What makes people stick around?

December 14, 2004 12:28 PM

One moment, you're a noob; the next you're old furniture. If fairly lax criteria were applied (say at least one post, even if it's only a brief lackadaisacal or flippant comment per month - but no no less! (more prolonged absences, for whatever reason, counting for nothing, whatever the original date of joining), just how many old-timers or veterans (inveterates even) does MetaFilter have? Who are these people? The interesting question being, of course, what made them (you) stay and, as it were, stay regular, despite all the alleged turmoil and changes we've been through?

P.S. This might be a silly question and I'm not painlessly aware of this.
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-related at 12:28 PM (111 comments total)

a nice bowl of bran flakes every morning really helps.
posted by t r a c y at 12:33 PM on December 14, 2004

What do you consider an "old timer?" I take it to be anyone under 2727. The turmoil and changes are no worse than any other forum. Have you seen what else is out there?
posted by bondcliff at 12:34 PM on December 14, 2004

Some people are too old. Some people are too new. Me, I'm just right.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:41 PM on December 14, 2004

You're wrong. I'm righter.
posted by ginz at 12:43 PM on December 14, 2004

What do you consider an "old timer?"

Bondcliff: say someone who's participated at least once a month for over two years; someone who's noticeably kept track. However rarely she or he feels inclined to actually post - to distinguish them from equally worthy (but less verifiable) lurkers, I think a word or two a month is a fair criterium. Or even every two months even. Regularity is what's sought here (otherwise it would be confusing), rather than volume or time since becoming a user.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:48 PM on December 14, 2004

Hey, right on, I'm an old timer. I guess that explains why I suddenly developed the rheumatiz.
posted by COBRA! at 12:51 PM on December 14, 2004

what
posted by darukaru at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2004

I'm an old timer, I guess, especially since I rank . But a better term for who/what you're looking for might be "core user."
posted by me3dia at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2004

I lurked since early 2000, perhaps even before, but was never motivated to post then. I was content to just explore the incredible bounty of good links. You, Miguel, changed the tone of discussion when you joined. You took a lot of heat for it, but it was this change which motivated me to join (I had to wait a little by then for sign-ups to open) and perhaps many others. The generally well reasoned and amiable discourse keeps me here. We have seen a lot of complaints in the grey about some nastiness, but have you seen what else is out there? We have a group of intelligent posters with some diversity and we generally treat each other with respect. Still, it all boils down to the links. Even if I were not a member the links would keep me visiting. I am happy we are getting some new blood to jazz the place up a bit. It has been a little messy but that is all part of the fun.
posted by caddis at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2004

I'm an old timer, I guess, especially since I rank .

Whoops. Insert "around 50-60th in number of FPPs" between "rank" and the period.
posted by me3dia at 1:00 PM on December 14, 2004

Regularity is what's sought here

weblog as peristalsis
posted by matteo at 1:03 PM on December 14, 2004

I hit 1000 comments a few weeks ago, and decided to semi-retire; my enjoyment of Metafilter isn't related to you guys knowing or caring who I am, but rather appreciating the content posted by others. So I slipped Matt an extra $5 and molted my old handle, vowing (to myself at least) to write more on my blog and less here.

End result: a callout.

I also can't shake my Metatalk addiction; a cruel lover indeed.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 1:04 PM on December 14, 2004

I'm not painlessly aware of this.
Mirror yourself for the answer.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:04 PM on December 14, 2004

Huh. I guess I've been a member here for 3 1/2 years somehow -- I was a lurker, late to the party -- and I still read MeFi and MeTa and AskMe every day, never really had a lot to add to the conversation, still want to have hot man on man sex with Matt Haughey King of The World every day, still kinda hate Miguel's MeTa threads -- but now in that way you hate your old farting uncle at Christmas, with great affection. I remember when PinkStainlessTail joined and was all new and very funny -- still is. I remember when what's his name and what's his name and all those other guys stormed out and were like THIS PLACE IS RUINED WITH NEWBIES, I'M GOING HOME. That was fun. I think I did it once too. The same dramas occur here every six months, which is what I find most surprising -- not much group memory, or, maybe, people are just built like that.

Uh, what was the question again, you Portugese trainwreck? BTW, this is a poor excuse for a MeTa thread, blah blah, whatever, etc.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 1:11 PM on December 14, 2004

It looks like I joined only about six days before you Miguel in the week *before* September 11th (hello compadre) so why don't we make pre-9/11 the definition of old-timer ;)

As caddis has said, things mostly work around here. The diversity of links is still satisfying. Somehow, without moderation, approximately the same number of new posts get posted everyday by different users. I'm constantly amazed by this place when I step back and compare it to almost anywhere else on the web.

It's easy to think this place is in flaming ruins if you spend too much time here in Metatalk but thats because there is no anti-grey where we can point out all the great contributions from many of the new members.
posted by vacapinta at 1:12 PM on December 14, 2004

PrinceSaucy, you probably would've gotten called on that AskMe non-question even under your old name.
posted by me3dia at 1:14 PM on December 14, 2004

A bit of insomnia last night led me to reread a lot of my old posts (and subsequently old threads). The place certainly has changed. I'm not sure what makes me stay. I consider myself a semi-lurker (I don't post much, comment much, go to meets) and have gone through periods where I haven't read the site on a regular basis, but in the end, I always come back. I think Matt has set the community up in such a way that it just attracts some very interesting, funny, intelligent people.
posted by Doug at 1:16 PM on December 14, 2004

It's really weird but totally true: when I first signed up, I was deeply embarrassed about my high user number, and cursed myself for lurking so long before registering. Now I feel like Methuselah.
posted by Skot at 1:35 PM on December 14, 2004

Ha! Same here.
posted by dabitch at 1:42 PM on December 14, 2004

I stay because even in my anarchist utopia, there will be people like all of you there, and I have to figure out how to get along with you all after the revolution. This is as good a place to learn as any.
posted by jessamyn at 1:43 PM on December 14, 2004

Doug, the interesting, funny and intelligent people I have no problems with. The bullethead shout you down people are what's dragging the site down.
posted by fenriq at 1:44 PM on December 14, 2004

I stay because even in my anarchist utopia, there will be people like all of you there, and I have to figure out how to get along with you all after the revolution.

I'd have been beheaded as a heretic, but it's the thought that counts.
posted by jonmc at 1:47 PM on December 14, 2004

Miguel: Why the hell do you do this to MeTa?
posted by xmutex at 1:49 PM on December 14, 2004

Why do I stay?

Metafilter: More Addictive than Crack is not just a tagline.
posted by konolia at 1:56 PM on December 14, 2004

I'm a hybrid, although I don't imagine that will win me any respect. I started reading/posting to metafilter during a boring temp job in May 2000. Then I got divorced and went offline for several years. Had more important things to focus on, if you can believe it.

Now, my life is more normal and I have another boring 8-5 job. Am revisiting old haunts and remembering why I liked them in the first place.

My old username is gone (i.e., either it's been deleted or I can't remember it, which is a possibility too) and I had to get a new one.

But that makes me look like a moron to the rest of you.

Sure, people show up here without knowing the personality of the site, and they post things that make other people groan. It's the nature of the internet. It's the nature of the outsider at the cocktail party who just wants to fit in. And it's natural for the in crowd to want to belittle the new folk, because it makes their in-ness feel earned and justified, and it makes the new kids learn a little about the place. It's how social structure is formed, and primates love a good social structure. Most of you old-timers are, I presume, primates.

The downfall is in assuming -- or unfairly holding on to the the assumption -- that because a person is a recent arrival or because they don't know your social rules, they're an idjit.

(And there's another downfall in assuming someone is "new." As I pointed out, despite appearances when you click on my username link, I'm a fogey.)

Anyway.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:00 PM on December 14, 2004

I've been coming here every single day since a long time ago. After a couple of years I managed to sneak in and sign up back when Matt had the 12:00 window open, then continued to lurk through the War and ElectionFilter phases because I knew I'd make many, many enemies.
As my sainted granny always said "Post in haste, repent at leisure."
I stayed in the background until the recent rash of n00bies forced me onto the front page just to see if it was as hard to make a halfway decent post as many of them made it seem.

It wasn't.

Now that I'm out, I'll continue to add to the Pink Noise of Popular Culture that is MetaFilter. I do consider myself a n00bie, but with a clue.
Oh, and I actually like hanging around all you people, even the assholes.
posted by Floydd at 2:01 PM on December 14, 2004

You're old if you remember the Web Hosting ripoff of Metafilter--the funniest thing I've witnessed on the Web.
posted by ParisParamus at 2:16 PM on December 14, 2004

Somehow, without moderation, approximately the same number of new posts get posted everyday by different users. I'm constantly amazed by this place when I step back and compare it to almost anywhere else on the web.

Well said and very true, vacapinta. It's particularly amazing for those of us who visit daily - the posters keep changing; but there's this astonishingly well established "MeFi house style", despite the fact that, unlike, say. The New York Times or The Economist, there's no style book to speak off - only a few vague but efficient and time-proved guidelines and a zillion MeTa strictures no living being on Earth supposedly reads or heeds.

Those who work - or have worked - for newspapers and magazines know very well how difficult it is to reach an "authorless" yet somehow personalized style. When my spirits are up, I honestly believe most people do their best here to please all the other people by posting good links and readworthy comments. This is a rare - and very good - thing.

The fact that all the recent newbies - with Matteo's behind-the-scenes encouragements to ruthlessly destroy all extant signs of civilization - have completely ruined this tradition, not only forever and irredeemably, but with untold costs on our unborn progeny, shouldn't blind us to this great achievement of our forefathers, lest we forget that this was once a lonely swamp where a single frog, however small, off-green and pathetic, could count on a cheery welcome and the most fulsome communal recognition by all three other members - even if historical research suggests they were all Matt with other easily-decrypted monickers.

Yes! "Yes!" I say, fearlessly and without hesitation, for that is the truth and nothing less will do; not here! Is it not true that... [insert at will the most easily available "cut and paste"]...that, regarding MetaFilter, X and Y and Z invariably apply? That it is.

*[goes on for acres and hours, until the last surviving user passes out from sheer exhaustion]*
posted by MiguelCardoso at 2:27 PM on December 14, 2004

I stay around for AskMetaFilter and for the links on the blue. (On preview: And I stay around for Miguel's comments, because his writing always makes me smile and/or think).
posted by gd779 at 2:37 PM on December 14, 2004

Could someone please tell me what the hell this thread is about?
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:48 PM on December 14, 2004

I stay for that finely honed edge of pissed-offed-ness that can only come from the MetaFilter elite. The neoMefites do nothing for me. Steve@Limpwood and PP, however ... entertainment gold. Kinda like the 1567th show of Mel Torme .. it just never gets old.

And for the record, I miss fascist David Dork, and his band of OneHundredandElevenses Renown (111).

(/sarcasm)
posted by Wulfgar! at 3:09 PM on December 14, 2004

i stay because it pisses certain people off.
posted by quonsar at 3:20 PM on December 14, 2004

Hi, Quonsar!
posted by konolia at 3:23 PM on December 14, 2004

Dr. Wu: Here, read through this. You'll eventually have a moment of enlightenment in which all becomes clear. Or else you'll leap off a cliff.

*[goes on for acres and hours, until the last surviving user passes out from sheer exhaustion]*

Damn you, Migs, you can be irresistible when you want to be.
posted by languagehat at 3:28 PM on December 14, 2004

Could someone please tell me what the hell this thread is about?

Dr. Wu, meet Miguel. Miguel, meet Dr. Wu.
posted by ook at 3:31 PM on December 14, 2004

PP: "You're old if you remember the Web Hosting ripoff of Metafilter--the funniest thing I've witnessed on the Web."

See, I remember that, and I'm still 20k+ in user number. Long-term lurking is as good as membership, only better in some ways since you're forced to STFU before you asshat yourself in public because you don't have a Meta-mouth, and worse in other ways since when you bite the bullet and join, you end up 20144 and bear the n00b tag.
posted by cosmonik at 3:33 PM on December 14, 2004

No, I mean, I've lurked long enough to know the tenor of a MiguelCardoso post, and have even learned to appreciate them for the fact that they are the politest trolls I've ever seen.
But I truly don't understand what's being asked here, or how anyone can respond on-topic. What sort(s) of answers are you looking for, Miguel?
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:35 PM on December 14, 2004

I just hang out waiting to see what breath of fresh air Miguelito will bring to MeTa next. ;-) This, however, (badly formatted and barely readable, my friend) ain't it.
posted by Lynsey at 3:41 PM on December 14, 2004

I think it's a fair question Miguel poses - with all the new faces, and since he's on/off in his activity, he's wondering who else of his ilke remains, and why.

It seems to lack the *stab stab* - "here let me bandage that for you" - *stab stab* pattern suggested by the "patronizing troll post" style guide.

What sort of answers is he looking for? "Nothing from anyone who joined this year" might be a start...
posted by cosmonik at 3:41 PM on December 14, 2004

The links make me stay, despite the worthless in-jokes, the cults of personality, the shameless and gratuitous wankery, the cowardly mobbing with mass mockery of anyone who slips up a little, and most recently the pathetic us-vs-them attitude towards new users (known as 'newbies', a term with a built-in scorn component).

This site is full of smart and interesting people, but the rancorous stink that wafts from some of the threads here can be a bit much. Certainly it's better than most internet communities, but it's all the more disappointing to see such uniformly bright people start re-enacting The Lottery.
posted by picea at 3:43 PM on December 14, 2004

I came for the free snark, I stayed because quonsar distracted me and then matteo fascinated me. Now I'm just too damned lazy to leave.
posted by fenriq at 3:51 PM on December 14, 2004

It's about the stratified stack of crystalline MetaFilter apartments, all arranged into a consecrated sequential geometry over Matt's heavy-boned stone-faced garage, reaching each day higher into chimerical ASCII space, and each of which shelters an undiagnosed translucent inmate, few of whom I'd trust to stroke my tummy as I fall to sleep, and those I would trust are mostly on the lower levels, with a few notable exceptions, and many are female, one is Portuguese, and I stay because I like my tummy stroked as I fall to sleep.
posted by Opus Dark at 3:53 PM on December 14, 2004

I stay because I don't know how to remove bookmarked sites from the top of my browser...
posted by ParisParamus at 3:58 PM on December 14, 2004

I've been here pretty steadily since I started. I stay because it pisses quonsar off.
posted by timeistight at 3:58 PM on December 14, 2004

I, too, snuck in with the 12:00 thingy over two years ago, and lurked since pre-911. I stay because you guys are my only friends I'm addicted to the discourse, the diversity, and the quasi-sense of community. It has changed over the years, and it has also stayed the same.
posted by moonbird at 3:59 PM on December 14, 2004

"...what made them (you) stay and, as it were, stay regular, despite all the alleged turmoil and changes we've been through?"

Inertia.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:59 PM on December 14, 2004

I burned all the bridges back to other websites.
posted by ColdChef at 4:11 PM on December 14, 2004

I am one of them!
posted by riffola at 4:37 PM on December 14, 2004

ParisParamus: I stay because I don't know how to remove bookmarked sites from the top of my browser...

If you're using Internet Explorer, Netscape or FireFox, right click on the link (ctrl-click for Mac) and choose delete. When the message comes up asking you to verify the deletion, use the "Delete," "Yes" or "OK" button to do so.

If you have any other browser besides those listed, please ask for help in this thread or in AskMe. Many of us would like to assist you with this problem.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:40 PM on December 14, 2004

Many of us would like to assist you with this problem.

See newbies! Old-timers aren't just against you, they're against each other as well. They flame indiscriminately.

I know, I shouldn't waste my only comment in weeks trying to defend Paris, but I thought that with the rampant newbie bashing all over the place, perhaps evidence of long time users not getting along with each other is necessary. Also, since this is a Miguel thread, I figured that my presence was obligatory. Nice to see you're still around Miguel. Anyway, off to lurking for a few more weeks. Happy Holidays!
posted by BlueTrain at 4:49 PM on December 14, 2004

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/3401

I won one of those. Because of that thread. That is why I subscribed. And why I stuck around. I was going to post my "essay" after I won, but I had a brainfart and forgot my username or something.

I waited several months before I got around to signing up again.

I sold the TiVo on eBay for a couple hundred bucks without even using it, btw.

*hugs Metafilter*

...I also got a copy of XP pro for 39 bucks, a bunch of free magazine subs and some other goodies thanks to the Filter. Good ol' Mefi.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 4:54 PM on December 14, 2004

But I truly don't understand what's being asked here, or how anyone can respond on-topic. What sort(s) of answers are you looking for, Miguel?

Remember, the process, the discussion itself, is more important than the answer and then you will know why Miguel posts and why so many love/hate his posts here in MeTa.
posted by caddis at 5:01 PM on December 14, 2004

I hate you BlueTrain.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:01 PM on December 14, 2004

I may be an old-timer, but I'm not one of the in crowd. What was the question? I stay because I learn new things. I enjoy the occasional link, the occasional flame-war. I almost like some of you. :)
posted by tr33hggr at 5:02 PM on December 14, 2004

(just helping you prove your case, though I'm an easy example as I HATE! everyone.)
posted by eyeballkid at 5:02 PM on December 14, 2004

Aside from jjg, and matt himself, I'm the oldest piece of furniture still hanging around here. I shoul be in a fucking museum.

I stay mainly so I can lord this over the rest of you.
posted by jonmc at 5:06 PM on December 14, 2004

I also can't shake my Metatalk addiction; a cruel lover indeed.

Time for me to run a datebase check on all metafilter member recently eclipsing the one-thousand comment barrier, then cross-reference it with those who use semi colons to (incorrectly) denote a dependent clause, although somewhat stylistically (much like Woolf did).

I shall suss you out by the end of this eve.
posted by The God Complex at 5:33 PM on December 14, 2004

Ouch!
posted by caddis at 5:46 PM on December 14, 2004

By the way TGC, that would be "members" not "member."
posted by caddis at 5:48 PM on December 14, 2004

TGC: I shall suss you out by the end of this eve.

Or you could just read his userpage and say "heya, Prince Valium!"

(Sorry if I ruined it for you.)
posted by cosmonik at 5:48 PM on December 14, 2004

Haha. Every time I charmingly snark about grammar I make a mistake. Eventually I'll make so many I just start editing my posts. Maybe.

Or you could just read his userpage and say "heya, Prince Valium!"

What?!

Ok, hold on. So he made a new account and claims he doesn't care if people know who he is, but then he says who he is on his user page and draws attention to it in a metatalk thread?! These meta-user shenanigans would all be terribly strange if I didn't enjoy his new name so much. Therefore, I give Saucy Intruder an A++.
posted by The God Complex at 5:55 PM on December 14, 2004

wait, you can leave?
posted by bonaldi at 6:01 PM on December 14, 2004

Could someone please tell me what the hell this thread is about?


Dr.Wu: your user number may well be lovely. It is - and I grant you that, with no ill feeling, I assure you. Do not, however, for even a moment, consider otherwise: Is not 18000 the exact number of all those souls lucky enough to live in Sheboygan, Wisconsin?

Yep, the same Sheboygan, from where, as you doubtlessly know, all Cardoso generations originate, It's "not for nothing", in the local parlance, that the celebrated matriarch Widow Cardoso "Twanky", my much esteemed great-great-grand aunt (and - I suspect you know this already - former mistress) - nee Crazy Lola - still lives there, to this very day, albeit in much diminished circumstances, which (I think you'll agree) reflect badly on the whole community, whichever way you choose to look at it.

You may find, as you slowly learn to "deconstruct" the MeFi/MeTa discourse and become "as one" with our numerous and subtle linguistic codes, that my thread was exclusively dedicated to gather - nay, garner - older members' support for your brave decision to make a clean breast of things and wholeheartedly move to Honolulu already, while conditions are still favourable and the price of good, second-hand ukuleles continues to be within reach of the average music-loving citizen.

For goodness's sake, woman - was this not clear? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:33 PM on December 14, 2004

Every time I charmingly snark about grammar I make a mistake.

Most of us do. I am thus less frequently tempted to stick that bobby pin into the outlet, although it is sooooo tempting.
posted by caddis at 6:38 PM on December 14, 2004

Yep, the same Sheboygan, from where, as you doubtlessly know, all Cardoso generations originate

I figured you'd follow the scent of cheese and lager.
posted by jonmc at 6:49 PM on December 14, 2004

Huh. So I'm the only one that stayed for the hot sex?
posted by NortonDC at 7:17 PM on December 14, 2004

Ahh, TCG, but you misread my comment and independently erred: see, I said that my enjoyment of Metafilter isn't dependent on anyone knowing or caring who I am. If you do care, which apparently you do, I have made it easy for you to figure it out. If you are interested in sussing, me and many others are itching to figure out who "Anonymous Law Professor" is.

QED.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 7:21 PM on December 14, 2004

There's sex here? Coulda fooled me.
posted by Adam Greenfield at 7:21 PM on December 14, 2004

A-ha. Well, that clears it up. I understand completely. I even learned something new: that I am a woman! Thanks, Miguel! This changes everything!
MetaTalk, hear me roar!

Also, eerily, I can look out the window of the room I'm in right now and see the very building which houses the Wisconsin Historical Society, whence you got the Sheboygan link. I think I will compose a musical paean to this coincidence on my ukulele.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:26 PM on December 14, 2004

I came for the free snark
posted by fenriq

I keep wackyparsing your monicker like "fern IQ". (Or did you mean "free" as in "GNU"?)


Huh. So I'm the only one that stayed for the hot sex?
posted by NortonDC

Oh wait, there's hot sex? Oh, okay, I take it all back. I'm really a very nice guy who loves everybody. Really!
posted by davy at 7:28 PM on December 14, 2004

Miguel said: make a clean breast of things

I try to make a clean breast out of everything. Very Rorschachesque, I know.

in other news, you'd think I woulda learned from the backlash TGC got from his own 'charming grammatical snark', but hey, here we are.
posted by cosmonik at 7:32 PM on December 14, 2004

Where's interrobang, anyway? I'm pretty sure he has a ukulele I could borrow for the time being.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:40 PM on December 14, 2004

Actually, I find that sometimes the hot sex interferes with my MetaFilter time. :P
posted by onlyconnect at 7:51 PM on December 14, 2004

I'm still in that first "one moment" phase.

I'll get back to you in a year and eleven months.
posted by Doohickie at 7:55 PM on December 14, 2004

I came for the hot sex, stayed for the pancakes.
posted by languagehat at 8:03 PM on December 14, 2004

It's fun here--why not stay? : >

(what caddis said way up top, i guess, and my other 14k cohort--and only's hot sex thing, of course)

and here's a little present for the gentiles among us--mp3
posted by amberglow at 8:04 PM on December 14, 2004

I came for the pancakes and stayed cuz Matt promised me a pony if I behave.
posted by Doohickie at 8:05 PM on December 14, 2004

I left, oh, almost 2 years ago now, handing my account over to a guy I met in a bus station (long story). Upon his recent death the account reverted to me, so I may post again from time to time. Hopefully he hasn't established his own voice and persona too strongly while I was gone.

What'd I miss?
posted by rushmc at 8:06 PM on December 14, 2004

I just like swearing at people, and generally behaving like an ass. Keeps me young.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:16 PM on December 14, 2004

Where's interrobang, anyway? I'm pretty sure he has a ukulele I could borrow for the time being.

Funny you should ask, Dr. Wu. I was just considering buying one today, since I've gotten back into the habit of talking in that nasal transatlantic accent I used to affect from time to time, and I'd like to woo some lasses in a canoe, or under the shade of a gazebo.

But, as it is, all I can loan you is my spare mandolin.
posted by interrobang at 8:18 PM on December 14, 2004

rushmc: I never knew. I think he was pretty cool, God rest his soul. Where did you leave off and he start, and vice versa?

I really don't look at the user numbers too often. Jonmc is one of the very oldest members and I would never have known (I love your stuff, but very little snark for that time. I mostly noticed that we seem to like the same kind of music.) and amberglow came in when I did? You have long been one of my favorite MeFites, so I guess I just assumed you were here forever.
posted by caddis at 8:36 PM on December 14, 2004

I smell alcohol.
posted by semmi at 8:40 PM on December 14, 2004

I just burped.
posted by Doohickie at 8:42 PM on December 14, 2004

BTW, has anybody heard from mischief recently? I finally develop kind of a soft spot for the guy and he drops off the face of the site...
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:53 PM on December 14, 2004

He appears to have quit Plastic as well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on December 14, 2004

Oddly, as a 17-hundreder, I don't self-identify as a noob. Somehow MeFi became my primary online community home long before I managed to slither in. Having participated in online communities since 80's, I'd think I would know not to let Mr. Cranky out of the box.

At any rate: sorry, Steve.

I've been sitting on myself since. I'm sure it came over as the crabby outburst that it was, and maybe that's no big deal, but it's been buggin' me.
posted by mwhybark at 9:01 PM on December 14, 2004

I miss you Miguel. We haven't had any fun threads like this in weeks.
posted by me3dia at 9:54 PM on December 14, 2004

Too lazy to look it up, but I think mischief said something about taking off for a trip around the world, or somesuch, in an AskMe.
posted by taz at 12:17 AM on December 15, 2004

I've been here for a long time. I only make about one FPP a year, and sometimes I go a couple of weeks without commenting, but I've never been tempted to leave MeFi. It really is amazingly good content. (Compare even the most flaming MeFi thread to your average Slashdot discussion, for example.)

But perhaps the reason I have been able to stay here and enjoy it is that I haven't gotten in too deep. I don't read every post, only the ones that look good (so I never understood people complaining about IraqFilter and ElectionFilter -- I just skip those posts if I'm not in the mood to read them), and I don't read everything in MetaTalk, either. ;) So no burnout yet.
posted by litlnemo at 1:32 AM on December 15, 2004

whenever rj comes into the room to say he's not really active in metafilter anymore it's like when the boy you have a massive crush on in junior high brushes near you at the school dance as he's ditching the place. you just hold your breath a little and swoon and wish he either would stay or take you with him. but ah, he is too jaded and world weary; he's already learned (and dismissed gently but firmly) everything you wish someone would help you figure out/experience socially yourself. in your little junior high/mefi world.

le sigh. ;)
posted by ifjuly at 2:02 AM on December 15, 2004

Theater of the Absurd
posted by JohnR at 2:24 AM on December 15, 2004

Also, eerily, I can look out the window of the room I'm in right now and see the very building which houses the Wisconsin Historical Society, whence you got the Sheboygan link. I think I will compose a musical paean to this coincidence on my ukulele.

*musical chuckling and chortling*

Damn, you're quick, Dr.Wu. Welcome to Metafilter! :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:01 AM on December 15, 2004

I still feel new. Am I not new?

Time for the Botox...
posted by JoanArkham at 6:15 AM on December 15, 2004

I'm just here to gaze at interrobang's gazebo.
Oh, and Dr. Wu? I can see your window from here.
posted by Floydd at 6:33 AM on December 15, 2004

Quonsar: "i stay because it pisses certain people off."

mumblegrumblemumble
posted by nthdegx at 6:45 AM on December 15, 2004

A agree with vacapinta about the "pre-9/11" qualifier, and not just because I'm in it ;). I lurked for a little before joining, but not much, though certainly enough to know that the tone of FPP's changed dramatically after 9/11.

The "Plane crashes into the World Trade Center" thread was a watershed web moment, to me- I was stuck alone in my apartment in Brooklyn that day, in eyeshot of Ground Zero but completely unable to contact anyone for a long time. The "as-it-happens" commentary in that thread not only outpaced TV news, but was deeply personal. It's a testimony to what an online community can achieve.

It's that kind of "collective brainpower" that keeps me here, mostly. Yeah, there's a whole lot of shit on the FP, but every once in a while, you'll find a specific topic thoroughly elucidated, or even debunked, in a matter of hours. Occasionally, someone with direct knowledge will show up and contribute.

I also stay out of a smugly masochistic urge to read inane comments from people who disagree with my worldview. And, begrudgingly, to read and acknowledge that some people who disagree with my worldview can put forth intelligent, compelling arguments.

I stay because Miguel posts wonderful, abstract things even as he is repeatedly asked not to. I stay for PP's comments that are alternately incomprehesible and hilariously dry. I stay for y2karl's infuriatingly informative cut-and-paste jobs. I stay because jonmc constantly reminds me not to take this shit too seriously. I stay because jessamyn's cool and she linked to me as a contact.

I stay for the librarians.

And AskMe rocks.

BTW, anyone remember the "pre-14k club" whining?
posted by mkultra at 7:33 AM on December 15, 2004

I was a no-account lurker from just after the inception of MetaFilter until around July 2001 and then inexplicably didn't visit again until about a year later. So I missed the paradigm shift. Even though I've only had an account since April 2004, I feel like I should be a fossil.
posted by sciurus at 7:49 AM on December 15, 2004

the next you're old furniture

*sighs*

I'm neither Ikea nor Chippendale. I think I fall into the not-too-gently-used category. (read: Goodwill furniture)
posted by kamylyon at 7:55 AM on December 15, 2004

What konolia said.
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:20 AM on December 15, 2004

I've been here so long that I still consider Miguel a new guy.
posted by werty at 8:41 AM on December 15, 2004

I don't really know why I keep sticking around. Maybe it really is the hot sex.

But I do like being all crotchety and pointing out that suckage is not new, and there really never was a past golden age... people have been complaining about the Decline and Fall of Metafilter as long as I've been here. You'd think we'd have hit bottom and bounced a few times by now, if you believed all the years of whining.
posted by Mars Saxman at 9:18 AM on December 15, 2004

Metafilter: The Golden Age ended the day before you joined.
posted by i_cola at 9:27 AM on December 15, 2004

Where did you leave off and he start, and vice versa?

Ah, now that would be telling! ;)
posted by rushmc at 10:02 AM on December 15, 2004

I just like swearing at people, and generally behaving like an ass. Keeps me young.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken

Well hey, I don't have to swear.
posted by davy at 10:24 AM on December 15, 2004

Maybe it really is the hot sex.

and the scabies.
posted by quonsar at 1:14 PM on December 15, 2004

Steve@Limpwood

Wulfgar, if you have some issue with me, my email is in my profile.... other wise my name is "Steve_At_Linnwood"

If you want to start calling names based on sexuality, I'm sure I could come up for you that you would in inappropriate.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 2:00 PM on December 15, 2004

Steve, you do realize, don't you, that having someone mock your username is a sign that you're one of the stalwarts?

Isn't the time ripe for a sort of "Life of a Mefite" timeline?

- Your first comment.
- Your first comment that gets savagely piled on.
- Your first post.
- Your first deleted post.
- Your first callout.
- Your first post to MeTa.
- Your first post to MeTa asking what "." means.
- Your first mocking-by-name,
posted by mkultra at 2:31 PM on December 15, 2004

- Your first moment you realized quonsar is Mostly Harmless.
posted by Doohickie at 7:47 PM on December 15, 2004

- Your shock at finding that, like tigers and rattlesnakes. when they're not disturbed, the great beast quonsar, when he's "mostly harmless", is just resting, having recently satisfied his bloodthirst hunger pangs. Or lazily but slyly lulling his prey into that false sense of security which keeps the more gullible living snacks more at hand.

"See? I'm belly-up, dozing motionlessly and that's the true me - hey, I'm nice!" It might be positively touching (the words "old cutie" form in your befuddled mind), - specially around Christmas - to notice he's fallen asleep on top of a litter of noobs and cub Republicans, entwined even. How sweet!

But... next time you log in, extremely important body parts from both kinds of fellow creatures are suddenly missing and the whole of MetaFilter is rumbling with a deep, bass sound.

A few clicks and the source is clear, when you find that they're now running around moaning gutturally, like the proverbial headless chickens, as shrieking is now, sadly, no longer part of their usual whining repertoire. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:34 AM on December 16, 2004

The links make me stay, despite the worthless in-jokes, the cults of personality, the shameless and gratuitous wankery, the cowardly mobbing with mass mockery of anyone who slips up a little, and most recently the pathetic us-vs-them attitude towards new users (known as 'newbies', a term with a built-in scorn component).

For an ancient mostly-lurker like me, it's the whole personality of the place that keeps me coming back. I like the links (though I bore of all the politics). I (sometimes) like the discussion. I like the "gratuitous wankery", the "worthless in-jokes", and the humanity of the place. Mostly though, I like the pancakes.

Sometimes I let metafilter slide away from my consciousness for a few months, particularly when discussions turn consistently to the same topics, or when the claws become too annoyingly sharp, but things tend to go in circles here and eventually the charm of this place reasserts itself.

And even though I am pretty quiet here, the true charm of this place that keeps drawing me back is the sense of community. I like the idea and the reality of community, both online and off. I've found my community (or, more accurately, communities) offline, but I also spend enough time online that it's nice to have a "place of belonging" online as well...
posted by Ms Snit at 8:48 AM on December 16, 2004

No, trust me, it's not the scabies. The rabies, however....
posted by davy at 8:49 PM on December 16, 2004