Anonymous Questions on AskMe

April 25, 2005 1:59 PM

I'm looking for some insight into the standards for screening anonymous questions on AskMeta. [MI]
posted by rkent to Etiquette/Policy at 1:59 PM (8 comments total)

Here's the deal. I posted a question Saturday afternoon, and read the part about there being a moderation process. Even for allowing the rest of the weekend off, I waited all day Monday and still not posted.

First a threshold question: have I not waited long enough? Is 3+ days typical?

Secondly, assuming I got denied, why? I don't think it was a stupid question; possibly something along the lines of "why would anyone ever need to post this anonymously", but it's really just about stuff in my life (combined w/ the fact that I'm pretty sure people I know read mefi) that made me want to disassociate my handle from the question.

Does it have to be "sensitive" under some standard to be appropriate for anonymous posting? If so, what's the standard?
posted by rkent at 2:05 PM on April 25, 2005

I haven't checked any of the questions in a few days. It's usually best to email me directly and ask.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:36 PM on April 25, 2005

The "can my dog impregnate my cat" question is rkent!
posted by Plutor at 2:42 PM on April 25, 2005

Does mathowie see the question submitter's name or is it already anonymized by the time it gets to him?
posted by knave at 3:35 PM on April 25, 2005

Maybe so Plutor, but the question is 'leet!
posted by substrate at 4:02 PM on April 25, 2005

Is 3+ days typical?

Longish but not unheard of in my experience.

Does mathowie see the question submitter's name or is it already anonymized by the time it gets to him?

I think he sees it, but that's a good question.
posted by scarabic at 4:39 PM on April 25, 2005

Does mathowie see the question submitter's name or is it already anonymized by the time it gets to him?

He sees the submitters name, here's the link to the original comment about it.
posted by squeak at 6:52 PM on April 25, 2005

The list of AskMe posts by user anonymous used to show questions submitted but not (yet) accepted and posted. I think the rejected questions even remained on the list. It looks like with the new AskAnon overhaul they don't show up on the list unless/until they've been accepted/posted.

This used to be great voyeuristic fun, and you could get a good sense of what was being rejected. If it were still that way now we would probably have a good sense of which question was yours.
posted by nobody at 8:14 AM on April 26, 2005