the youngest among us?

June 29, 2012 7:38 PM

Youngest Mefite ever was... ?

This jokey comment...

wait, they're letting 10 year old kids post here?
posted by pyramid termite at 19:19 on June 29 [+] [!]

... actually got me to wondering: who might have been the youngest member to have contributed to Metafilter? I know it might be difficult or impossible to say with any certainty, but just wanted to hear from anyone who might have a reasonably good idea about it.

posted by flapjax at midnite to MetaFilter-Related at 7:38 PM (70 comments total)

FeistyFerret, at 13? (Discussion here.)
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:42 PM on June 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

This post rules.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:52 PM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm 12 years old and what is this?
posted by shakespeherian at 7:59 PM on June 29, 2012 [16 favorites]

I can't even find the words to say what I think about that MeTa. Weird? Embarrassing? Unfortunate? Silly? Endearing? Somebody tell me.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:00 PM on June 29, 2012

Pretty sure some mefite had a baby and made an account for them..
posted by royalsong at 8:01 PM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have there been any MeFi babies - that is, human offspring of two members who met through the site? I've read of several (few!some!) members who have dated/married other members.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:09 PM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I believe the term is 'Mefants'.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:11 PM on June 29, 2012 [17 favorites]

i'm 116, actually.

i'm just piping up now cause by the time we get a meta about the oldest-ever user i might not be around
posted by facetious at 8:11 PM on June 29, 2012 [4 favorites]

I love that you had to say human offspring. Like with two members here, they might just have a wombat.
posted by cashman at 8:11 PM on June 29, 2012 [58 favorites]

Or a little bean.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:13 PM on June 29, 2012 [6 favorites]

A human bean.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:13 PM on June 29, 2012 [20 favorites]

I love that you had to say human offspring. Like with two members here, they might just have a wombat.

You've gotta specify, I have it on good authority that there are at least 3,459,003 MeFites who consider their dogs or cats to actually be their children.
posted by MoonOrb at 8:17 PM on June 29, 2012 [9 favorites]

Has to be Baby Jessamyn, right?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:20 PM on June 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

baby_jessamyn
posted by John Cohen at 8:21 PM on June 29, 2012

There have been more than one MetaFilter couple which have gotten accounts for their offspring shortly after birth.

I can't remember which or who off the top of my head, but I know I've read about at least one if not two or three such things happening since I joined not even that long ago.

So, yeah, the youngest MeFite? Probably like, a week old?
posted by hippybear at 8:21 PM on June 29, 2012

My daughter posts frequently here on my account. She's four. Does that count?


OK, not really, but it would explain away so many of my more incoherent / typo-laden / grammatically incorrect comments.....
posted by zarq at 8:22 PM on June 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

John Cohen: "baby_jessamyn"

Ooooh. When was the picture of her holding Itty Bitty Banhammer Mjölnir added?
posted by zarq at 8:24 PM on June 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

There's lil ubu, baby of UbuRoivas.
posted by chiababe at 8:37 PM on June 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

Considering how good Nissim has gotten at bashing away at daddy's computer, it's only a matter of time before he starts actually typing away and posting here. So he has excellent prospects for being the youngest. So long as you guys count comments that are mostly punctuation and numbers.
posted by Deathalicious at 8:56 PM on June 29, 2012

I can state with some authority that I was the youngest Metafilter participant ever.
posted by Meta Filter at 8:56 PM on June 29, 2012

My dog is just 4, and frequently determines the content of my posts.... which, overall, is probably a good thing.
posted by HuronBob at 8:58 PM on June 29, 2012

Goo goo ga ga.
posted by item at 9:34 PM on June 29, 2012

Sorry, I was letting my grandfather post.

(joke's on me - he's been dead for 20 years!)
posted by item at 9:36 PM on June 29, 2012

WHOOP this post just triggered the memories I needed!

So I was at my parent's house a few weeks ago and I was going through a box of my old high school stuff and I found a CD labeled "MeFi Swap Mix" from some random user here and I was like, what? Because I joined Metafilter like two months ago and I have not participated in such a thing.

But then I found a swap mix with one of my old screen names on it and I was like OMG I had a MetaFilter account the whole time! I could have saved five dollars! But when I went to check it out it was linked to an old email address and also had a lot of information in the profile like my full name, exact location, etc that I try to keep more private now. I couldn't remember the password. I posted two whole posts, by the way, at the age of 14 in 2001.

So, not the youngest user. But anyway seeing this post triggered my memory of the password to that account for whatever obscure reason and now my full name and address has been purged from MetaFilter and I feel so, so much better because my old website was linked from that profile too and just think if Google could index MeFi profiles I'd be so mortified today! Because that was the only place on the internet where my full name was linked to my high school diary website AND now only I and the wayback machine remember.

Anyway one of my two posts was also about how to relate to children my age. A theme, perhaps?
posted by newg at 9:39 PM on June 29, 2012 [25 favorites]

Have there been any MeFi babies - that is, human offspring of two members who met through the site? I've read of several (few!some!) members who have dated/married other members.
posted by the man of twists and turns
My husband and I attribute metafilter to why we hit it off when we met. We now have a 5 month "mefant".
posted by HMSSM at 9:49 PM on June 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'm -1.
posted by dfriedman at 9:53 PM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Emotionally?
posted by LarryC at 9:59 PM on June 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Wow, that FeistyFerret thread was a mess. That was a pre-mod cortex in there, laying it down, though.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:10 PM on June 29, 2012

Didn't someone buy an account for Robobaby when he was born? (I know it was threatened...)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:16 PM on June 29, 2012

One day at the rest home, an old man and woman are reminiscing about the rough and tumble early years at MetaFilter. Out of nowhere the woman says, "I can guess your age."

The man doesn't believe her, but tells her to go ahead and try.

"Pull down your pants," she says.

He doesn't understand, but being a good MeFite does it anyway. She inspects his rear end for a few minutes and then says, "You're 84 years old."

"That's amazing," the man says. "How did you know?"

"You told me yesterday."
posted by netbros at 10:23 PM on June 29, 2012 [8 favorites]

That was a pre-mod cortex in there, laying it down, though.

That was pretty sassy of me, yeah. I don't remember specifically telling people to shut it in askme, though I do remember being pretty annoyed and embarrassed at that whole episode and I commented a whole bunch in the metatalk that sprung up. Weird that that was six years ago; feels like less and more.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:55 PM on June 29, 2012

i'm 116, actually.

i'm just piping up now cause by the time we get a meta about the oldest-ever user i might not be around

posted by facetious at 11:11 PM on June 29 [+] [!]

Ahem.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:24 AM on June 30, 2012 [3 favorites]

FeistyFerret has gone on to lead a pretty damn impressive life so far. Too bad he's not still a mefite, though maybe if he was he wouldn't have accomplished so much...
posted by pseudonick at 12:43 AM on June 30, 2012 [7 favorites]

FeistyFerret has gone on to lead a pretty damn impressive life so far. .
posted by pseudonick at 8:43 AM on June 30

God, I hope he doesn't still write "Mmkay" all the goddamned time
posted by Decani at 1:20 AM on June 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

I know that there are also ex-spouses on Mefi.

I think this thread demands baby Mefite pictures.
posted by IndigoRain at 2:00 AM on June 30, 2012

No one's mentioned Mathowie's Baby?

(plus related curio.)
posted by nobody at 4:15 AM on June 30, 2012

MoonOrb: "I love that you had to say human offspring. Like with two members here, they might just have a wombat.

You've gotta specify, I have it on good authority that there are at least 3,459,003 MeFites who consider their dogs or cats to actually be their children."

Birdist creep.
posted by Splunge at 5:54 AM on June 30, 2012

Another MeFite gifted my son an account within 48hrs of his birth. He never uses it though. Typing would involve sitting in ONE PLACE and that's for other babies. He's got places to BE.
posted by sonika at 5:55 AM on June 30, 2012 [6 favorites]

Future MeFites.
posted by ColdChef at 6:50 AM on June 30, 2012 [11 favorites]

Yes, there is a Metafilter member who gifts accounts when another Metafilter member has a baby.

My daughter was maybe a week or two old when she was signed up?

My son doesn't have an account, but I figure his younger sister deserves some things that are her own.
posted by zizzle at 7:22 AM on June 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was actually wondering about this yesterday, without having seen this post!

And I thought I'd uninstalled MetaBrain. How naive!
posted by byanyothername at 7:28 AM on June 30, 2012

Yes, there is a Metafilter member who gifts accounts when another Metafilter member has a baby.

Is that cute or sinister? I'm genuinely not sure...
posted by running order squabble fest at 7:54 AM on June 30, 2012

I'm holding out for a two-for-one sale. :)
posted by zarq at 8:08 AM on June 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's a shame we ran off FiestyFerret. He's grown into a remarkable adult.
posted by Houstonian at 8:51 AM on June 30, 2012

Wow, a shark consultant for Myth Busters and not even out of college yet. Whew. Where did I go wrong...(answer: everywhere).
posted by bquarters at 8:56 AM on June 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

The best part about when FeistyFerret posted was when a bunch of members accused him of being a fraud until he was hounded and hectored off the site entirely. (A bitter irony, I felt, when he was later "MeFi's Own" when he went on Larry King)

MetaFilter, don't ever change. Errr....
posted by absalom at 9:50 AM on June 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'd forgotten about that kid; glad to see he's been able to find a path to do what he loves.
posted by rtha at 10:05 AM on June 30, 2012

Who told him to get off our lawn?
posted by desjardins at 10:25 AM on June 30, 2012

Is that cute or sinister? I'm genuinely not sure...
posted by running order squabble fest at 10:54 AM on June 30 [+] [!]

Totally cute and well meant, I believe.

(Though I did get a follow-up MeMail about not having set it up soon enough....)
posted by zizzle at 10:37 AM on June 30, 2012

Pretty sure I hold the record for youngest Mefite, Mister.
posted by cute little Billy Henderson, age 4 at 12:20 PM on June 30, 2012 [4 favorites]

Maybe someone could by an account for an unborn genius. We could call him the MeFetus.
posted by jonmc at 12:30 PM on June 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a mostly ok thread, but please respect the "don't pull profile info into google-indexed threads" rule, please. If you're talking about yourself, fine, but if it's just a matter of looking at profiles and doing the math, just link the profile and let people sort that out. Otherwise it's edging into not-so-awesome territory, especially when we're talking about people who may still be kids.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:38 PM on June 30, 2012 [5 favorites]

sixcolors!!!


PS: I miss you.
posted by special-k at 1:42 PM on June 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

Baby Bartfast posted when he was just 6 months old.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:48 PM on June 30, 2012

There is a Cygnet posting here.
posted by orange swan at 3:00 PM on June 30, 2012

"Gee thanks dad, for making my username 'Cute Widdle Snuffypus Baby Boy Brocktoon'. You did understand that I will eventually turn 13 and get all teenager angsty and shit, right?"

And I'm conflicted if I'd want my 12 (or younger) kid accessing Metafilter. The NSFW policy here is designed for adults. I don't know if a 12 year old is quite ready to process and parse Game of Thrones threads.
posted by Brocktoon at 3:13 PM on June 30, 2012

My dog is just 4, and frequently determines the content of my posts.... which, overall, is probably a good thing.
posted by HuronBob

Unless you are actually posting as your dog, in which case you should divide by seven.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:43 PM on June 30, 2012

I posted a question at the behest of my five year old once ... Youngest request I posted about.
posted by tilde at 3:56 PM on June 30, 2012

Is MetaFilter COPPA compliant? Seems like it could be an issue.
posted by entropicamericana at 5:00 PM on June 30, 2012

Now I'm interested in a breakdown of ages of all Mefites. But I am drunk and may forget this later as I walk around my house using my new night vision goggles. I'm hoping the fireflies are out. It was a wet Spring. So they could be there. At least the babies. Speaking of babies, the wife and I went to a PetCo today to get toys for our Quaker parrot. While we were there we came thisclose to getting the cutest pair of parakeet babies you ever saw. But common sense got the best of us.

So ignore me.
posted by Splunge at 6:51 PM on June 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

The parrot is a pacifist? The parrot produces oatmeal? Help me out here.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:39 PM on June 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

OH WAIT RIGHT. FUNNY.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:42 PM on June 30, 2012

COPPA. COPPA CABANA.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:50 PM on June 30, 2012

mathowie was once both the youngest and oldest poster ever.
posted by not_on_display at 3:29 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

mathowie was once both the youngest and oldest poster ever.

he was the youngest and the oldest
the first (if not the last)
with cats wedged into scanners
the Mefi dye was cast
and now, here at this website
this website where we post
let's raise a glass in honor of
our ever-gracious host
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:05 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Wait so some MeFites actually created accounts for their newborn kids? Are these the same people who put sweaters on their dogs?
posted by MattMangels at 3:26 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Apropos of nothing, we should really ask Matt to make Official MeFi Sweaters a thing. In baby and children's sizes.


Perhaps with...
"Daddy's Favorite [+]" on the front.
"HURF DURF BREAST FEEDER" on the back.
posted by zarq at 4:59 AM on July 3, 2012

There's lil ubu, baby of UbuRoivas.

Yeah, here's an oldish clip of lil ubu.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:11 AM on July 3, 2012

(that's pretty much what he's always like; he's a very laid back & self-sufficient little koala)
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:13 AM on July 3, 2012

Expecting.
posted by maryr at 12:56 PM on July 3, 2012