I'm first I'm first. November 11, 2011 8:27 AM   Subscribe

What was the first post and/or comment made on Metafilter? How about AskMe?

We've seen the 4000000th comment.

How about the first, the Patient Zero of the meta-disease we've all become infected with?
posted by Fister Roboto to MetaFilter-Related at 8:27 AM (38 comments total)

The timeline on the MeFi Wiki (linked at the bottom of each page) has the answers, I believe.
posted by daniel_charms at 8:30 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


More importantly, what was the first deleted post?
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:35 AM on November 11, 2011


this is the first test comment
posted by Plutor at 8:37 AM on November 11, 2011


I have no idea how these people got their cats into scanners, or why.
posted by koeselitz at 8:38 AM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


hey ya'll i just discovered that if you type something in the address bar in chrome, let the autofill finish it, then hold command and hit enter it opens that page in a background tab

NO MORE COMMAND T, I JUST SAVED 1 KEYSTROKE
posted by nathancaswell at 8:39 AM on November 11, 2011


I can't tell you how this all started, *lights fuse* but I can tell you how it's going to end...
posted by quin at 8:41 AM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


More importantly, what was the first deleted post?

In the old days, deleted posts were completely deleted from the database. So unless Matt remembers, there's no way to know. At some point, Matt started flagging posts as deleted instead of deleting them outright. Here's the first on record from November in 2000.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:43 AM on November 11, 2011


The Archives (and for Ask Metafilter, Projects, Music, Jobs, IRL, and MetaTalk [Podcast is its own archive... ]) will get you to the beginning and anywhen else you want to go fairly quickly.

Also, posts and comments on each subsite are sequentially added to a growing number list so you can trace it back from, eg. this post http://metatalk.metafilter.com/21193/, the 21,193rd post to MetaTalk, all the way to the first MetaTalk post, http://metatalk.metafilter.com/1/. That's actually a bit untrue though, since before MetaTalk there were MeTa-like posts littering the front page of MetaFilter, including the discussion that led to MetaTalk's addition as a subsite. (The first subsite!) This sort of stuff is where the wiki is helpful.
posted by carsonb at 8:44 AM on November 11, 2011


I can tell you how it's going to end...

I was just thinking what the last Ask MeFi post will be.

Is it safe to eat him?
posted by Trurl at 8:44 AM on November 11, 2011 [8 favorites]


I have no idea how these people got their cats into scanners, or why.

rick
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:47 AM on November 11, 2011 [10 favorites]


The End of AskMe, by Ian A.T.
posted by carsonb at 8:50 AM on November 11, 2011 [4 favorites]


More importantly, what was the first deleted post?

Hey guys my new friend told me I should totally eat this apple, and that my boyfriend would probably like it too, but our dad (don't ask) told us not to. Should I eat it?
posted by xEVEx to food & drink (0 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: BANNED. -- god
posted by griphus at 8:51 AM on November 11, 2011 [21 favorites]


Holy mama, that timeline is a rabbithole. There is a thread where #1 talks about how to give the site away! It's like the $1 buildings you could buy in Brooklyn in the 1970s, holy mama. Holy mama.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:53 AM on November 11, 2011


My little moment in the sun. Here's Mathowie promising to code up anonymous AskMe questions, and providing it 1 hr and 10 minutes later.
posted by seanyboy at 8:53 AM on November 11, 2011


It's so funny that most of the posts from July of 1999 are from mathowie and have like two replies. He keeps going, though. It's like watching a mother bird nudge a baby out of the nest.

Fly, bird, fly!
posted by Fister Roboto at 8:58 AM on November 11, 2011 [5 favorites]


It's so funny that most of the posts from July of 1999 are from mathowie and have like two replies.

I was struck how the first non-mathowie post contributor was still commenting 10 years later.
posted by Trurl at 9:16 AM on November 11, 2011


It's so funny that most of the posts from July of 1999 are from mathowie and have like two replies. He keeps going, though. It's like watching a mother bird nudge a baby out of the nest.

Fly, bird, fly!


Its not even funny really, it should be bronzed or dipped in acrylic or something and then sent out for all the infant startups to see and therefore understand that its not a case of "build it and they will come" = $$ that everyone seems to think it is but truly requiring that nurturing of traffic as embodied in the baby bird metaphor.
posted by infini at 9:38 AM on November 11, 2011


Whoa, MeTa 4 is jessamyn asking for threaded comments.
posted by Vibrissa at 9:53 AM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


Whoa is right. What's the opposite of memory hole? Because there's proof that this place can be the opposite of that.

If somebody comes up with an old comment where a mod says we should create a system for upvoting that is called favorites, my whole worldview -- or at least as it applies to MetaFilter -- will be shattered.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:00 AM on November 11, 2011


What's the opposite of memory hole?

Dibs on "Inverse Lacuna" for a band name.
posted by griphus at 10:01 AM on November 11, 2011


The best band-name ever is/would be Teargas Fetish.

It would be an emo-band whose live shows feature lots of on-stage crying.
posted by Fister Roboto at 10:02 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


Total Recall
posted by Kabanos at 10:11 AM on November 11, 2011


Teargas Fetish sound like they play dressed in zentai suits and gasmasks and are permanently opening for the Genitorturers whether the bands are on tour or not.
posted by griphus at 10:12 AM on November 11, 2011


Dibs on "Inverse Lacuna" for a band name.

Too late, already a sexy move with its origins in WWII era Waikiki.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 10:21 AM on November 11, 2011


And whoa, the term metachat dates back to at least March 2000.
posted by Dano St at 10:39 AM on November 11, 2011


There are at least a couple "hey, you know what would be a good idea" comments from early-2000s cortex that modern day cortex would be the first to say "no, no, that would not be a good idea", but my ego's self-defense mechanisms are preventing me from remembering what they were exactly.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:13 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


We have to judge Silver Age Cortex as a product of his time.
posted by griphus at 11:28 AM on November 11, 2011 [5 favorites]



There are at least a couple "hey, you know what would be a good idea" comments from early-2000s cortex that modern day cortex would be the first to say "no, no, that would not be a good idea", but my ego's self-defense mechanisms are preventing me from remembering what they were exactly.


TIME MACHINE IS GO FOR LAUNCH.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:29 AM on November 11, 2011


Congratulations griphus! You are the 10th person to ever mention the Genitorturers on Mefi.

Your prize is 120 days in the hole.
posted by quin at 11:50 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


What a coincidence, "120 Days In The Hole" is my club name.
posted by griphus at 12:09 PM on November 11, 2011


Vibrissa writes "Whoa, MeTa 4 is jessamyn asking for threaded comments."

And matt said he was going to do it. Good thing pb wasn't around in his capacity in the early days.
posted by Mitheral at 1:02 PM on November 11, 2011


I went looking for my own first comment, it was in a thread that is so against the guidelines now: Personal Rant Time.
posted by artlung at 1:19 PM on November 11, 2011


We have to judge Silver Age Cortex as a product of his time.

The weird thing about Silver Age Cortex is that he has all the history of Golden Age Cortex but it can't really be discussed because of the Comics Code, so if you just picked up an issue of MetaFilter without knowing who he was you'd think he was just some geek who liked Markov chains and stuff and it was weird how everyone took him seriously and you totally wouldn't get that it's a tongue-in-cheek reference to his reputation as a psychopathic murderer.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:37 PM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


Heh:

I would consider a transfer (sell, have a contest to giveaway, whatever), but parceling out moderation I would see as a clusterfuck. While it's not the majority, a good deal of MetaTalk posts are about questioning my choices, and I'm just one guy, operating as much as I can publicly with every decision. Imagine a team of 5-10 people making those choices. I suspect the site would get much, much less consistent, as multiple opinions and biases enter the admin fray. I've seen it happen on every group admin site I've ever been a part of, even with close friends. They all had their spats of admin infighting.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:52 PM on November 6, 2002 [+] [!]

Glad to see that's not been the case...
posted by disillusioned at 2:43 PM on November 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


Huh, I always wondered what happened that guy Tim, he was moderator back in '03. He just slowly faded away.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2011


In the beginning was the kitty.
posted by arcticseal at 5:21 PM on November 11, 2011


I always wondered what happened that guy Tim

Best left unsolved.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:36 PM on November 11, 2011


And there's that Lydia Lunch/Clint Ruin album Stinkfist.

And, of course, the band Mr. Mister was originally named Mr. Fister, before those jerks at the record company made them change it.
posted by box at 10:32 AM on November 12, 2011


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