How has MeFi changed in the past few years?

December 10, 2012 5:58 PM

How has MeFi changed in the past 2-3 years?

Honest question. I faded away, got my life right, and am glad to be back. I'd love to hear from the Meta core about what has happened in the past few years - changes, rules, etc.

I look forward to being back in this sanity filled insane squabble that is MetaFilter. Wish me luck.

posted by deacon_blues to MetaFilter-Related at 5:58 PM (215 comments total)

We had a cabal there for awhile, but we lost them all at the Flavortown Massacre. Now, there is no cabal.

*There is no Flavortown
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:04 PM on December 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

Well, we've about tripled the moderation staff... so, hi! Welcome back!
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 6:04 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

More mods!

An edit window!

A best of Metafilter blog!
posted by zsazsa at 6:06 PM on December 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

Bob Goulet out, Steve Mcqueen in!
posted by The Whelk at 6:06 PM on December 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

You can't be as much of a sexist asshole these days. And by "you" I mean "people".
posted by Justinian at 6:06 PM on December 10, 2012 [17 favorites]

Favorite swiping on your iPad.
posted by J. Wilson at 6:09 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

I believe IRL wasn't established a separate entity from MeTa back then.

Also, Scott Adams is now a valued member.
posted by griphus at 6:10 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

griphus, you forgot to say "hamburger."
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:12 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

What are you talking about, let me just see where I left off in the thread and oh no oh no no no

Also, I really hope someone is writing a history of MeFi 2007-2012 in the style of "We Didn't Start The Fire."
posted by griphus at 6:16 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

We beg the question a bit more these days.
posted by speedo at 6:17 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh please please please ask me the question please I'm so good and ever so smart please!
posted by The Whelk at 6:19 PM on December 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

So you're saying that, what we have here, is an actual success at communication?

Hot damn.
posted by deacon_blues at 6:21 PM on December 10, 2012

It's lost a lot of its authenticity, there are more chain stores, street parking is impossible, and most of the people put forward as representative are arrivistes doing a crude impression of a caricature of the locals rather than actual locals.
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:23 PM on December 10, 2012 [46 favorites]

Mitt Romney got 47% of the popular vote.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:24 PM on December 10, 2012

I'd say we're a lot more aware of sexism and more likely to call people out on it. Also MeFi team "Ass-Jittering Cattle" kicked Reddit's ass at pub trivia.

The Whelk: What ever happened to class? Class... What ever happened to 'Please may I' and 'Yes, thank you,' and 'How charming'?
posted by rmd1023 at 6:25 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

Matt sold out years ago and moved to a non-extradition website with a feral pack of fixies.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:25 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Matt sold out years ago and moved to a non-extradition website with a feral pack of fixies."

Uhh...link? C'mon man, why are you holding out?
posted by deacon_blues at 6:27 PM on December 10, 2012

Scott Adams is a member, all right. A turgid member.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:27 PM on December 10, 2012 [7 favorites]

Carl's Jr. no longer honors our secret menu, but that's probably for the best.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:29 PM on December 10, 2012

Uhh...link? C'mon man, why are you holding out?

Here you go.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:29 PM on December 10, 2012

I was gonna tell you a thing that isn't a thing anymore but we were asked to let it drop so nevermind.
posted by laconic skeuomorph at 6:31 PM on December 10, 2012

You're not supposed to use MeTa for updates to old posts anymore.

Despite a raft of new login names what has not changed is the identity of 90% of the day to day commenters.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:33 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

The Surgeon General suggests you perform a privilege self-check in the shower in the morning.
posted by Eideteker at 6:38 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Favorites have finally been split up into bookmarks and likes.
posted by alms at 6:47 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

The Surgeon General suggests you perform a privilege self-check in the shower in the morning.

YANMD. Today I was doing my privilege self-check and noticed a small, self-satisfied lump. Is it privilege? Did I get this from my mono-poly med-student partner who hates school but is maybe going to graduate super-school anyway? Yes, there is [more inside]
posted by curious nu at 6:49 PM on December 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

I, personally, have become wittier. It's possible that I'm overly subjective, but it feels great.

Also, zombies are in. Or out. Or passé. Or something.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:50 PM on December 10, 2012

40,005 more users were registered. We initiated 4 users as mods.

The site has 154 more head of cattle, and 46 more horses than we did at the time of your last login.

We produced 9981 and ate 8890 Bushels of food. 74 were lost due to spoilage.

Our crafters produced 132 cows worth of goods. Our market made a profit of 75 cows worth of goods.

Maintaining our shrines, temples, and chat.metafilter.com took 37 cows and goods worth 62 cows.
posted by ignignokt at 7:00 PM on December 10, 2012 [41 favorites]

40,005 more users were registered.

I'll take flak for saying this, but taste / interest / cultural reference-wise, I think MeFi has moved much closer to the mainstream in the last 2-3 years, overall.

It's still the only site that I have any real, abiding affection for - but it's less of an go-to outpost of the strange, obsessive, overlooked, esoteric, and "best of the Web" for me than it was ten years ago.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:03 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

We got rid of respectability, the milk man, the paper boy, evening TV.
posted by The Whelk at 7:06 PM on December 10, 2012 [7 favorites]

The wiki has a timeline that you might find interesting.
posted by RichardP at 7:12 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think MeFi has moved much closer to the mainstream in the last 2-3 years

Metafilter is big, it's the Mainstream that got small.
posted by arcticseal at 7:16 PM on December 10, 2012 [4 favorites]

Metafilter is now slathered in Donkey Sauce.
posted by bondcliff at 7:29 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hate to break it to you, but that's not Donkey Sauce...
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:30 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

> Hate to break it to you, but that's not Donkey Sauce...

I'm going to borrow that line this christmas, just as my brother is about to bite into something.
posted by de at 7:34 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Loading new comments without refresh? Is that less than 2?
posted by bleep at 7:35 PM on December 10, 2012

Season 2 of Flavorton Abbey is going to be spectacular.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:39 PM on December 10, 2012 [9 favorites]

I got my PhD.

(OK, that's not about MeFi, per se, but it took me 10 years to get it, I'm walking in commencement in 4 days and I'm gonna work it into every single conversation that I can (until right around Christmas).)

Yup, Oddman, Ph.D.
posted by oddman at 7:42 PM on December 10, 2012 [44 favorites]

Loading new comments without refresh? Is that less than 2?

Yes, it is.
posted by beryllium at 7:43 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

My lawnmower was stolen.

Which is fine and dandy, because it was cursed.
posted by Pudhoho at 7:50 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

mention of hipsters is the new declawed cats.
posted by ifjuly at 7:52 PM on December 10, 2012 [9 favorites]

we have cameras
posted by elizardbits at 7:53 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

I've watched this community become much more understanding and knowledgeable about transgender issues.
posted by Scientist at 8:20 PM on December 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

More PC, more mods, and more deleted comments.

Not saying the three are related, just pointing out an observation.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:21 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Metafilter now goes to 11.
posted by blaneyphoto at 8:25 PM on December 10, 2012

More whiners. More whingers.
posted by Falconetti at 8:33 PM on December 10, 2012

40,005 more users were registered.

I swear I only registered a thousand or two of those.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:39 PM on December 10, 2012

Also, we've missed you! Welcome back.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:48 PM on December 10, 2012

Favorites are now accepted as currency in 47 countries. Only capital account convertibility though :(
posted by vidur at 9:03 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

griphus: "Also, I really hope someone is writing a history of MeFi 2007-2012 in the style of "We Didn't Start The Fire.""

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray,
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television,
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher in the Rye

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen,
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

***

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev,
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron,
Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team,
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev,
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez

***

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac,
Sputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River Kwai

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball,
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur, space monkey, Mafia,
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy,
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

***

Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land,
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania,
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex,
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say

***

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again,
moon shot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock

Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline,
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide,
foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law,
rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

A few of those were real reaches, when I couldn't find a good link. Apologies if I missed something better....
posted by Chrysostom at 9:03 PM on December 10, 2012 [169 favorites]

Well, it's obviously gone to hell in a handbasket. And such small portions.
posted by Miko at 9:03 PM on December 10, 2012 [10 favorites]

More "activist" type people. It is still tolerable, but it sometimes feels like the front page is too heavily American liberal activist slanted. All comment threads on hot button US topics are completely dominated by this. Mefi has always been heavily liberal, that is a big part of why I like it, but the shouting from the moral high ground has definitely increased. There used to be some people to counter balance this more.
posted by stp123 at 9:08 PM on December 10, 2012 [21 favorites]

Of course there also used to be a lot more nasty backhand snark, so plenty of good changes as well.
posted by stp123 at 9:11 PM on December 10, 2012

oddman: "I got my PhD.

(OK, that's not about MeFi, per se, but it took me 10 years to get it, I'm walking in commencement in 4 days and I'm gonna work it into every single conversation that I can (until right around Christmas).)

Yup, Oddman, Ph.D."

"I didn't spend ten years in grad school to have you call me ``Oddman``! It's OddDoctor!"
posted by boo_radley at 9:13 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Tommy: Did you hear I finally graduated?
Richard Hayden: Yeah, and just a shade under a decade too. All right.
Tommy: You know a lot of people go to college for seven years.
Richard Hayden: I know, they're called doctors.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:17 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

In many ways you're in a better position to comment on the changes in the Metafilter culture than the people who have been here the whole time. What have you noticed?
posted by dd42 at 9:18 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

It feels like a lot of people either left or BND'd in either winter 2009 or winter 2010 or both, I can't recall. There was a lot of heated arguing, lots of fights all coming to a head, factions declared, MeTas announcing how terrible just about everybody was at some point or another.

But I've only been around for 3 years so everything else I think changed might have just been the way things have always been. It feels like politics got more heated, but maybe that was just the election stuff?
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:22 PM on December 10, 2012

As you may have gathered from the above comments, plus ça change ...
posted by carter at 9:27 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Can feel like too many people post upwards of several times a day and spew out tired snark, come across more as drunk, shitty comedians (and comediennes) than as members of a community.
posted by ambient2 at 9:27 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

Nobody goes there any more; it's too crowded.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:28 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Much much less snark, not as scary. Can't rely on a good flame war on the grey/gray every week or so. Less people Googling it for themselves. Less (usually) picking on people for their nationality. Less non-mod commentary by the mods, which is really sad, because they're funny people. More podcasts. Not so many fedoras and banjos - this is a real loss.
posted by b33j at 9:41 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Whelk still comments 326 time per day.
I am jealous.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:42 PM on December 10, 2012

unemployment is a cruel mistress.
posted by The Whelk at 9:45 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Can feel like too many people post upwards of several times a day and spew out tired snark, come across more as drunk, shitty comedians (and comediennes) than as members of a community.

To me it was more of a drunk, shitty comedian sort of place before; now it's like a bunch of people who are really, really into workshopping their monologues for the Identity Politics Theatre Festival. The personality cults have also shifted from worshiping annoying iconoclasts who wouldn't shut up to annoying likable people who won't shut up. In some ways it feels like there's less factionalism on the site, but far more cliquishness.

*Pours one out for the drunk, shitty comedians; poops a little, too*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:45 PM on December 10, 2012 [14 favorites]

Favorite inflation. I expect it's due to the rise in membership, but whatever the reason, I've noticed that a given unit of snark/wit/analysis is now worth roughly twice the favorites it was when I joined three years ago.
posted by dephlogisticated at 9:45 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

We must go back to the Fantastic Standard.
posted by The Whelk at 9:47 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

Some mods are apparently paid piecework rates for deletions, which yields less snarky commentary but also increases homogeneity and dulls colorful personalities.
posted by double block and bleed at 9:50 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

double block and bleed: "Some mods are apparently paid piecework rates for deletions, which yields less snarky commentary but also increases homogeneity and dulls colorful personalities."

I think a variant of this comment was probably first posted around Day 3 of the site's existence.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:58 PM on December 10, 2012 [12 favorites]

I've noticed that a given unit of snark/wit/analysis is now worth roughly twice the favorites it was when I joined three years ago.

Forget the slashes, I now want a job as a snark wit analyst.
posted by Anything at 10:01 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

"heavily American liberal activist slanted"

Kind of like a dumbed-down DailyKOS with People Magazine glitz and USA Today brevity, and that's just the FPPs. You may not think it possible, but threads are even more predictable than ever. Moderation is now much more like sanitization, with the attendant homogenization.
posted by Ardiril at 10:02 PM on December 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

More "activist" type people.

No doubt! It was a major revelation to me when I realized that, although MeFi portrays itself as a community, it's really just a collection of random-assed people with too much time on their hands, and a number of them are activist/idealogue types who I'd either (A) never get along with in real life or (B) would get along with, but only because I never discuss divisive topics in RL. I save that shit for the internet, where it belongs.

It's actually helped me in my day-to-day interactions with the site. Pretty much every day, someone makes an FPP that kinda gets my goat, but now, I'm more likely to be like, "fuck it. not worth my time".
posted by Afroblanco at 10:15 PM on December 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

It seems that Reddit siphoned off a lot of the men from AskMeFi about a year ago.
posted by lamp at 10:16 PM on December 10, 2012

Well, I joined. Howdy!
posted by benito.strauss at 10:18 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

You may not think it possible, but threads are even more predictable than ever.

clearly what you are saying is we need more youtube poop threads
posted by Rory Marinich at 10:43 PM on December 10, 2012

Looked at it every year or two since about 2001, and MetaFilter always looked - impression from the posts I skimmed - to be relatively cliquey. Checked it again last year, and it seemed more open, less insular, in the tone and nature of conversations. Was also disillusioned with some aspects of Twitter and other social media, noticed that there were a lot of librarians on here (often, but not always, a good sign), and that one of my longtime online inspirations was a mod, which was a good sign.

So finally paid the five bucks, and gave it a go. Messed up some of my early posts, but have found it the most ... satisfying ... online 'community' of sorts to be part of, and contribute to, since the mid 90s.
posted by Wordshore at 10:51 PM on December 10, 2012 [4 favorites]

People who say things like "PC police" and "identity politics" are less openly hostile and a little bit bitchier.
posted by stoneandstar at 10:56 PM on December 10, 2012 [30 favorites]

The tension between the conservatives who thought that MeFi was better when it was edgier and the progressives who want to make MeFi a place that honors and validates everyone continues the same as it always has.
posted by Scientist at 11:15 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Man, I'd like to put "progressive" to bed, or take it out behind the barn and shoot it, or put it in a sack and throw it off the bridge, or whack it, or whatever the kids these days are saying. That word's time is over. Time to go.

I've heard people of every imaginable stripe describe their ideological hobbyhorse as "progressive". And really, what the hell does that mean, anyway? "Moving towards some goal". Well, I guess that's inherently true, now isn't it? Seriously, I've heard scary-ass conservatives describe themselves as progressive. I mean, they do have goals, right? Just turns out their goals are evil.

So unless you're Teddy Roosevelt or Fighting Bob LaFolliete, or you're discussing the finer points of the income tax system, please let's leave the "p-word" out of it.

(not picking on you, Scientist. you just provided a convenient springboard for my rant)
posted by Afroblanco at 11:21 PM on December 10, 2012

The notion that the site honors and validates everyone is hard to take seriously. As people have noted in previous threads, some views that are quite reasonably considered mainstream get about zero respect here. Seems like the site/mods do better in reducing the LOLreligion stuff, but it's still around from time to time.
posted by ambient2 at 11:24 PM on December 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

I have been reading some of my old comments lately, and I was regularly kind of an asshole! I've been helping out in this regard by commenting a lot less. You're welcome!
posted by Kwine at 11:26 PM on December 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

It seems that Reddit siphoned off a lot of the men from AskMeFi about a year ago.
posted by lamp at 12:16 AM on December 11 [+] [!]

^^^^^^
This person joined in the past year, I am sure is a nice person, but we are not related.
posted by lampshade at 11:27 PM on December 10, 2012 [6 favorites]

I've heard people of every imaginable stripe describe their ideological hobbyhorse as "progressive". And really, what the hell does that mean, anyway?

Well, none of them stand up to the "what the hell does that mean?" criterion. Libertarians are big on classical liberalism. Many liberals are big on conserving stuff. And yes, conservatives think of furthering their ideals as progress. Ringworm is not actually a worm. So, might as angle for the word that gives you the best edge.
posted by ignignokt at 11:31 PM on December 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

Just like the election of Obama ended racism in America, now that the mod population is about evenly split between the genders there is no more sexism on MeFi.
posted by XMLicious at 11:33 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot more breaking news type posts and obits. If you die and don't get an obit thread, you're a failure at being a D list celeb.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:41 PM on December 10, 2012

My old account is pre-9/11.
posted by lamp at 11:54 PM on December 10, 2012

"So unless you're Teddy Roosevelt or Fighting Bob LaFolliete, or you're discussing the finer points of the income tax system, please let's leave the "p-word" out of it."

Come up with a new one that's better.
posted by klangklangston at 12:11 AM on December 11, 2012

We had a bunch of baby mefites being born within the past year, but that might just be confirmation bias as now that I have a baby I'm noticing all the other mefites with new babies.
posted by HMSSM at 12:12 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

My old account is pre-9/11.
posted by lamp at 1:54 AM on December 11 [+] [!]

ditto. i guess we are birds of a feather eh!
posted by lampshade at 12:13 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Branson^* and I made a MeFi magazine that was pretty good and then we fell into having regular jobs and it took too much time to do well. Hell, too much time to do poorly.

*: Brandon, really, but the typo gods have spoken and there's still no way to remedy that.
posted by klangklangston at 12:15 AM on December 11, 2012

The green seems to have become a lot funnier. I don't remember there being in times past so many triumphant "look at what a great person I am" entries brutally shot down by 20 answers to the contrary.

Regarding progressives and such, I think Christians, conservatives, Christian conservatives and other oddities on MetaFilter are treated better in the last few years. It really helps that they mostly don't fit the "rich white republican southern man" stereotype that is cool to hate right now, and that the mods are well staffed and doing a great job promoting civility in general. I wouldn't expect it to ever get too good because, well, it's the Internet and it's an atheist's website, but it's definitely gotten better at least as a reversion to the mean.

I would guess there are something like 10x as many IRL meetups.

There are a lot of people who read both MetaFilter and Hacker News, a site that wasn't very popular or influential a few years ago. It's changed the kind of technology reported here and the nature of the discussions (not too much, though.)

The collected works of elizardbits are worth looking into unless you hate Iron Man. You probably didn't encounter this delightful dinosaur.

Anything else?
posted by michaelh at 12:22 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's more heavily moderated and no longer considers itself to be the filter to the best of the web. And generally if you need to know something or want something from the site, the mods are not helpful, the community is.

Your mileage may vary.
posted by disclaimer at 12:35 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Five years ago, I often recommended Metafilter to friends as a cool site with a lot of smart people and interesting discussions. I don't really do that anymore. That's not to say you people are less smart, of course. But the site has lost something—it doesn't feel as special as it did back then.
posted by ryanrs at 12:36 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

There is an edit function, and it rocks.
posted by Decani at 12:57 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

Betrothed Mefite paramours will soon be able to have their sordid profane unhallowed relationship legitimized and the wedding officiated by a Metafilter mod.

Also, for any super heroes who need to swear an oath of vengeance to relentlessly pursue the murderers of their family, or maybe just an oath to dress in only the most cutting-edge, avant-garde Lycra underoos and cape, that oath can be administered by the same person.
posted by XMLicious at 1:01 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

A cheap hack of a webcomic artist trawled Metafilter for joke material, said "Nope, I didn't do it", and after some stern mod emails was convinced that at very least he had to give MeFi credit.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:22 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

More oldsters complaining that things were so much better when they first started reading MeFi.

They're wrong of course, mainly for the fact that I've only been posting for a year or so.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:27 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

The good old days always look better in hindsight, just like your vacation destination always seems like it's filled with people living perfect lives.
posted by OmieWise at 2:31 AM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

In no particular order:

- Metatalk now has a scheduled, once a month, flameout of a longtime member.
- Reddit is the new BoingBoing
- Election threads read like War and Peace
- We got a chatroom, and it updated so fast I got a headache
- Jessamyn is writing her new book, 1001 Ways to DTMFA, based on heavily favorited responses on the green
- Pictures of cats in all AskMe cat questions are now compulsory
- Egg Shen appeared, like the phoenix
- We still laugh/groan at Texas
- Feminism is a bigger issue/discussion point
- Concerns about anonymity and anonymous posts are more common
- We have failed to resolve the Israeli/Palestine issue over the internet
- Metafilter is no safe haven from the peril of the animated gif
- There is more competition for "Best of the Web" on the internets, and the Blue has become more discussion-oriented
- It is entirely possible to click on someone's profile you've never seen before and find they've been here ages and have a gazillion favorites
- More subjects of conversations seem to have joined up, and joined threads. Usually to great delight. Apart from Scott Adams
- James Brown is still dead; we still get one obit post for him a day
- Obama bin Laden is living under an assumed mane, in Maine, despite a lengthy obit thread
- Moderation is now a 24/7 affair; but starting turd wars in Metatalk on weekends is considered poor form
- The c**t word is verboten, and not greatly missed
- There are more conversations about the good old days of Metafilter
- We still have no idea how those cats got wedged in the scanner, or why
- Nobody really talks about George W Bush
- Everybody talks about hipsters, but nobody here is one
- We pretend Twitter doesn't exist while we're here
- Greg Nog has his own fan club, which is releasing a Christmas single in his honour
- Moderation is more overt; criticism, and unfair criticism, of mods more common
- The $5 sign up fee remains impervious to the heady magnetism of inflation
- Guy Fieri opened a restaurant. The food is disgusting, the portions so small
posted by MuffinMan at 2:38 AM on December 11, 2012 [29 favorites]

I am so in love with Chrysostom right now.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:39 AM on December 11, 2012

We are edging ever closer to answering the eternal question, what is the correct way to say MeFi?
posted by daisyk at 2:57 AM on December 11, 2012

I've heard people of every imaginable stripe describe their ideological hobbyhorse as "progressive". And really, what the hell does that mean, anyway?

It means "liberal, only I'm scared to use the word." "Liberal," as a term, became a movement-conservative whipping boy over a decade ago, and five-odd years ago, liberals who were feeling persecuted by that started calling themselves "progressive" instead. That despite the fact that the original Progressives have about as much in common with movement conservatives and your typical, modern "progressive".

But whatever you want to call it, MetaFilter is as liberal/progressive/lefty as ever. I'm here because it's still possible to have a decent conversation in spite of that. I'd like to think that even the people who disagree with me--and there are a lot of them--think I'm worth talking to despite our disagreements. But I never forget for a second that the site genpop has vastly different value commitments than I do.
posted by valkyryn at 3:26 AM on December 11, 2012

The Doobie Brothers broke up.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:44 AM on December 11, 2012

God I love that one of my posts got into Chrysostom's composition, despite almost every single interesting link in that post now being dead.

Also, there do really seem to be a lot more obits lately. Like, it seems like there have been a dozen this week.
posted by cthuljew at 3:48 AM on December 11, 2012

I'm liberal, smear me all you like. Liberally smear me with that Goat Sauce. Oh yeah. BRB
posted by maxwelton at 4:07 AM on December 11, 2012

I joined it
posted by Renoroc at 4:31 AM on December 11, 2012

The Metafilter 2013 Mindset List

For the Mefite class of 2013, sarcasm has always been served with a side of hamburger.

Mefites of 2013 have always had an edit window, and never had an img tag.

Myspace has always been passe, and Google+ has always been full of Mefites.

Mefites of 2013 will never wonder what "hardcore taters" really means.

Mefites of 2013 have always enjoyed meeting up on IRL.

2013 Mefites have always known how to dispose of a dead body.

Mefites of 2013 never got to buy cookies from sixcolors.

The Mefite class of 2013 have always had user numbers over 100,000.

Scott Adams has always been a dick.

Mefites of 2013 have never written spoilers in ROT13.

Christmases have always been accompanied by a round of "Jingle Rock Bell".

Mefites of 2013 have never had their favorites count hidden from them.
posted by Gordafarin at 4:37 AM on December 11, 2012 [29 favorites]

I've heard people of every imaginable stripe describe their ideological hobbyhorse as "progressive". And really, what the hell does that mean, anyway?

I think properly it's close to synonymous for "politically realistic, but not centrist".

In the US, the word gained traction at a time when the center left didn't know what they were fighting for and the far left had no idea how to fight. It was not just a rebranding to avoid a smear, it was also something like a recommitment to bridging the gap between what is desired and what is possible. That's how I saw it being used, at least.
posted by fleacircus at 4:48 AM on December 11, 2012

Haven't noticed any changes. Here or anywhere else.
posted by jfuller at 4:58 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Judging by this thread, December is still an enormously cranky time of year for many mefites. Welcome back dude, but you should have waited until springtime and we are happier.

You fucker.
posted by Think_Long at 5:22 AM on December 11, 2012 [5 favorites]

Big changes. Lotsa changes, for sure. My mind is going all through them changes. Chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-changes. But you're the only one to see the changes you take yourself through.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:45 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

flapjax is still the bestworst earwormer.
posted by elizardbits at 5:50 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Secret Quonsar price limits have risen from $10 to $20 just like in town.
posted by sciencegeek at 5:51 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

I have a lot of attachment to this site, and/but/so the crankiness in this thread has made me a little sad. The place is basically the same as it's always been, but people mostly treat each other better now (even if they don't always want to).
posted by gerryblog at 6:00 AM on December 11, 2012 [13 favorites]

Metafilter: and/but/so
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:04 AM on December 11, 2012

This thread is funny.

Progressive and liberal have two different meanings. I am both things and I don't really use them interchangeably. Liberal describes an individual philosophical outlook, an orientation to information. Progressive implies acting or advocating for policy in a way that makes political and social progress - moving forward into new policy directions, not retreating into former policy states. It's the opposite of regressive.

It may be that not everyone uses these words with full understanding of their meaning, but there is a reason that many people, myself included, employ the term progressive to describe our activism toward policy efforts for social improvement and welfare, and to recall earlier eras in American history in which those policies made progress. Also, liberalism as an intellectual approach is not the sole province of the left (in the US especially, the right has been profoundly informed by liberal ideas of the primacy of the individual), and once you get into discussions about how new information is integrated and new ideas tried, it is often preferable to separate the word 'liberal' from a left/right dichotomy.

The right's tarring of 'liberal' is not even a new thing. As a descriptor of lefty policital positions, it has been under a fire a long time, though before the oughts, it was from the left. The critique, of course, was that as a philosophical orientation it doesn't do anything until translated to policy.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new jackbooted thug MetaFilter. Here's your card; report to re-education at 0600. You'll enjoy the camping trips!
posted by Miko at 6:15 AM on December 11, 2012 [19 favorites]

One piece of advice - the members will be very displeased if for whatever reason you try to fake your own death.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:16 AM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

the crankiness in this thread has made me a little sad.

It's a little self-selecting. If you offer people in general an opportunity to comment on change, those who believe that there has been negative change will sit you down and get you a cup of coffee, because here comes an earful.
posted by Miko at 6:16 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

People are definitely less openly hostile. The mods are much more zealous about deleting "NO U" comments or trying to stop flamewars before they start.

I'll take flak for saying this, but taste / interest / cultural reference-wise, I think MeFi has moved much closer to the mainstream in the last 2-3 years, overall.

I feel this way, too; the site strikes me as slightly more "respectable" than it used to be, but in a way that I find hard to quantify.
posted by Greg Nog at 6:16 AM on December 11, 2012

There is a trend toward making posts that are miniature research papers. Instead of "hey look at this thing that is the best of the web", there are posts that are clearly the result of HOURS of work.

Which often results in less interesting comments. When the initial post is literally exhaustive, other people can't or won't chime in with "this is my contribution to the topic" because it is already part of the post.
posted by gjc at 6:19 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

The Empress reminds me that one of the most significant events, at least for me, in MetaFilter history was the regrettable death of Bill Zeller and the remarkable thread which resulted, which certainly raised my consciousness about abuse survivorship. It also resulted in the organization of a Wiki page called There is Help, which has been useful at least a few times in hooking people up to a useful resource when they needed it.
posted by Miko at 6:19 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

the site strikes me as slightly more "respectable"

A lot of us are growing up, sustaining more of life's hard knocks.

Also, the lifetime of MeFi is concurrent with the rise of Internet culture overall, and we are o longer an odd neighborhood or even the location of a leading edge, so the rest of the world has probably come to seem more like us, rather than the other way 'round.
posted by Miko at 6:21 AM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Chrysostom: "double block and bleed: "Some mods are apparently paid piecework rates for deletions, which yields less snarky commentary but also increases homogeneity and dulls colorful personalities."

I think a variant of this comment was probably first posted around Day 3 of the site's existence."

I've never been on the moderation == censorship bandwagon. If anyone, including myself, writes something that is clearly inappropriate, then they are often doing us a favor by removing the jack-assery from public view. I certainly don't have the patience to herd all of these cats.

At the same time, I don't like stern mod comments to redirect a thread that isn't even close to derailing, even when they aren't directed at me.
posted by double block and bleed at 6:25 AM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

On the whole it's good stuff.

Less snark, less froth, more thought, more respect.

Not perfect; better.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:28 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

the rest of the world has probably come to seem more like us

the rest of the world is now more like us
they rise in the morning, they get on the bus
they buy little knick-knacks to put on their shelves
they look in the mirrors and there see themselves
they dot all their Is, they cross all their Ts
then sit at computers and make FPPs
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:29 AM on December 11, 2012 [8 favorites]

> At the same time, I don't like stern mod comments to redirect a thread that isn't even close to derailing, even when they aren't directed at me.

You know how, on the highway, two semi trucks will occasionally work in tandem to block both lanes. You fume, maybe even honk, but then the one on the left merges and you realize the left lane is blocked for maintenance. The trucks had conspired to maintain a low average speed ahead of the merge rather than accept gridlock as everyone tried to race up the left lane and merge at the last second.

My family traveled a huge amount for work, when I was young, and this always stuck with me when my dad pointed it out.
posted by gilrain at 6:32 AM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

At the same time, I don't like stern mod comments to redirect a thread that isn't even close to derailing, even when they aren't directed at me.

Seconded.

Metafilter always felt moderated with a humour and a lightness of touch that seemed just right to me. I always assumed that that was a function of the mods personalities rather than a policy issue.

As the number of mods has increased, it feels as though the mods have become much more interventionist.

I accept that you can't please all the people all the time, but I definitely preferred the less heavy-handed approach.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:44 AM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

Well for me personally, I have just recently learnt that Americans use something called "Donkey Sauce." Now unfortunately, I am English, so innuendo and Euphemism are in-bred, so a phrase like that, well, uh, Jesus.

One thing that never seems to change - arguments over what a term means precisely, completely derailing a thread.
posted by marienbad at 6:47 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I died of dysentery. I got better.
posted by Splunge at 6:55 AM on December 11, 2012

MetaFilter: What'd I miss?
posted by softlord at 6:56 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Now unfortunately, I am English, so innuendo and Euphemism are in-bred, so a phrase like that, well, uh, Jesus.

To be fair, as an American, I just assumed it was one of those crazy Euphtastrophies you read about.
posted by Gygesringtone at 6:57 AM on December 11, 2012

Donkey sauce isn't something you put on food in the part of America where I'm from.
posted by double block and bleed at 6:57 AM on December 11, 2012

I have just recently learnt that Americans use something called "Donkey Sauce."

Americans don't actually use anything called Donkey Sauce.
posted by bondcliff at 6:57 AM on December 11, 2012 [11 favorites]

One thing that never seems to change - arguments over what a term means precisely, completely derailing a thread.

Happy to do my part buttressing the fortress walls against dreaded change.
posted by Miko at 7:02 AM on December 11, 2012

I guarantee you, 'Donkey Sauce' brings up the same associations here that it does in the UK.
posted by Miko at 7:03 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is Donkey Sauce made from donkeys or served with donkey? I never remember....

I was also deeply relieved to find out that turtle bars had no actual turtle in them.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:07 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also, Nanaimo bars are often not actually from Nanaimo. Check your bar provenance carefully.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:09 AM on December 11, 2012

Wait 'til you hear about baby oil.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 7:11 AM on December 11, 2012 [7 favorites]

Pretty sure it's made by donkeys.
posted by double block and bleed at 7:14 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

rmd1023, I once spent a morning searching Nanaimo's downtown for a Nanaimo bar. The only place that sold them was Thrifty's. (they weren't even at the local chocolate shops)

Unfortunately, there was no time to visit Ladysmith and get the real article.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 7:16 AM on December 11, 2012

PeterMcDermott: "

...the mods have become much more interventionist."

To be fair, we are having a jokey conversation about donkey semen without repercussions.
posted by double block and bleed at 7:19 AM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

The site being much less overtly hostile to women is, I would think, a positive change.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:21 AM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

I guarantee you, 'Donkey Sauce' brings up the same associations here that it does in the UK.

But Donkey Shot in France is literature. Wozatallabahthen?
posted by MuffinMan at 7:30 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

How has MeFi changed in the past 2-3 years?

I may be the outlier here, but I don't think it's changed much at all in that time.
posted by Artw at 7:39 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

PeterMcDermott: "Metafilter always felt moderated with a humour and a lightness of touch that seemed just right to me. I always assumed that that was a function of the mods personalities rather than a policy issue.

As the number of mods has increased, it feels as though the mods have become much more interventionist."

I think that is less a function of policy or mod personality than from having basically 24/7 coverage. In the past, derails/flamewars/whatever could easily happen while the mods were off, and then by morning, were too far advanced to prune. What you're seeing is what you always would have seen if Matt never needed to sleep or eat.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:41 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, if you want a distinction drawn from the mod perspective on that, the differences is we no longer get up every morning worried that we're going to encounter a metric ton of overnight shit accrued at the front steps.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:57 AM on December 11, 2012 [9 favorites]

People who say things like "PC police" and "identity politics" are less openly hostile and a little bit bitchier.

I'm going to assume that was a response of sorts to me, since I'm the only one who used 'identity politics' here. I am not against identity politics or think they are inherently wrong or stupid, they're just a way that a lot more people choose to express themselves now, often in what feels to me to be a very dramatic, self-indulgent way. Which does remind me of a theatrical monologue. Before that, particularly and understandably during the Bush presidency, there was a lot more capital-P Political posturing, which led to a lot of bloviating that was just as dramatic and self-indulgent and not really that interested in actually participating in a conversation to me. So things have gone from Bill Hicks to The Moth, and while I enjoy both, I'm not a big fan of people using MeFi to work on their material either way.

I agree that things are a lot less openly hostile; unfortunately, I think that it's led to a lot more passive aggressiveness, which in my eyes is just as toxic and in some ways more insidious (The dead horse I've often flogged is 'Go Fuck Yourself' vs. 'Bless Your Heart'). My overall point in my previous comment was that the community has overall become more welcoming and friendly, but at the same time, the negative aspects of social dynamics have become far more subtler.

Amusingly, I'm not a fan of using the adjective 'bitchier'. But then I've frequently been accused of having PC police tendencies.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:07 AM on December 11, 2012

the community has overall become more welcoming and friendly, but at the same time, the negative aspects of social dynamics have become far more subtler.

Interesting that these are qualities of communication that are socially marked as 'feminine.' For instance, the trope that boys are troublemakers in school while girls are obedient anjd "nice" is, more complexly, the fact that girls learn a style of troublemaking that tries to run below the radar, stay within subtle bounds, and yet still clearly communicate to their peers. And you even noted an urge to use the word "bitchy." I know you didn't actually use it, but it does feel like gender is present in this critique.

Whether this perception is a function of MetaFilter actually having more women on it now than it used to, or the behavior needle moving to reflect a little more of the female-gendered communication style or a little less of male-gendered communication styles, or coincidence, or does not reflect reality at all and is entirely idiosyncratic, I would have to think more about.

But I really do prefer today's MetaFilter over 2002's or 2005's MetaFilter. I would trade "snarky within basic boundaries" for "direct insult and belittlement" any day.
posted by Miko at 8:18 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

I didn't have an urge to use the word bitchier, I was responding to stoneandstar's use of it. I thought it was ironic that someone who was criticizing the anti-PC police crowd would use what to me is a gendered insult.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:31 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ah, I misunderstood you there, sorry. I don't use the word either, but there are people who feel they are in a legitimate project to 'reclaim' it, so I don't contest it when I see it myself.

I still think there is something interesting in the perception of a move from "openly hostile" to "bitchier" or, alternatively, "subtler," that is probably meaningful.
posted by Miko at 8:38 AM on December 11, 2012

Past 2-3 years, eh? I'm not qualified to speak for how an entire website has changed in that amount of time, but I can certainly comment on how I, a fairly active participant have personally changed in that time. Let's start with a timeline of sorts:

1. Lurked on the Blue and Green in 2009,
2. then joined under a now-defunct username in 2010,
3. then moved to a new persona in 2011.

Part of that username change was driven by a desire to have a less prosaic screen name, but much of it was also informed and driven by changes I experienced as a participant on MetaFilter. I've learned a lot from this community: I've learned about some of my personal biases and blindspots, I've become well-acquainted with issues that previously I had not thought to be real or abiding concerns. I have learned to express myself with more clarity and truth. I have learned that precision matters, but also listening, and compassion.

I have learned to flag it and move on. That my voice isn't required for every topic. I've learned to look past tone and focus on the message, to assume that others are also acting in good faith. These lessons have spilled into my personal life. I argue less with my parents, and I'm more accepting of other viewpoints, even when I vehemently disagree with them.

I've learned that I don't need to be first, or best. I just need to be real, that real value and real beauty come from being honest and sincere. I've learned that being cool is not important.

I've learned to use the Preview button and the backspace key.

If that makes me more mainstream and less interesting, and by extension my participation here effects some kind of "watering down" of MetaFilter...ah, well. Can't please everyone. I still think MetaFilter continues to be the Best of the Web, and I'm glad that I get to be a part of it.
posted by Doleful Creature at 8:54 AM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

I still think there is something interesting in the perception of a move from "openly hostile" to "bitchier" or, alternatively, "subtler," that is probably meaningful.

I agree it's an interesting phenomenon, and it'd be interesting to see if the contributing factors could be identified. It does seem that more women are actively participating on the site, but it could also be that the userbase is aging. ryanshepard and Greg Nog's observations about mainstreaming and respectability have a lot to them, I think. Whether it is gender or age or taste or class, the only way to know for sure is if Matt calls for a census.

'But there was no room in the Green, so they had to sleep in MeTa...'
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:57 AM on December 11, 2012

People tend to make fewer remarks about their cocks or random sexual proclivities in Meta, which is a good thing.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:00 AM on December 11, 2012

Yeah, and Doleful Creature's point about just mellowing out and gaining humility is part of that maturing process I mentioned above. Not only is much the userbase maturing individually, but Mefi is maturing as a site/community, and web interaction is maturing overall. Most of us don't want to revisit some of the miseries/difficulties/enmities we experienced in earlier, OK Corral days, even though we may miss something of that wild energy.
posted by Miko at 9:01 AM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

It does feel more negative sometimes. A lot of people seem to post comments in a rush to be critical of something without really offering any substantial criticism. Less, "Here are some of the weaker points of this thing and suggestions for improvement," and more, "This is bad and everyone involved in it is bad and you should feel bad about it but think better of me because clearly I have a more sophisticated opinion than you if I think this is bad."

I do have a habit of playing Devil's Advocate or throwing out a different opinion more for the sake of breaking an echo chamber than because it's an opinion I rigidly and inflexibly hold (I don't have a lot of those), so I can understand to a degree, but I always try to make that clear. I'm more than happy with a thread full of people disagreeing with each other. Done cordially, that's fascinating. The comments that bother me are more like blanket negativity and snark intended to make the poster look cool or something. But no one worth knowing is going to think you're cool for only reading one sentence of an author. Intelligent, considerate, compassionate, creative people--which MetaFilter's full of--don't brag about stuff like this. Even if it's an author you passionately hate. Just say that, and explain why.

When these sorts of comments are direct replies, they're kind of just bullying and that bothers me, too. They seem similarly written to make the author look cooler and smarter than the person they're replying to, and that's such a waste of time. Especially since both kinds of comments are often vague, factually incorrect or examples of plain miscomprehension.

Not to bitch too much about bitching, mind... A couple of positive changes I've noticed are that a few previously off-limits topics are now semi-doable and the variety and quality of FPPs has greatly increased. I think a lot of people on MetaFilter still assume the site swings a certain way, demographics wise, when it's actually broadened a great deal more than most web communities ever get to. Which is pure awesome. I'm hoping to see that diversity bloom into something even more interesting than it is right now.
posted by byanyothername at 9:17 AM on December 11, 2012 [5 favorites]

We had a suicide hoax.
posted by Melismata at 9:21 AM on December 11, 2012

There was that time Matt showed up and gave everyone in the studio audience a free car...
posted by From Bklyn at 9:30 AM on December 11, 2012

MetaFilter: Vague, factually incorrect or examples of plain miscomprehension.

(Yeah, we're still doing taglines. No, they're still not funny.)
posted by griphus at 9:33 AM on December 11, 2012

It has looked to me like the mods have made some subtle changes very much to the better on how they deal with usual pile-ons, and that's something I appreciate.
posted by Anything at 9:33 AM on December 11, 2012

Yeah, we've had the Feminist Wars and the Feminists mostly won. There are still revanchists around, and we still live in the Eternal September, but it's mostly better.

Oh, and the other thing that I've really noticed: IRL killed meetups in LA.
posted by klangklangston at 9:36 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

We all learned the surprising lesson that faking your own death isn't as cool as it is in the movies.
posted by item at 10:12 AM on December 11, 2012

Can't post images anymore. Yes, the all-text MeFi's better for at-work browsing, but I miss the pics.
posted by Rash at 10:34 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

How did IRL kill meetups?
posted by Think_Long at 10:40 AM on December 11, 2012

Velociraptor fever. It was horrible. Nobody saw it coming from the sidebar.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:42 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I didn't have an urge to use the word bitchier, I was responding to stoneandstar's use of it. I thought it was ironic that someone who was criticizing the anti-PC police crowd would use what to me is a gendered insult.

Just trying out that "jokes" thing I've heard spoken of so fondly.

And you made basically my exact point, which is that there's less open hostility and more passive-aggressiveness. I don't necessarily think the passive-aggressiveness is good or bad. I'm glad people don't feel comfortable bluntly saying things like "rapes are overreported!" and such, but passive-aggressiveness is annoying, of course.

And I wasn't necessarily talking about you, though I do think your characterization of "identity politics" around here as self-indulgent and dramatic is not exactly benign, but to each his own.
posted by stoneandstar at 10:50 AM on December 11, 2012

"How did IRL kill meetups?"

In LA, moving them to a separate page was enough to sap the critical mass required to get people together here. It's an extra step, and while there are still tons of de facto meetups, there are far fewer actual, completed meetups than there were before.
posted by klangklangston at 10:57 AM on December 11, 2012

stylistically there's more of this informal/texting/twitter thing happening
posted by naju at 11:24 AM on December 11, 2012

My old account is pre-9/11.
posted by lamp at 1:54 AM on December 11 [+] [!]

So was mine, but it ended well.

MetaFilter is still the Trader Joe's of web communities. It'll never be a top player in the field, but it occasionally influences the rest in subtle but positive ways. Also, as it grows larger, there are more product recalls.

More things get deleted as "doesn't work well here" than before, partly because more posters are clueless (or in denial) about what doesn't work well here.

The Whelk is about three years away from being the kind of celebrity we can say "I remember him from MetaFilter" about. And Cortex is still five years away, for the sixth straight year.

jscalzi's blog is the subject of a FPP twice a year.

The period of ItsRainingFlorenceHenderson's inactivity was excruciating.

Miko is still always right.

filthy light thief moved to Albuquerque, probably to get away from me. Still, every time I'm in Pismo Beach, I shout out "you took a wrong toin!!!"

Basically, the War on Women changed fronts from politics to pop culture, because, hey, if women were welcome, it'd be called Mom Culture. Anyway, that makes it more difficult to deal with here, because the only Fake Geek Girls at MetaFilter are the ones who are Guys.

And DonkeySauce is a thing only because we have come to accept RoosterSauce without innuendo. Neither of which are that great on a plate of beans, IMO.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:24 AM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

Trying to think back to the golden haze of 2-3 years ago. Weren't there tons of Lady Gaga posts in any given week?
posted by naju at 11:28 AM on December 11, 2012

....It is possible to look back, yes?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:00 PM on December 11, 2012

MetaFilter is archived but imperfections of the mind accrue, like waterlogged photographs, comments and flameouts fading in the summer rain...
posted by naju at 12:14 PM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

The biggest change was when they replaced the background color from #006699 to #006799 back in 2011. The debates were incredible: no prisoners taken, no weapons left unused. In the end the moderators had to change it back to the original shade, and had to erase all discussion about it. Never again...
posted by 1367 at 12:41 PM on December 11, 2012

It's a bit of a digital prison camp now, with the mods laughmeister in chief turning up every few comments to cajole us all into hilarity.

/leonardcohen>
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:13 PM on December 11, 2012

The word passé-aggressive was coined to describe threads like this one.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:14 PM on December 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

Well, we've stopped using the term "first world problem."

(refreshes MetaTalk)

Oops, nevermind.
posted by davejay at 2:05 PM on December 11, 2012

In LA, moving them to a separate page was enough to sap the critical mass required to get people together here. It's an extra step, and while there are still tons of de facto meetups, there are far fewer actual, completed meetups than there were before.

Couldn't y'all just get in your cars and drive to the new page?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:20 PM on December 11, 2012 [6 favorites]

The new page is in Van Nuys, though.
posted by elizardbits at 2:38 PM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

More PC, more mods, and more deleted comments.

Thank fucking god.
posted by kmz at 2:51 PM on December 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Ooh, I have some data on this! I'm currently writing a PhD thesis about language change in an online medium, using MetaFilter as the community under investigation. I started this project as my Masters thesis in 2010, with data I collected in the form of an online survey about how people pronounce "MeFi" and "MeFite".

The survey was in March, 2010 and 2,521 MeFites participated...that's about 16% of the active userbase (any user that made a comment or post within the prior year). There were 50 countries represented. In 2010, the average age of MeFites was 33. The self-reported gender split was 36% female, 62% male, 2% transgender, declined to state or designated another gender identity that doesn't fall into these categories (the 2012 survey was free-form, which was a much better idea all around, but whoo-boy was that fun to code...300+ unique responses).

The mods graciously allowed me to conduct another survey in August 2012 (thanks again, mods!). This time there were 1,957 participants from 49 countries — somewhere between 11-15% of the userbase was represented here (still a sizeable sample...2% is generally considered standard and acceptable). The average age was 36. The gender distribution is as follows (now with more categories, based on the 300+ unique responses):
female: 43%
male: 51%
genderqueer: 1%
transgender: less than 1%
gender is indeterminate from response given: 3%
answer left blank: 2%

So yes, we've gotten older, but within our ranks there is more gender equality, yay. We lost a country somewhere though.
(this is not a scientific write-up, but it is Science!)

I wish I had more time right now to come up with more substantial information (maybe I'll return in a few days to say more, after I get this methodology chapter out the door).
posted by iamkimiam at 2:55 PM on December 11, 2012 [16 favorites]

In the green, less technical questions and more lengthy descriptions of how my life is miserable, what should I do?
posted by Rash at 3:18 PM on December 11, 2012

ignignokt: "40,005 more users were registered. We initiated 4 users as mods.

The site has 154 more head of cattle, and 46 more horses than we did at the time of your last login.

We produced 9981 and ate 8890 Bushels of food. 74 were lost due to spoilage.

Our crafters produced 132 cows worth of goods. Our market made a profit of 75 cows worth of goods.

Maintaining our shrines, temples, and chat.metafilter.com took 37 cows and goods worth 62 cows."

Oh gawd, now it's driving me crazy! What game is that from?? I know I played it once!!
posted by IndigoRain at 7:33 PM on December 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

IndigoRain: Oh gawd, now it's driving me crazy! What game is that from?? I know I played it once!!"

King of Dragon Pass, recently rereleased on iOS.
posted by dd42 at 7:46 PM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

"The new page is in Van Nuys, though."

The only proper response to, "I'm moving to Van Nuys," is "I'm sorry for your loss."
posted by klangklangston at 10:06 PM on December 11, 2012

Well, it's been quite a challenge this past year, no question. Our little bundle of joy has turned into a teenager and morphed right into a lovable little terror, hahaha! On the good days, which is when we have a full prescription and our little darling is spending the afternoon in detention hall with Sister Mary, things are great and we feel comfortable leaving the fuse box unlocked. And the bad days are getting better, absolutely! We just throw our little miracle links to a Jezebel article or two and our baby spends hours happily fact checking and refuting the logic. We don't know what we'd do without that site.

It's also helped since we've switched to a private school and enrolled our sweet little demon in a few college classes. It calms them, to be thinking so much, we've had to replace much less future. With Sister Mary's firm guidance and a few donations to the local policeman's ball, we have no doubt we'll be get through 2013 without having to move again. At least the first half. Summers are a difficult time, with the warehouse being closed for repairs.

Someone, please help us.
posted by Mr. and Mrs. Metafilter at 6:20 AM on December 12, 2012 [3 favorites]

We would no longer hit it.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 7:06 AM on December 12, 2012

Editing got added and the word didn't end, that's something.
posted by Artw at 10:02 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

We still have a week or so before that can be proven conclusively.
posted by elizardbits at 10:04 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Editing got added and the word didn't end.

The feature is clearly underutilized, though.
posted by alms at 10:54 AM on December 12, 2012

OK, it DID introduce an additional snark vector.
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

I wish you had written 'shark'.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:12 PM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd love to hear from the Meta core about what has happened in the past few years - changes, rules, etc.

Edit window, 24/7 mod coverage, a few more staff. We tend to split deleted posts into "Not quite right but try again" and "This is a terrible post for MetaFilter" and "You are a spammer goodbye" more than we used to. Some long time users came back with BND and couldn't hack it. A few came back and could hack it. A few people who used to complain about the site non-stop have left, some have not left, new people have showed up to complain about the site non-stop. Bannings have, I believe, decreased. People have mostly accepted that there will be YouTube links. We are doing our first ever MeFite's Choice post contest this month. Quite a few users have had babies and those babies technically have accounts. Meetups are hoppin most places (sorry LA) and people don't do shoutouts so much anymore. The Ten Year Anniversary was a big worldwide party and spawned a neat site. We now do the podcast on a something like regular schedule. The wiki has been hopping and I made an Orientation page for new members.

We used to watch The Wire and Lost and now we watch Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:35 PM on December 12, 2012 [5 favorites]

I checked the MeTer and it says Metafilter has improved by 72.841% exactly.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 1:39 PM on December 12, 2012

We used to watch The Wire and Lost and now we watch Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey

Teevee show titles got longer.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:40 PM on December 12, 2012

and Teen Wolf, don't forget.
posted by ifjuly at 2:43 PM on December 12, 2012

NEVER FORGET.
posted by The Whelk at 2:54 PM on December 12, 2012

FORGET, HELL!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:08 PM on December 12, 2012

Is he calling me Hell? But I'm Jesus Christ!
posted by Burhanistan at 8:37 PM on December 12, 2012

The thing about Metafilter is the older I get, the more it stays the same
posted by P.o.B. at 8:38 PM on December 12, 2012 [2 favorites]

and Teen Wolf, don't forget.

I believe the proper title is Teen Wofl.
posted by grapesaresour at 9:45 PM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

We used to watch The Wire and Lost and now we watch Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey

Might I humbly suggest switching from a soap opera about a country estate with a benevolent patrician landowner and his happy, well fed staff that probably never existed anywhere to watching a proper period drama: Parade's End.*

Whether you choose to call yourself a Cumberbitch is, and remains, a matter of purely personal taste.
posted by MuffinMan at 11:58 PM on December 12, 2012

Might I humbly suggest switching from a soap opera about a country estate with a benevolent patrician landowner and his happy, well fed staff that probably never existed anywhere to watching a proper period drama: Parade's End.*

It seems many of the folks outside the UK would not be able to, alas.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:23 AM on December 13, 2012

MetaFilter's navy is smaller now than at any time since 2003. However, we have actually seen an increase in bayonets as well as horses.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:37 AM on December 13, 2012

I was wondering the same thing, when I typed metafilter into the firefox bar. For some reason my typeahead sent me to metatalk, and the third or fourth post was someone whining about how hearing something was a "first world problem" was a problem for them, with absolutely no awareness of the irony.

When I felt like metafiler had become too obsessively insular to be a healthy group, I left quietly. I'm honestly shocked how much worse things have gotten.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:47 AM on December 13, 2012

When I felt like metafiler had become too obsessively insular to be a healthy group, I left quietly.

....I thought it was because someone said you couldn't call people "asshole".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:08 AM on December 13, 2012

EmpressCallipygos: ....I thought it was because someone said you couldn't call people "asshole"

I mean, Ok that you thought that, I guess? But you are factually wrong.

After double checking my post history to see what you are talking about, I see that I posted a half dozen comments in one go about this time last year (how about that timing.) Those few hours of posting represented the only posting done since May, when I had posted at a regular clip, and then gave up for reasons posted in my previous post in this thread.
posted by paisley henosis at 11:24 AM on December 13, 2012

Awkward lulls in the conversation remain a MetaTalk staple.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:47 PM on December 13, 2012

(Puts napkin to mouth corners, folds it back into lap)

So, how is your Aunt?
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 PM on December 13, 2012

Ah, quite well, thank you... she has high hopes for her azaleas this spring. Yes... high hopes.

[Inhales deeply through nose, exhales while making that soft explosion sound. Nods.]
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:59 PM on December 13, 2012

too obsessively insular to be a healthy group

My insularity keeps me warm as I hug my metal chicken.
posted by arcticseal at 9:07 PM on December 13, 2012

The Whelk actually sent me a metal chicken and it is now in my office.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:15 PM on December 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is how the bonds of socialism are forged.
posted by The Whelk at 9:37 PM on December 13, 2012

There's a lot more legroom. Caturday, that's new...

Plus, free beer koozies with every new membership in one of three fabulous styles: "Margaritaville" bottle koozie, Waste Management brand can koozie, or 40 oz sweater koozie. That was my idea. You're welcome.
posted by krinklyfig at 3:54 AM on December 14, 2012

Three years from now, I fully expect Metafilter to have left the bonds of the web (which will now be dying as exotic tachyon leaks from the LHC destroy the causality that computers depend on) and become a shared series of haiku that wanders of the wasteland will use to verify if the other person follows The Guidelines, and keep memories of the internet alive.

The first verse will be enough to clarify you are a friend.

I have no idea.
Why these cats are on scanners.
Springtime of the web.

posted by mccarty.tim at 8:21 AM on December 14, 2012

James Brown is no more.
Also, James Brown is no more.
Winter snow falls twice.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:31 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

We're basically the brotherhood of steel but without the fancy robes.
posted by The Whelk at 8:38 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

There seems to be less cowbell.
posted by Danf at 9:06 AM on December 14, 2012

This is just to ask
After I declaw her cat
Should I eat these plums?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:08 AM on December 14, 2012