Can I suggest a word limit on Ask Me posts?

December 3, 2004 5:56 AM

Can I suggest a word limit on Ask Me posts? I have just had a look over and the first 2 posts for December 3rd are, in my opinion, rather over the top.
posted by Frasermoo to MetaFilter-Related at 5:56 AM (51 comments total)

I know the guidelines aren't set in stone, but maybe some mention of keeping things brief with reference to using the good 'ol [more inside] would be a good thing.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:02 AM on December 3, 2004

If only we could tax the stupid! We'd all... well, we'd... well, it'd be pretty cool. Dude.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:15 AM on December 3, 2004

Yesterday I loved the n00bs, today I despise them.

funny aint it?
posted by Frasermoo at 6:18 AM on December 3, 2004

Can I suggest a moratorium on calling us higher-numbered, lesser-brained beings 'n00bs'? I have just had a look at Frasermoo's first 2 posts in this thread, and being told that I am despised because somebody asked a perfectly reasonable question is, in my opinion (which is obviously less valuable than Frasermoo's opinion), rather over the top.

Oh, and Frasermoo, to answer your last question: no, it's not funny.
posted by veedubya at 6:34 AM on December 3, 2004

oh dear. i think someone wants some vinegar to go with their chip.

take a deep breath, count to ten and try to understand the concept of ironic wit.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:45 AM on December 3, 2004

This is a perfect example of proposing a technical solution to a problem, when it can be more easily dealt with through constant pestering and nagging of the benewbed ones.
posted by neckro23 at 6:50 AM on December 3, 2004

You're right. I apologise. Those moronic n00bs shouldn't be littering Ask MetaFilter with their pathetic, long-winded questions. They should be working towards increasing the sum total of human knowledge by posing such fascinating conundrums as this. A question, incidentally, that could be more accurately reworded as "I am too f*cking stupid to use the internet. Help me."

Take a deep breath, count to ten, and try to understand that you don't understand the concept of ironic wit.
posted by veedubya at 6:55 AM on December 3, 2004

unreasonability!

and, come on - just don't read the posts if they bother you. there is plenty of internet to go around.
posted by scrim at 6:59 AM on December 3, 2004

But at least Frasermoo's question was SHORT.
posted by smackfu at 7:05 AM on December 3, 2004

hmmm. ignore my third post. it obviously has struck a nerve rather than a funny bone
i'll re-word my post.

I think the 2 posts in Ask Me that I pointed out were too long for the front page.
What can we do to help posters keep the length down without compromising the posts in order to keep a tidier front page?

I like to scan through the front page to see what is relevant / interesting / what I can possibly answer, so 500 word essay questions tend to detract from the functionality.. IMO


....and relax.
posted by Frasermoo at 7:28 AM on December 3, 2004

I agree with Frasermoo. About the n00bs.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:30 AM on December 3, 2004

Only if we have a requirement to actually have a friggin' question in the FPP. The other side to too-long posts is the people who seem to believe there's already a seven-word limit or something on FPPs, so just put some nearly-random statement on the FP and put the rest of the question--which was only one or two sentences anway--inside.

I haven't seen "I have a question. [MI]" yet, but some of the posts are getting damned close.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:34 AM on December 3, 2004

If you don't want scorn, don't willfully misunderstand and then get all nasty to boot.


Frasermoo's point wasn't that they weren't "perfectly reasonable questions" or that the content "bothered" anyone. The point was that they took up too much real estate. Everyone has been trying to keep the questions on AskMe short so they don't vanish too fast and the page can be scanned easily. Those two posts took up the same space as the previous 10 or so.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:37 AM on December 3, 2004

I liked the coffee mug question as it led to the movie scripts link, very cool.
posted by caddis at 7:42 AM on December 3, 2004

Ooh, Frasermoo's patronising tone is making me feel so relaxed. Thank the pagan gods that he's here to reduce my uptightness, and deliver his magnificent words of enlightment on the ettiquette of wordiness to us n00bs.

I feel so enlightened. And relaxed.

Matt, I propose that now, prior to any question appearing on Ask MetaFilter, it be forwarded to Frasermoo, to be scrutinised for wordiness. Once his approval has been given, I further propose that the post be clearly marked "[Approved for brevity by Frasermoo]". Not on the front page, of course, lest His Succintness be forced to resort to scrolling.
posted by veedubya at 7:42 AM on December 3, 2004

Kids, don't make me come down there.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:44 AM on December 3, 2004 [1 favorite]

veedubya, you do understand what frasermoo is suggesting, right? He thinks it might be a good idea to limit the number of words that can be entered into the text box, so that if you want to make a longer than optimum post, you will need to continue it inside the thread. He's not asking for some sort of punitive action to be taken against posters with longer questions.
posted by taz at 7:48 AM on December 3, 2004

veedubya, I was rooting for you right up until this last post.

Step away from the computer and come back later when you realize this isn't that big a deal.
posted by papercake at 7:49 AM on December 3, 2004

This isn't about anything more than formatting and consideration, veedubya. Stop reading into it as a witch hunt. Formatting complaints are valid because i find many newbies are apt to use line breaks when they are completely unnecessary. This is a perfect example. It is better to implement a simple [more inside] to lessen the bulk of your question on the front page. You need to have a grasp of consideration because you need to allow more room on the front page for other queries before pushing them into the archives. When i see the first two posts that Frasermoo uses as example, i totally agree with him. Posts like those on AxeMe are completely against the preferred, pithy format. Btw, i think the reason for AxeMe ramblings is that are a lot of people who just don't know how to succinctly phrase a simple question.
posted by naxosaxur at 7:51 AM on December 3, 2004

I think it was the "Yesterday I loved the n00bs, today I despise them" comment that set him off. Not the initial post. I didn't even realize that the two AskMe posters in question were new until frasermoo alluded to it in that ironically witty way he has.
posted by iconomy at 7:58 AM on December 3, 2004

That despise bit was just a joke, but now will it turn to reality?
posted by caddis at 8:03 AM on December 3, 2004

CunningLinguist, I didn't wilfully misunderstand anything. I was told that I was despised because I joined here later than someone else did. The reason that I was told that I was despised was that other people that had joined here later too, had done something that somebody else thought wasn't a good thing.

When I responded, I was patronised and told that I was stupid. At that point, as far as I'm concerned, all bets are off, as far as attiquette is concerned.

All, I happen to disagree that the questions in point are too long for the front page. So what? I have an opinion that conflicts with another's opinion. That's life. People disagree. It happens. To me, the way questions are formatted matters not a jot. Verbose or terse, I don't care.

However, and this is the biggy, to me, the real issue being raised here is how far people are allowed to go in insulting others because they happened to be frozen out of signing up for a considerable amount of time. I don't mind the newbie remarks usually, but this was just a blatant insult that was later retrofitted as a joke.

Apologies if I seem a little excitable about this.

*mutters something about lines in the sand*
posted by veedubya at 8:07 AM on December 3, 2004

Matt has said that when the new and improved AskMe is launched, there will be a built-in mechanism for More Inside. The posting page will likely include a small field for the question and a larger field for further information which will be placed as the first comment within the thread.

Other promised improvements will include categories, a mechanism to track answered and unanswered questions, and probably more. I'm very excited to see this new and improved non-beta AskMe, I think it will be even more incredibly useful and people can stop posting to metatalk about things like this.
posted by bonheur at 8:07 AM on December 3, 2004

This is why we can't have nice things.

veedubya, I don't dislike you because you're a n00b. I dislike you because you're a humourless, whiny jerk. Stop making the other n00bs look bad.
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:27 AM on December 3, 2004

It is fascinating how the "old timers" have circled the wagons and can minimize their two years of inbred bitchiness now that there is an "other" against which they can define themselves. Anyone with <1 7k# suddenly has an identity! ethnogenesis in action.br>
Oh, and yeah, those questions were too long.
posted by Rumple at 8:42 AM on December 3, 2004

as

soon
as
they

stop
hitting
the damn
return key
every three words

all
will

be
fine
again
posted by matteo at 8:42 AM on December 3, 2004

CunningLinguist, I didn't wilfully misunderstand anything. I was told that I was despised because I joined here later than someone else did.

Well, really, you inferred from a light-hearted generalized snark that you were despised, which is, yeah, a little bit excitable.

And it's not that you joined more recently than others; it's that you joined more recently than others and got really offended at a mild comment and got into a pissing match with Frasermoo and are being super fucking defensive in the face of a complete absence of an issue.

I'm sorry you got worked up, but, hey, you got worked up. Breathe, let it go, develop a poor opinion of Frasermoo if you like, and grow a thicker skin.
posted by cortex at 8:45 AM on December 3, 2004

Can I just ask: What's up with the egregious line-breaking, anyway? Is it a trend from another community? It’s never been quite so ubiquitous prior to the new user deluge, and I’ve never seen this type of formatting so abused. Does anyone know the source of this phenomenon?
posted by naxosaxur at 9:02 AM on December 3, 2004

What
FunkyHelix
and cortex
said
posted by bonaldi at 9:22 AM on December 3, 2004

It is fascinating how the "old timers" have circled the wagons and can minimize their two years of inbred bitchiness now that there is an "other" against which they can define themselves.

I guarantee you that the arrival of new members has changed absolutely nothing about the way I define myself. If there's an insulting, prejudicial comment in this thread that bitchslaps people based on the date they joined MeFi, it's this one.

Survey says: XXX
posted by scarabic at 9:30 AM on December 3, 2004

Can I suggest a moratorium

Isn't there a moratorium on moratoriums?
posted by trondant at 9:54 AM on December 3, 2004

It is fascinating how the "old timers" have circled the wagons and can minimize their two years of inbred bitchiness

it'll soon be four years of inbred bitchiness for me, thank you very much
posted by matteo at 9:57 AM on December 3, 2004

Two years since registrations closed and the MF gene-pool stagnated.

Scarabic - thanks for demonstrating my point.
posted by Rumple at 10:07 AM on December 3, 2004

can i just ask, why the sudden increase in the use of egregious? was it word of the week on one of your tv shows or something?

also, unless matt is doing some very strange coding, the size of a single question doesn't alter how many are included on the front page.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:10 AM on December 3, 2004

andrew: maybe at issue is the distinction between what is technically on the rendered Front Page and what is actually visible at the top of said page. [shrug]
posted by cortex at 10:21 AM on December 3, 2004

>>can i just ask, why the sudden increase in the use of egregious? was it word of the week on one of your tv shows or something?

OH ITS ON, you egregiously disagreeable agrarian wanker.
posted by naxosaxur at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2004

If you want them to stop calling us n00bs, stop being so sensitive about being called a n00b. n00b. Sheez.

It's like a frat. You put up with a little paddling and humiliation, and eventually they'll except you as one of them. If you don't die of alcohol poisoning first. But if you whine through all of the hazing rituals and refuse to wear the girls underpants, they probably never will.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 10:56 AM on December 3, 2004

Scarabic - thanks for demonstrating my point.

As much as you might want to cast this little exchange as an old-timer / newbie divide, it's actually just me, as an individual, telling you, as an individual, that you're being a tart.
posted by scarabic at 11:06 AM on December 3, 2004

On the upside you won't have to be the nOOb for 2 years like us poor 16Kers. And I used to be a 17Ker until Matt blew away a bunch of malformed and never logged in accounts.
posted by Mitheral at 12:22 PM on December 3, 2004

Actually, scarabic, it was me, as an individual, telling metafilter, as a collective, that I thought there was an intensification of group identity in the 00bies as they confronted the n000bies. Your identifying with the 000bies to the extent you took the remark personally is what demonstrated my point. Nowhere did I mention individuals, though, frankly, I couldn't care less - it was an ethnographic observation.
posted by Rumple at 12:53 PM on December 3, 2004

Well you'll just have to forgive the individual member of the group you generalize about for coming forward to stick your pith helmet up your ass. That's the danger in generalizing, innit?
posted by scarabic at 2:32 PM on December 3, 2004

Well, now you know how some of the "n000bies" feel about the generalizations being made about them and why some of them are having hissy fits. Take some advice from upthread and relax, take a deep breath.
posted by Rumple at 2:59 PM on December 3, 2004

Would I, could I take a pill?
Yes sir, yes sir, yes I will!
posted by scarabic at 3:10 PM on December 3, 2004

Can I suggest a moratorium on calling us higher-numbered, lesser-brained beings 'n00bs'?

Good luck with that.
posted by rushmc at 3:28 PM on December 3, 2004

I coined the respectful, inclusive, and pun-intended "neoFites" but it didn't catch on at all.
posted by scarabic at 3:41 PM on December 3, 2004

I liked it, scarabic.
posted by cortex at 4:40 PM on December 3, 2004

I still like neoFite.
posted by idest at 5:13 PM on December 3, 2004

Okay cool. Let's use it more.
posted by scarabic at 6:05 PM on December 3, 2004

scarabic, I was actually going to mention that earlier - I think it's perfect.
posted by taz at 2:22 AM on December 4, 2004

I disagree with veedubya about the AskMe posts, but I agree with him(?) about the newbie cracks. Further, I applaud and admire the way he(?) approached the issue with all the vitriolic gusto of a rhino in rutting season.
posted by nthdegx at 3:53 AM on December 4, 2004

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT Y'ALL ARE TALKIN BOUT HERE!
BUT DOES APPLYING LUSH SOAP "MEAN AND GREEN" TO SORE ANUS SOUND REASONABLE?
KTHXBI
posted by mr.marx at 7:52 AM on December 4, 2004