writer of this comment is becoming more baffled by recent first-person editorializing and perspective-steering among FPP's. He is just sayin'..
posted by obscurator at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2011


Sorry. I kinda still think it's funny, but I guess the moderators aren't having the best time of it.

And, I mean, we get it, the problem with theme posting is not that anyone is a jerk for having a little impish thought about formatting a post like that other one (or those other two, or those other for fuck's sake seven), it's that it just sort of turns into a "do we care whether posts are crap or not" thing that puts the actual site guidelines in direct conflict with what people are doing on the front page in a no-win sort of way for us.

So it's both understandable and a total mess to deal with as it continues.

STOP HAVING FUN ON THE FRONT PAGE.

That this is not how we really feel about the site but is the position we're forced into when people just sort of go nuts is a pretty frustrating thing about this from our end, yes. I like fun a lot more than I like having to be the adult in the room, but c'mon.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2011 [4 favorites]


I do not think the list of 50 fake, nondescript videogame characters is funny. It's just a forum "joke" run long.
posted by Edogy at 7:46 AM on September 21, 2011


I totally respect cortex for trying to keep a lid on it.

I agree. Theming a few posts once or twice is fun, but I'd hate for this to turn into a thing that promotes a barrage of mixed quality posts.
posted by stp123 at 7:47 AM on September 21, 2011


Now people who were planning on posting interesting, meaty posts anyway are going to reword their posts so that they start with "How many...?".
posted by Melismata at 7:49 AM on September 21, 2011


OK, this is driving me nuts. A few years ago three users collaborated to do three FPPs in a row using some obscure word; goodnewsfortheinsane references it here. Does anyone else remember it and more importantly which word was common to all the posts?
posted by TedW at 7:52 AM on September 21, 2011


Melismata: "Now people who were planning on posting interesting, meaty posts anyway are going to reword their posts so that they start with "How many...?"."

Or just not bother today. Gonna wait until later or tomorrow, so it's not buried.
posted by zarq at 7:53 AM on September 21, 2011


Or look odd.
posted by zarq at 7:54 AM on September 21, 2011


STOP HAVING FUN ON THE FRONT PAGE.

Yeah, those kinds of perversions are typically reserved for those of us who spend our times on the back page.

Wait... uh... there is no back page. No Cabal either.

Shut up!
posted by quin at 7:55 AM on September 21, 2011


Let go of the baboons, man.
posted by Edogy at 7:56 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


Huh. I just noticed that you can flag a deleted post. Wtf?
posted by troll at 7:57 AM on September 21, 2011


you can flag a deleted post.

That's just flogging a dead horse.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:00 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


How many cans?
posted by ardgedee at 8:05 AM on September 21, 2011


So, er… what's the basis for deciding which "how many " FPPs get to stand and which have to go? Or is the decision at the whim of the "adult in the room"?
posted by Nomyte at 8:13 AM on September 21, 2011




Strange. Not a single reference to light bulbs yet in any of this.
posted by philip-random at 8:19 AM on September 21, 2011


what's the basis for deciding which "how many " FPPs get to stand

Missed opportunity man. So close.
posted by cashman at 8:19 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


How many more times?
posted by philip-random at 8:20 AM on September 21, 2011


So, er… what's the basis for deciding which "how many " FPPs get to stand and which have to go?

There's an app for that.
posted by Sailormom at 8:21 AM on September 21, 2011


Missed opportunity man. So close.

How many times are you going to remind me?
posted by Nomyte at 8:21 AM on September 21, 2011


Ok, how many ninjas does it take to change a lightbulb?

Answer:
posted by dabug at 8:22 AM on September 21, 2011 [4 favorites]


Or is the decision at the whim of the "adult in the room"?

Calling it a "whim" is almost certainly inaccurate and unfair. As a mod, it's his (or her, depending) job to decide what goes and what stays, and the decisions are generally really solid, based on what I've observed here over the past several years.

Actually, though, the "basis" for deciding which posts live and which posts die (since you asked) is decided through an elaborate ritual involving chickens, Pokemon trading cards and copious amounts of Hungarian liquor, and is probably best left undiscussed by non-initiates
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:22 AM on September 21, 2011 [5 favorites]


So, er… what's the basis for deciding which "how many " FPPs get to stand and which have to go? Or is the decision at the whim of the "adult in the room"?

Flags, need to sap momentum (hopefully curbed at this point), discussion in here, and a soupcon of fundamental human frailty.

My desire would be to see people cut it out with that "How many" framing going forward so that the question can simply be "is this a good post" rather than "is this post good enough to get away with doing That Thing again today". Anybody bummed by having had their How Many post deleted today is encouraged to go give it a day or two and think about reframing it as a post that's not doomed by circumstance. If it's a great post, it's a great post, and there's no time crunch here.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:24 AM on September 21, 2011


So, er… what's the basis for deciding which "how many " FPPs get to stand and which have to go? Or is the decision at the whim of the "adult in the room"?

A little bell rings every time someone flags a post. At which point cortex's butler totters over to the monitor in the office, takes a note on a little piece of parchment, and carries it in to cortex's den, where it is examined by the man himself. Should the butler start having to walk too fast, or heaven forbid, run between the office and the den, cortex sighs, gets up out of his armchair, and heads into to the office to delete a post.

This is how I imagine it works anyway.
posted by Ahab at 8:25 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


an elaborate ritual involving chickens, Pokemon trading cards and copious amounts of Hungarian liquor, and is probably best left undiscussed by non-initiates

Yeah, I've been there. Definitely drove me closer to Christ.
posted by philip-random at 8:25 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


And basically there are three alternatives available here:

1. Delete none of them.
2. Delete all of them.
3. Delete some of them.

The first option would make it impossible to do our jobs today (and would make people wonder if we were even here) and would encourage a totally useless mess of a front page. The second one feels like serious overkill and prioritizes making sure people don't like get away with something over trying to just keep some pressure on folks to at least try with their posts.

So we're left with the third option as the most mefi-like approach, and the problem there is that most folks aren't going to produce identical lists of exactly which should stay and go. So it's watch the flags, makes some judgement calls, talk it out in Metatalk, and hope everybody sort of chills.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:28 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


If there is no rational basis for a decision, then it's based on a whim. A mod's task is to corral disorder by reinforcing guidelines in a predictable way.

After a moment's thought, I understand the motivation behind removing themed posts, although my personal inclination would be to let them just blow over, or delete all of them — tough, but fair. I think Metafilter's userbase is invested enough in the site to not let this kind of thing make the site insufferable.

Decision-making based on chickens is perfectly rational. One only needs to read his Evans-Pritchard to be convinced of that.
posted by Nomyte at 8:31 AM on September 21, 2011


…to read his Evans-Pritchard to be convinced of that.

Yeah.
posted by Nomyte at 8:33 AM on September 21, 2011


Enough already.
posted by Segundus at 8:34 AM on September 21, 2011


Yay! I played along. Do I get my participation trophy now?
posted by phunniemee at 8:34 AM on September 21, 2011


...and of course some people are still going to post their theme posts even after this thread because they think they are the cleverest ones in the room.
posted by smackfu at 8:36 AM on September 21, 2011


so this wasn't coordinated? It just spontaneously started with a SLYT about continents and Hal_c_on's snarky response about Oceans?
posted by ReWayne at 8:36 AM on September 21, 2011


Yay! I played along. Do I get my participation trophy now?

No.
posted by empath at 8:37 AM on September 21, 2011


I was not coordinated.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:37 AM on September 21, 2011


...and of course some people are still going to post their theme posts even after this thread because they think they are the cleverest ones in the room.

I was busy this morning and just fired up metafilter about 20 minutes ago, so missed all the earlier hoopla. I was planning on posting the Lemmings games today anyway. You're free to not play them.
posted by phunniemee at 8:39 AM on September 21, 2011


...and it got pwned. Fair 'nuff.
posted by phunniemee at 8:40 AM on September 21, 2011


Nothing personal, phunnimee, I'm fond of Lemmings myself, but, yeah. We kind of need folks to cut it out at this point I think, I'm not sure trying to thread this needle for anything other than a superlative post at this point is going to be worth my effort.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:40 AM on September 21, 2011


Crushed.
posted by Ahab at 8:40 AM on September 21, 2011


I thought the lemmings post was fine.
posted by schmod at 8:41 AM on September 21, 2011


A little bell rings every time someone flags a post.....cortex sighs, gets up out of his armchair, and heads into to the office to delete a post.

"These were highly trained electronics mods, Senator, looking for an electronic fault. The trouble was purely mechanical, of the simplest kind. But for them it was like trying to see an elephant through a microscope. The sliver had peeled from the roll, wedged between the bell and striker, prevented the bell from ringing."

THE HOWMANDROMEDA STRAIN
posted by cashman at 8:42 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


And it'd be a totally great post tomorrow instead of something that got immediately flagged a bunch and perpetuated an already annoying dynamic this morning.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:43 AM on September 21, 2011


cortex: "prioritizes making sure people don't like get away with something over trying to just keep some pressure on folks"

That sentence raced past the barn fell.
posted by Plutor at 8:46 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


I was wondering why two fairly okay-looking posts about videogames and the space shuttle had pretty much any flags at all. What a weird day to sleep in. The front page looks like a battlezone. Sorry I couldn't serve alongside you brother cortex.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:49 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


I was wondering why two fairly okay-looking posts about videogames and the space shuttle had pretty much any flags at all.

Shuttleism, plain and simple. We've got a while to go before Dr. King's dream is reality.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:56 AM on September 21, 2011


Not by the markings of their chassis, but by the content of their fuel tanks?
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:58 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


And basically there are three alternatives available here:

1. Delete none of them.
2. Delete all of them.
3. Delete some of them.


In case you decide to go with Option 2, will you also delete the "How many jelly beans does it take to fill Soldier Field?" post thinly disguised as a discussion of Neal Stephenson's new book?
posted by daniel_charms at 9:02 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


I WORSHIP A GOD WITH AN ELEPHANT HEAD
posted by loquacious at 9:12 AM on September 21, 2011


Anyway, I went and flagged all of them because I really dislike bandwagony stunts like this and the "How many continents?" post was quite thin to begin with. If all the stunt posts would have been posted as comments to that one, though, it would have been awesome. Perhaps it's not too late to rectify this?
posted by daniel_charms at 9:12 AM on September 21, 2011


Not by the markings of their chassis, but by the content of their fuel tanks?

The arc of a rocket's trajectory is long, but it bends towards low orbit.
posted by Think_Long at 9:13 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


42
posted by Sys Rq at 9:20 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


it'd be a totally great post tomorrow instead of something that got immediately flagged a bunch and perpetuated an already annoying dynamic this morning

I'm getting a little annoyed myself, by all the people who seem to accept that cortex and jessamyn's "annoyances" with moderation should become rules for site behaviour.

Can I just REMIND you all that WE, the users of metafilter, are effectively paying the mods' salaries?

And as such, shouldn't WE, the users of Metafilter, be telling THEM what to do?

And in that context, aren't THEY effectively our peon slave-chattels, who should immediately perform OUR every command?

And shouldn't WE, the masters of the metafilter universe, be getting a backrub right now from one of them? Because OUR backs are really SORE?

It's time to put the cart before the horse and elect a NEW President of Moderation who will serve the metafilter electorate with an iron fist.

Thus I commend you all to vote #1 quidnunc kid, and get ready for the most ironic fisting you've ever experienced.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 9:21 AM on September 21, 2011 [14 favorites]


decided through an elaborate ritual involving chickens, Pokemon trading cards and copious amounts of Hungarian liquor, and is probably best left undiscussed by non-initiates

Man, I love Unicum. It's great to drink with the uninitiated just to see faces.
posted by kaibutsu at 9:21 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


who should immediately perform OUR every command?

Now I am picturing cortex in a chicken suit, grimly performing the running man and the cabbage patch.
posted by elizardbits at 9:23 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


"That this is not how we really feel about the site but is the position we're forced into when people just sort of go nuts is a pretty frustrating thing about this from our end, yes. I like fun a lot more than I like having to be the adult in the room, but c'mon."

This is a really upsetting dynamic to be participating in and acknowledging, particularly in light of you guys' previously stated feeling about how Metafilter moderators are simply experienced members of the community entrusted with power to prevent specific bad actions. Has that changed?

Designbot's tootsie roll post is pretty fucking neat in our kind of profoundly dorky way, I learned something cool from Nomyte's real numbers post, seanyboy's photographs post is the coolest I've seen all week, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with phunniemee's awesome lemmings post except of course for that passing resemblance to other more unsavory posts. I no longer expect most Mefites to actually READ A FUCKING ARTICLE before making snap judgements and shitting on the site, but just damn. If that impulse is really affecting flagging that much and flagging is affecting you guys that much, maybe its time to rethink flagging.
posted by Blasdelb at 9:26 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


A space flight delayed is a space fliight denied.
posted by Think_Long at 9:28 AM on September 21, 2011


Has that changed?

Everything changed after the 10 year 9/11 memorial.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:29 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


A space flight in need is a friend in need a flight with weed is better.

Also RE: Unicum. It's delightful! Herby and rich! Just don't slam it back like a goddamn frozen Friestatini that comes free with any order of Slamming Southwest Chili chowdowns.
posted by The Whelk at 9:31 AM on September 21, 2011


How many honey badgers does it take to not give a shit?
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:32 AM on September 21, 2011


Now I am picturing cortex in a chicken suit, grimly performing the running man and the cabbage patch.

Soon. Soon.
posted by griphus at 9:35 AM on September 21, 2011


If there is no rational basis for a decision, then it's based on a whim.

But there IS a rational basis:

"If you took away the meme, would this still be something people would want to read?

"1. If yes, then it stays.
2. If no, then it gets deleted."

That sounds pretty straightforward to me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:36 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


So we're left with the third option as the most mefi-like approach, and the problem there is that most folks aren't going to produce identical lists of exactly which should stay and go. So it's watch the flags, makes some judgement calls, talk it out in Metatalk, and hope everybody sort of chills.

More to the point there's the "Okay we are awake now, please settle down" aspect where we've left the ones we're going to leave and future ones will have to meet the standard of "Yeah we got the joke, but please make a post that is good for MetaFilter and not just one that fits the theme of the day" We have this problem with obit posts a little. For many people, it's their first post and some people are really nervous about their first post and we try to be lenient if someone's made a decent effort. Theme posts can be sort of similar. People feel that theme posts are a little less likely to be scrutinized, more likely to be enjoyed and there's a fun "hey we're all doing this!" aspect to it which, yeah, I get.

That said, a MeFi where everyone makes a post that's loosely based on an idea and not on a "this would be really good for MeFi" feeling quickly becomes a MeFi with barely-acceptable posts. And then stunt posts that are really only there because they fit the theme and they wouldn't otherwise be okay for MeFi at all. And if there are 5-6 of these, that's fine, but they begat 10-20 others and it keeps going. And that's unmanageable, thirty weak posts all in a row on a day where we'd usually see maybe five. And so there's a tension there. I sort of get that people get that but the Rainman in me wants to make sure people get that. Ask if you have questions.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:37 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


My "how many" was just killed. Pfft.
posted by andreaazure at 9:38 AM on September 21, 2011


There was some good stuff that the mods shut down because, well, they don't want the inmates to control the asylum.

It's kind of beautiful that the inmates can actually control the asylum sometimes. Nothing wrong with that. Spontaneous exhibitions of communal creativity aren't necessarily bad.

Maybe the mods should sit back a little further sometimes. Maybe they should just let the crowd run its course. Maybe the mods should let things get outside their comfort zone.

But not too much.

Because for the most part, you people are all crazy. I could not stand this place if the mods didn't do their thing.
posted by twoleftfeet at 9:39 AM on September 21, 2011


My post was a duplicate of someone else's deleted post. Maybe the engine should detect that? *Shrug*
posted by andreaazure at 9:39 AM on September 21, 2011


phunniemee: "Yay! I played along. Do I get my participation trophy now?"

Something something lemmings something.

OH THE IRONY
posted by zarq at 9:42 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ask if you have questions.

Why did the Lemmings post get deleted, but the kitty porn post is here to stay?
posted by Nomyte at 9:44 AM on September 21, 2011


Maybe the engine should detect that? *Shrug*

To the best of my knowledge, if your link or your tags are matching, it does. However, like many things on this site, it's build around a certain level of participation and engagement and I don't know if it will match two posts made within a short timeframe that point to the same place.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:45 AM on September 21, 2011


Question retracted.
posted by Nomyte at 9:46 AM on September 21, 2011


EmpressCallipygos: ""If you took away the meme, would this still be something people would want to read?

"1. If yes, then it stays.
2. If no, then it gets deleted."

That sounds pretty straightforward to me.
"

The Lemmings post was not deleted by this reasoning.

I have no problem with the fact that the Lemmings post was deleted.
posted by zarq at 9:47 AM on September 21, 2011


Why did the Lemmings post get deleted, but the kitty porn post is here to stay?

I would counter with "Why do you assume a post is "here to stay" when it's been up for less than twenty minutes?"

Honestly, this is part of the problem. If we're playing whack-a-mole with theme posts and answering a lot of questions here, that takes time away from approving anon posts, answering email and the other things that are part of our jobs here. So, no big deal, and it happens once in a while, but everything is a balancing act. Us just letting all the theme posts stay does not by itself solve that problem. It solves some problems and created new ones because not everyone's idea of the Ideal MetaFilter is the same.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:48 AM on September 21, 2011


How many stunt posts on the front page would it take for the MetaFilter to start looking like reddit if you have the Deleted Posts script on?

That many.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:50 AM on September 21, 2011


Wheee! We're on the internet, bein' clever!
posted by crunchland at 9:51 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ah, I probably wouldn't have posted the kitty porn if I saw this Meta thread first. Sorry, jessamyn, didn't realize you were up to your ears in stunt posts.
posted by swift at 9:55 AM on September 21, 2011


Absolutely not a problem.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:55 AM on September 21, 2011


Metafilter: I probably wouldn't have posted the kitty porn if I saw this Meta thread first.
posted by Think_Long at 9:58 AM on September 21, 2011


We all laugh now, but this outbreak is evidence of a delayed-action cyberbrain virus that has infiltrated MeFi. I'll begin creation of a vaccine. Blatcher, analyze possible transmission vectors... Deck ads, Google ads, img tags, jrun, anything. clavdivs, you check the usual networks for chatter. The rest of you keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. I want class A attack barriers set to agressive. Look alive, people.
posted by Edogy at 9:58 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


What a bunch of fustian blowhards.
posted by Eideteker at 9:59 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Edogy: "Look alive, people."

Interceptors?
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 10:12 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


How many mics do I rip on the daily?
posted by klangklangston at 10:13 AM on September 21, 2011


Blatcher, analyze possible transmission vectors...

Hey You! Pants off, NOW!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:16 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


all threads end up the same way I suppose.
posted by The Whelk at 10:17 AM on September 21, 2011


I no longer expect most Mefites to actually READ A FUCKING ARTICLE before making snap judgements and shitting on the site, but just damn. If that impulse is really affecting flagging that much and flagging is affecting you guys that much, maybe its time to rethink flagging.

That's assuming that no one who was aware that the links in a given post were worthwhile would still flag the post for being stunty, which I don't think is a fair assumption at all. Folks wanting to communicate some sort of "hey, really, cut it out" flag weird stuff a lot; that's part of the whole community feedback thing and part of how flags can (along with other channels) contribute to our awareness of what the big group of mefites that makes this place what it is are feeling.

Some people think the theme post stuff is super funny. Some people think it's super annoying. Some people think it's a little annoying but hey this post was good so leave it, and different folks have different posts that make that cut in their opinion. So it's not going to be a situation where any solution makes everybody happy.

"Try this again in a day or two" is the best compromise solution we have for an otherwise good post doomed by problematic framing. That's the case for a lot of one-off posts in normal circumstances, and it's the case here as well, and we've explicitly touched on that a few times this morning.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:21 AM on September 21, 2011


Not the day for that post I've been planning about my second-favorite Dylan song, I guess.

On the other hand, my mass hysteria FPP, featuring Post Retraction Syndrome...
posted by jamjam at 10:25 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


I like that the post about counting does not start with "how many..."
posted by arcticwoman at 10:31 AM on September 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


I no longer expect most Mefites to actually READ A FUCKING ARTICLE...

If the article is about fucking, pretty much every Mefite will read the article, then forward the link to 3 other Mefites.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:34 AM on September 21, 2011


That's what I was thinking of! Thanks, Eideteker!
posted by TedW at 10:40 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


After not posting for awhile on account of sweet vacation times in Boston, I was actually working on a post that is, at heart, a "how many" question, completely independent of all this. IT EVEN MENTIONS ELEPHANTS. Honest to God. Should I finish it or wait, even if it would be a completely reasonable FPP on any other day?
posted by Rhaomi at 10:54 AM on September 21, 2011


"That's what I was thinking of! Thanks, Eideteker!"

Just living up to my handle.

All in a day's work, ma'am. *tips hat, rides off into the midafternoon sunset*
posted by Eideteker at 11:04 AM on September 21, 2011


Wheee! We're on the internet, bein' clever!

Hey now, that's an accusation about me that no one has ever been able to substantiate in any way!
posted by quin at 11:09 AM on September 21, 2011


Now I am picturing cortex in a chicken suit, grimly performing the running man and the cabbage patch.

TMI
posted by 6550 at 11:30 AM on September 21, 2011


I meant the 80s dances, not the unspeakable and deeply disturbing sex acts.
posted by elizardbits at 11:35 AM on September 21, 2011


Every sex act is unspeakable if you have ball gag.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 11:41 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


Dont know why I said that with a Russian accent. Or why I said it at all, really.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 11:41 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


HA

my Inception was successful, you were thinking of Putin.
posted by elizardbits at 11:44 AM on September 21, 2011


I like that the post about counting does not start with "how many..."

I actually reworded a later sentence so that "how many" wouldn't appear in the post at all.
posted by kmz at 11:45 AM on September 21, 2011


I do not think the list of 50 fake, nondescript videogame characters is funny. It's just a forum "joke" run long.

It is a terrible post....
posted by Chuckles at 11:49 AM on September 21, 2011


Putin?

Just the tip, thanks.
posted by Eideteker at 11:53 AM on September 21, 2011


Every sex act is unspeakable if you have ball gag.

I worked at a sex shop. Never use ball gags as they're unsanitarily handled from factory to store and impossible to clean well without doing nasty chemical things to the rubber. Always go with bits, preferably in stainless steel.

themoreyouknow.gif
posted by griphus at 11:55 AM on September 21, 2011 [6 favorites]


Ponyrequest: every time elizardbits says "Putin" autocorrect it to "Carla Bruni."
posted by villanelles at dawn at 11:58 AM on September 21, 2011


she is always welcome in my dacha of unearthly delights.
posted by elizardbits at 12:00 PM on September 21, 2011


Ponyrequest: dacha of unearthly delights.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:02 PM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


ICP was wondering about today as well: How Many Times?
posted by Durhey at 12:04 PM on September 21, 2011


Never use ball gags as they're unsanitarily handled from factory to store and impossible to clean well without doing nasty chemical things to the rubber.

I just take em down to the golf course and use the ball washer. That wrong?
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:06 PM on September 21, 2011


That depends, how much do you tip him?
posted by griphus at 12:12 PM on September 21, 2011


Ponyrequest: dacha of unearthly delights.

Completely irrelevant tangent now that I have started to enjoy my day. I lived in Romania for a while and the state car is the Dacia [pronounced basically like dacha] and at the small market where we shopped, people would come in with horse-drawn carriages or, sometimes, dacias. Usually the trunk would be all full up with something, cabbages, fish, root vegetables. So, I am unable to think of a Dacia full of anything without my next thought being "cabbage"!

Anyhow, as you were.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:14 PM on September 21, 2011


You're all killing me. I'm having daydreams about Putin, my ball gags are unhygienic, and now my dacha of unearthly delights has cabbage in it where it should have Carla Bruni.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:16 PM on September 21, 2011


I am unable to think of dachas without my next thought being a memory of being four or five and trying to find the outhouse in the pitch-darkness using my Thomas the Tank Engine flashlight which threw his hideous visage onto anything it illuminated.
posted by griphus at 12:17 PM on September 21, 2011


maybe life was better
when you used to be a wetter
posted by elizardbits at 12:36 PM on September 21, 2011


maybe life was better
when you used to be a wetter


Ah, you found my missing indefinite article.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:49 PM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


My third-ever post was part of an intentional post 'flashmob' agreed upon at a meetup the night before - the unifiying theme that day was 'fish.' Interestingly, though, the one I did for that was also a "How Many" post.
posted by Miko at 12:54 PM on September 21, 2011


How many times do I have to tell you?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:20 PM on September 21, 2011


5.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:21 PM on September 21, 2011


Always go with bits, preferably in stainless steel.

Careful you don't crack your teeth. Unless you're into that.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:19 PM on September 21, 2011


The 10th Regiment of Foot: "How many times do I have to tell you?"

This many! *holds up hand*
posted by deborah at 2:49 PM on September 21, 2011


Never use ball gags as they're unsanitarily handled from factory to store and impossible to clean well without doing nasty chemical things to the rubber.

Rubber isn't all that permeable. Couldn't you just toss them in the washing machine with your other delicates and then run them through a cycle on the top rack of the dishwasher (air dry)? Or is there something special about ball gag rubber?
posted by Mitheral at 3:25 PM on September 21, 2011


OK, I know, I know, but come on....

Metafilter: Or is there something special about ball gag rubber?
posted by spitbull at 3:43 PM on September 21, 2011


One too many...two too many...three too many...

*waits for thunder*
posted by snsranch at 4:41 PM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]




THE ANSWER MY FRIEND IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND




THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND



NOW GO TO FUCKIN BED ALREADY

posted by not_on_display at 8:52 PM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


How many "How many 'How Many' threads" MetaTalk threads will there be?

I guess 2.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:27 PM on September 22, 2011


Bacteria!
posted by moss at 3:44 PM on September 22, 2011


How many "How many 'How Many' threads" MetaTalk threads will there be? I guess 2.
Check the thread indices. TORTUGA.

posted by Edogy at 6:38 PM on September 22, 2011


Watching "Shaun of the Dead" while reading this thread lends the "How Many" viral attack a nasty edge.

I feel like cortex and jessamyn can expect this type of memo any moment now.
posted by misha at 11:02 AM on September 23, 2011


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