Fundraising Idea: AskMe Update Bounties August 31, 2023 8:50 AM Subscribe
An idea for fundraising... What are the AskMe posts you most wanted to see updates on that did not get them? What would you be willing to donate to MetaFilter to get that update? Would you donate $5 to see if they ate the thing? $5 to find out if they went with a product rec from the Ask and whether it worked? $10 to see if they quit that job? $20 to see if they DTMF? Let's bribe our way into some answers.
For best results, it seems the best practices would be:
-focus on AskMes that were not anonymous
-focus on AskMes from users who still seem to be active
-pair the request here with a friendly MeMail/email (if possible)
-and also, probably: lean towards AskMes that would not traumatize people to revisit
If there's one you see someone else bidding on that you would also like to see an update on, you could add your pledge to the existing pledge to make for a better incentive.
Worst case scenario, this becomes a fun thread in the "Hey... remember that post?" vein. Best case scenario, MeFi gets some extra funding and some of us have our nosiness and curiosity sated. Win-win all around.
For best results, it seems the best practices would be:
-focus on AskMes that were not anonymous
-focus on AskMes from users who still seem to be active
-pair the request here with a friendly MeMail/email (if possible)
-and also, probably: lean towards AskMes that would not traumatize people to revisit
If there's one you see someone else bidding on that you would also like to see an update on, you could add your pledge to the existing pledge to make for a better incentive.
Worst case scenario, this becomes a fun thread in the "Hey... remember that post?" vein. Best case scenario, MeFi gets some extra funding and some of us have our nosiness and curiosity sated. Win-win all around.
Original version of the post (pinged mods for a correction already) had a typo. Should obviously say "would not traumatize."
Anywho... I'd donate $5 in Bella Donna's name to hear if her friends made that Europe trip and if so, if any of the advice in the post was helpful.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:01 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
Anywho... I'd donate $5 in Bella Donna's name to hear if her friends made that Europe trip and if so, if any of the advice in the post was helpful.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:01 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Typo fixed, no coomments removed.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 9:06 AM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 9:06 AM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
A $5 donation to MeFi for any of these updates:
-did mullacc add any cities to their pending trip?
-did gottabefunky make any kind of arrangement with their dentist ab out the failed implant?
-whether 1adam12 was able to break up the nightly party on their sidewalk.
And also: $5 for an update from Dressed to Kill on the bf who "joked" about murdering them. $6 if they dumped his ass.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
-did mullacc add any cities to their pending trip?
-did gottabefunky make any kind of arrangement with their dentist ab out the failed implant?
-whether 1adam12 was able to break up the nightly party on their sidewalk.
And also: $5 for an update from Dressed to Kill on the bf who "joked" about murdering them. $6 if they dumped his ass.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I will donate $7.00 if you promise not to revisit any potentially traumatizing AskMes, such as one about someone's boyfriend threatening to murder them, as you yourself suggested not doing in the initial post.
Jesus.
posted by bondcliff at 10:13 AM on August 31, 2023 [15 favorites]
Jesus.
posted by bondcliff at 10:13 AM on August 31, 2023 [15 favorites]
To be fair, if you read the AskMe in question, bondcliff, the asker thought her fella was "playful" or "boundary pushing" with his supposedly off-handed references to violence. A pretty unanimous group of answerers (including me!) emphasized this was very much Not Okay and she should DTMFA. Would love to hear that she did.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:11 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:11 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I realize we are all legally required to answer every MeTa post even if just to say we hate it and would rather talk about something else, but if anyone has any AskMe posts they'd like to hear a follow-up on, that would probably be supercool.
We're early enough into this MeTa that it can still be fun and raise some money.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:13 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
We're early enough into this MeTa that it can still be fun and raise some money.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:13 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
$5 to find out if sixcolors' car trunk gourmet popcorn and bbq business ever got off the ground
$50 if it did
posted by phunniemee at 12:20 PM on August 31, 2023 [18 favorites]
$50 if it did
posted by phunniemee at 12:20 PM on August 31, 2023 [18 favorites]
[posted to wrong meta]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 12:23 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 12:23 PM on August 31, 2023
I would probably pay more than $5 to get an update on this AskMe, which I have wanted resolution on for seven years and four-and-a-half months.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:25 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:25 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Good one, staggernation! Whatever your bid is, I'll add $5 to it.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:36 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:36 PM on August 31, 2023
Sorry, DOT, maybe I'm just grumpy today or something. I guess I don't see how bringing up a bunch of old AskMes from anonymous and long-buttoned users is helpful or productive. I'm probably not the only person who would cringe at things I posted as recently as ten years ago, I'd imagine others might not want their old questions brought up to be revisited.
I, too, am curious about the trunk popcorn, but I'm also hoping maybe that user moved on to bigger and better things. No need to embarrass them.
I am breaking my own rule though, in that I am shitting on someone else's idea and generally being Negative On The Internet, something that I am often complaining about when others do it. So, in the spirit of this MeTa, I will give $10.00 if the OP can tell me if I correctly figured out the song they were talking about in This Thread, because I have never been so sure about something in all my life yet there was never any follow up.
posted by bondcliff at 1:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
I, too, am curious about the trunk popcorn, but I'm also hoping maybe that user moved on to bigger and better things. No need to embarrass them.
I am breaking my own rule though, in that I am shitting on someone else's idea and generally being Negative On The Internet, something that I am often complaining about when others do it. So, in the spirit of this MeTa, I will give $10.00 if the OP can tell me if I correctly figured out the song they were talking about in This Thread, because I have never been so sure about something in all my life yet there was never any follow up.
posted by bondcliff at 1:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
I guess I don't see how bringing up a bunch of old AskMes from anonymous and long-buttoned users is helpful or productive
The post does suggest, as the first two recommendations, that we should avoid Asks from anonymous users or MeFites who are no longer active.
One of my favorite people on MeFi recently mentioned how great it would be to be allowed to ask people if they'd actually read the damn post. I should reach out to him and sic him on you.
[Seconds later] Oh wait.
(sticking my tongue out at you)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [8 favorites]
The post does suggest, as the first two recommendations, that we should avoid Asks from anonymous users or MeFites who are no longer active.
One of my favorite people on MeFi recently mentioned how great it would be to be allowed to ask people if they'd actually read the damn post. I should reach out to him and sic him on you.
[Seconds later] Oh wait.
(sticking my tongue out at you)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [8 favorites]
DirtyOldTown, you keep on recommending posts that are either high-drama or are, again, from people who flamed out (sometimes the same person). That's why people are concerned, and it's a bit weird to tell people to read the post... when they're pointing out the inconsistencies between (your) post and (your) comments.
posted by sagc at 1:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by sagc at 1:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
"Keep on"? I did miss one. I had originally meant to post this last spring and gotten sidetracked. I should have doublechecked the older ones to make sure folks were still active. Sorry about that.
The other four were fine and were about, respectively: vacation, vacation, the dentist, and loud neighbors. Posts by other folks are about popcorn, puzzles, and music. So there is a fairly easily followed path to doing this in a harmless way.
Let's please ask for follow-ups about Asks on recipes, entertainment recs, whatever.
I am really striving my hardest, in the nicest way I am able, to nudge this thread back to the low-stakes, low stress fundraiser it can be, because I like MeFi and we are meant to be raising funds this month. I am wary of having this steered both away from that and back at me, because my better angel is sagging here.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:54 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
The other four were fine and were about, respectively: vacation, vacation, the dentist, and loud neighbors. Posts by other folks are about popcorn, puzzles, and music. So there is a fairly easily followed path to doing this in a harmless way.
Let's please ask for follow-ups about Asks on recipes, entertainment recs, whatever.
I am really striving my hardest, in the nicest way I am able, to nudge this thread back to the low-stakes, low stress fundraiser it can be, because I like MeFi and we are meant to be raising funds this month. I am wary of having this steered both away from that and back at me, because my better angel is sagging here.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:54 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
$5 for pictures of Babka's birthday party
posted by phunniemee at 2:04 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:04 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
Personally I feel like part of the social contract of AskMe is that nobody will randomly engage me about something I asked, years later. If it were anything even vaguely related to my actual life rather than an idle curiosity question, even more so.
posted by dusty potato at 2:05 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by dusty potato at 2:05 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
I think it's helpful to remember the context of, unlike most other sites, Metafilter not giving users any real control over their past contact. So if someone feels awkward about a past Ask, they're not going to have deleted it, they're just going to have had to decide to walk away and put it out of mind.
posted by dusty potato at 2:08 PM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by dusty potato at 2:08 PM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
﷼50,000 to find out if ph00dz ever got their bathtub full of cash money
posted by phunniemee at 2:10 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 2:10 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
new fundraiser idea how much do I have to bribe the mods to violate content policy item 1(b) and start calling people names 🙄🙄🙄🙄
posted by phunniemee at 2:12 PM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:12 PM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
I mean, we also have a social contract against threadshitting innocuous posts, so clearly we have some flexibility where those things go.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:14 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:14 PM on August 31, 2023
because I'm just sayin I've been donating $15/mo since 2018 and I feel like that's bought me some fair ill will
posted by phunniemee at 2:14 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:14 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
My flattest $1 bill to find out if dhruva avoided getting trampled
posted by phunniemee at 2:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Sorry if you felt my input on your idea was threadshitting. I feel like if you just wanted to raise the idea with the mods you could have emailed them directly.
posted by dusty potato at 2:23 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by dusty potato at 2:23 PM on August 31, 2023
I've got $5 to hear:
-if the antecedent of that pronoun got their Portugal/Spain trip set up for October and what is on the docket
-if kitcat ever succeeded at making their own rock candy
-how bookworm4125's pup Dice's training is going these days
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:25 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
-if the antecedent of that pronoun got their Portugal/Spain trip set up for October and what is on the docket
-if kitcat ever succeeded at making their own rock candy
-how bookworm4125's pup Dice's training is going these days
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:25 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
One of my favorite people on MeFi recently mentioned how great it would be to be allowed to ask people if they'd actually read the damn post. I should reach out to him and sic him on you.
Please don't sic him on me. That guy's a giant asshole.
posted by bondcliff at 2:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
Please don't sic him on me. That guy's a giant asshole.
posted by bondcliff at 2:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
$2 for DoT to engage bondcliff's recursive asshole
posted by phunniemee at 2:35 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:35 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
I saw Bondcliff's Recursive Asshole open for They might Be Giants once.
posted by bondcliff at 2:38 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 2:38 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]
i hear they ripped
posted by phunniemee at 2:42 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:42 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
An occasional bump but for the most part pretty tight.
For a bid of $5.00 I will stop talking about my ass.
posted by bondcliff at 2:53 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
For a bid of $5.00 I will stop talking about my ass.
posted by bondcliff at 2:53 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Maybe we should just raise funds Mafia style. Just show up in new threads and be like, "Yeah, this is a real nice thread you got here. Sure would be a shame if it got swallowed in a semantic debate or a decorum argument and the real conversation never got to happen. If you were to donate say, $25 to MeFi, my friends and I could make sure that doesn't happen. Keep you real protected-like."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:58 PM on August 31, 2023 [29 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:58 PM on August 31, 2023 [29 favorites]
I've always said our moberation team is the best around.
posted by phunniemee at 3:02 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 3:02 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
MaFia
posted by bondcliff at 3:05 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 3:05 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
Felix Alderisio and Sam Giancana discuss a topic for Askme
"Phil, goddammit! Ruins! I got coppers coming out of my eyeballs and you sit there telling me about ruins! Listen to me, Phil, listen real good! Ruins ain't garbage! Forget about them goddamn ruins!".
posted by clavdivs at 3:28 PM on August 31, 2023
"Phil, goddammit! Ruins! I got coppers coming out of my eyeballs and you sit there telling me about ruins! Listen to me, Phil, listen real good! Ruins ain't garbage! Forget about them goddamn ruins!".
posted by clavdivs at 3:28 PM on August 31, 2023
Mod note: Comment deleted at poster’s request
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 4:16 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 4:16 PM on August 31, 2023
Ate it. Didn’t eat it. Regretted eating it. Spouse ate it. Ate it. Regretted not eating it. Ate it. Didn’t eat it. Stored a cardigan in it. Ate it. Didn’t eat it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:37 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:37 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
I guess I’m not quite clear on the expected mechanism for eliciting these updates. On a site with no affordances for replies, mentions, or notifications, it seems the only options are unsolicited MeMail (feels obnoxious) or waiting for the OPs to read this thread (feels unlikely).
posted by staggernation at 10:54 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by staggernation at 10:54 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
As an existing user, I'd pay $5 to not have to learn new user interfaces and features. I'd pay an extra $10 towards allowing Metafilter to continue to stand against the trends and vicissitudes of the wider internet.
I also think people would pay $5 to make their comments blink off and on, as I hear used to be possible back in the day. Come to think of it, old word processing programs used to have a Sparkle feature, that surrounded the selected text with little colored sparkles. Imagine a month where you could make sparkly comments! for $5! I realize this would count as a new (if temporary) feature. I contain multitudes.
posted by Vatnesine at 5:17 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
I also think people would pay $5 to make their comments blink off and on, as I hear used to be possible back in the day. Come to think of it, old word processing programs used to have a Sparkle feature, that surrounded the selected text with little colored sparkles. Imagine a month where you could make sparkly comments! for $5! I realize this would count as a new (if temporary) feature. I contain multitudes.
posted by Vatnesine at 5:17 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
At this point, folks can assured this fundraising post has little to no chance at raising any funds. It got stepped on like a bug early, and repeatedly. It is now, like pretty much all of the MeTa threads on fundraising, a place to express skepticism and bring up grievances.
If you're of the subset of folks who'd like to see MeFi keep going, I urge you to send an extra donation its way.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:56 AM on September 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
If you're of the subset of folks who'd like to see MeFi keep going, I urge you to send an extra donation its way.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:56 AM on September 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
GenjiandProust: "Ate it. Didn’t eat it. Regretted eating it. Spouse ate it. Ate it. Regretted not eating it. Ate it. Didn’t eat it. Stored a cardigan in it. Ate it. Didn’t eat it."
Dumped the M.F. because he ate it (or didn't eat it, IYKWIMAITYD).
posted by signal at 6:35 AM on September 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Dumped the M.F. because he ate it (or didn't eat it, IYKWIMAITYD).
posted by signal at 6:35 AM on September 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Post closed at poster's request.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:45 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:45 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Whoa.
posted by picopebbles at 8:58 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]