Fat through Short: Metafilterists as Common Populace

October 5, 2002 3:44 AM

Fat or short , it seems like Metafilter is the internet's answer to the island of misfit nerds. As a short guy (we prefer the term "diminutive"), I'm curious about how many of the 16000 of us would be condidered "average" people. Can the members of MetaFilter be considered a fair cross-section of the population?
posted by Samsonov14 to MetaFilter-related at 3:44 AM (41 comments total)

Damn HTML. It might have been a decent post too. Sorry, Matt. I guess my cat's breath smells like cat food. If you check the source you'll know here I was going with this.
posted by Samsonov14 at 3:49 AM on October 5, 2002

You were going here: Fat or short. {I have the feeling this thread could turn ugly.}

I'm sort of average in every way - heightwise and weightwise. Even my hair is sort of average - brown and slightly wavy. I'm not especially pretty, but not ugly. Sort of average. And although I would love to be a nerd, I'm not. I'm not even a geek.

God, I'm dull. Thanks a lot, samsonov14!
posted by iconomy at 5:09 AM on October 5, 2002

I'm vertically challenged, but people don't seem to notice as they're usually too distracted by my mask.
posted by MrBaliHai at 5:43 AM on October 5, 2002

What is an "average" person?

I am 37 feet tall, with glowing red eyes and thin streamers of smoke trickling from my ears, and I am going to eat your soul.

So, you know, for a demon, I'm average.

(Also, if a certain Portugan with a MeTa-abusing past had posted this, he'd be swinging from the nearest lamp-post by now. I'm just sayin'.)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:54 AM on October 5, 2002

Can the members of MetaFilter be considered a fair cross-section of the population?

yes (looks-wise), but no. Probably not because it's a lot of people with big mouths & opinions & appendages ; >
eager to wave them all around, which is what makes it more interesting & aggravating & diverting...IMO

that said--I am a pretty pretty princess, with dishpan hands.

posted by amberglow at 6:22 AM on October 5, 2002

i'm more interested in the hot/fugly breakdown.
posted by donkeyschlong at 6:32 AM on October 5, 2002

I am tall enough to hit my head on things other people don't notice, and if I were a pumpkin I would not win any prizes at the local county fair, but I would make a hell of a jack-o-lantern (and now I'm thinking of the autopsy video thread--ewww). My hair is long enough that I get offered drugs wherever I go, but not quite long enough to sit on. To sum up: I am a drugged looser-pumpkin with a bruised head. So yeah, I guess I'm average.
posted by Nothing at 7:02 AM on October 5, 2002

I'm a 6'1", 154 lb stud. I'm damn sexy! (Check my profile for a chilly, censored picture of me.)

Honestly, though, I'm pretty average. I don't think it matters. Short, tall, thin, fat, it doesn't really matter. Everyone's the same size in web-text. That's the beauty of it.

"My text is bigger than your text" just doesn't work. Thankfully. :)

As far as being a cross-section of the population, I'm pretty sure it is. I've known some gigantic, and some rather "diminutive" quote-Un-quote 'nerds'. This isn't the 80s, dude. :)
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:38 AM on October 5, 2002

I'm kind of average, although my left leg is 3" shorter than the right one (strangely though, my right leg is 4" longer than the left one). I tend to jump up and down a lot when I'm talking to people, which sometimes has the effect of making me appear taller than I actually am. I also wear a top hat which helps.
posted by gravelshoes at 7:53 AM on October 5, 2002

gravelshoes: heh, try comfy workboots. Stylish, and height-enhancing. Boots, not just for goths anymore.
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:00 AM on October 5, 2002

are you building a dossier s14? Trying to address your shortcomings or are you looking for some concensus.

what is "average"

what is a "fair cross section"

are your curious all the time, or just in meta.

island of misfit nerds is dr. moreau around?

Is your knife long or short.

what AD&D character are you?


posted by clavdivs at 8:21 AM on October 5, 2002

I 'm 6' and pretty normal, apart from red hair, which some people never trust in a guy.

It's my mind that makes me a misfit. BWAHAHAHAHA!
(But being a misfit in this part of Ohio isn't tough at all. Once back in [a] college, when asking a girl to a movie, I began explaining the plot. She looked confused for a moment and finally said, "Ohh! This isn't one of those foreign films, is it!?")
posted by Shane at 8:29 AM on October 5, 2002

I've got a pretty small penis.
posted by Stan Chin at 8:29 AM on October 5, 2002

I've got a pretty small penis.

At least it's pretty, Stan. Mine's butt-ugly.
posted by Shane at 8:31 AM on October 5, 2002

It's not the average that is important, but the standard deviation. But then I guess that also depends upon what kind of deviation is being standardized
posted by mss at 8:41 AM on October 5, 2002

Average, hell.

Not me I'm tall, dark and handsomer than shit. However, I'm not too bright and I keep questionable company.
posted by jonmc at 9:24 AM on October 5, 2002

well, my left penis is slightly longer then my right, but they are both dwarfed in comparison to my fore and aft penises.

what? why is everybody looking at me that way...?
posted by quonsar at 10:11 AM on October 5, 2002

oh! i know. i wrote "then" instead of "than".
phew...
posted by quonsar at 10:13 AM on October 5, 2002

you guys have penises? Cool. I need to get me one of those.
posted by bradth27 at 11:30 AM on October 5, 2002

5'1" 105lb redhead (currently dyed black), just home from my brazilian street fighting class. fear my small but vicious self...! 8-) what the hell is average...? i don't think i've ever seen it up close before. most folks seem pretty odd to me, both physically and intellectually. which isn't a bad thing. people are generally a lot less ordinary than they think they are.

jonmc your "reading metafilter" expression is great, it could inspire a wide range of captions to go with it, hehe.
posted by t r a c y at 11:31 AM on October 5, 2002

apologies to samsonov14 for my snakey like snark.
posted by clavdivs at 12:05 PM on October 5, 2002

A/S/L?


31, Male, English.

5'10, 170 pounds, librarian II (working on my MLS) with an odd assortment of tattoos. People accuse me of selling crystal meth a lot, for some reason. I like to sit on my front porch nekkid while reading the newspaper every morning. I drive a motorcycle when I want to feel like a tough librarian, a Toyota when I want to keep my flesh intact, and I like to write fan fiction about the Olsen Twins.

Yeah, I'm average.
posted by bradth27 at 12:19 PM on October 5, 2002

5'10, 170 pounds, librarian II (working on my MLS) with an odd assortment of tattoos. People accuse me of selling crystal meth a lot, for some reason. I like to sit on my front porch nekkid while reading the newspaper every morning. I drive a motorcycle when I want to feel like a tough librarian, a Toyota when I want to keep my flesh intact, and I like to write fan fiction about the Olsen Twins. I have a twin brother out there somewhere, if only I could find him.
posted by Hildago at 12:29 PM on October 5, 2002

Good luck to you, Hidalgo. I too have a twin brother out there somewhere, if only I could find him.
Yeah, I know. fat chance of that happening.
posted by bradth27 at 12:35 PM on October 5, 2002

Hildago, that is. sorry about that.
posted by bradth27 at 12:36 PM on October 5, 2002

when I was ten, I thought that I was a vampyric cat from the planet venus.

Now, I know better. There are no cats on venus.
posted by jaded at 3:13 PM on October 5, 2002

I'm very recognizable...most of you have see me on television.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:41 PM on October 5, 2002

I've got a pretty small penis.

Gee, Stan, I have no penis at all!

Let's see, by day I am rather brown and sludgy...but at midnight, I turn into quicksilver (that's mercury to you) and spend my time combating evil forces and stealing silver teapot collections when I am not crashing the Mayor's Gala Ball.

Jonmc, "handsomer than shit" isn't actually saying too much...a nice bowl of mashed potatoes is handsomer than shit, in my opinion.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:15 PM on October 5, 2002

"handsomer than shit" isn't actually saying too much

Well, just hedging my bets, didn't wanna aim too high, ya know..
posted by jonmc at 4:52 PM on October 5, 2002

Samsonov14, tamim has done profiles on some users, me included, not sure good or bad. They have had meet-n-greet threads with photos, I attended one. Will that help you?
I think you will find your answers there, yet now for you to find the cast sheets with credits.
posted by thomcatspike at 5:00 PM on October 5, 2002

thomcatspike is way, way way above average.
posted by picopebbles at 5:03 PM on October 5, 2002

I'm just a girl in the world....
posted by Lynsey at 10:57 PM on October 5, 2002

I was a 6'4 220 pound linebacker who played football at Syracuse university back in the early 90's. I'm still 6'4 220 pounds, but now I'm an average ex jock just working for a living, and having some fun in the progressive jungle that is Amherst MA.
posted by jbou at 12:43 AM on October 6, 2002

While we're chattin' here, I'm more interested in age than height or weight. I turn 52 today, which I imagine puts me very far to the right on the bell curve.
posted by timeistight at 9:33 AM on October 7, 2002

I am 6 foot even and a stocky 250 pounds. Not bad for a thirty-one year old. I am probably average except for the weight department.
posted by jasonbondshow at 9:38 AM on October 7, 2002

I'm 21, timeistight.

I'm guessing the mean here is something like ... 26-28. I am taking all bets.
posted by Hildago at 9:43 AM on October 7, 2002

Smart Dalek, please just tell me you're not the Dell dude.
posted by yhbc at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2002

The feels about right, Hildago; perhaps even younger.

I'd have liked to have heard from others. Too bad this has scrolled off the page.
posted by timeistight at 11:37 AM on October 7, 2002

Oh, all right. I'll be 42 in February, so I weigh down the high end of the scale with you, timeistight.

I think that most people here, though, read younger than they actually are.
posted by yhbc at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2002

I'd have liked to have heard from others. Too bad this has scrolled off the page.

most people think i'm a kid not just because i look like one, but because i'm wildly (and contentedly) immature for a 41 year old. i've gotten a few emails from mefites asking how the hell i can be zarah's guardian when we seem to be the same age. she's 17, and my boyfriend who reads but never posts, is 32.
posted by t r a c y at 3:19 PM on October 7, 2002

I got the following in an email the other day.I'm sure that it relates to the topic in some sort of tangential manner.

The following ad appeared in a local newspaper ...

"SBF( single, black, female) Seeks Male companionship. Age and ethnicity unimportant.

I'm a young, svelte good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting/camping/fishing trips.

I love cozy winter nights spent lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand.

Rub me the right way and watch me respond. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me.

Kiss me and I'm yours." Call 555-XXXX and ask for Daisy.

The phone number was the Humane Society. Daisy was an eight week old black Labrador Retriever. They received 643 calls in two days...

timeistight, I'll be 34 in early November. I think we might be surprised at how many "older" people hang out on the 'Filter. not that I'm one of them, or anything :)
posted by ashbury at 7:22 PM on October 7, 2002