In favor of NewsFilter

May 26, 2005 6:22 AM

In favor of NewsFilter. The impetus; explanation inside.
posted by rkent to etiquette/policy at 6:22 AM (60 comments total)

Yes?
posted by IshmaelGraves at 6:46 AM on May 26, 2005

This thread is fun if you imagine Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass playing in the background.
posted by greasy_skillet at 6:56 AM on May 26, 2005

* posts the image of the "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" album cover *
posted by yhbc at 6:59 AM on May 26, 2005

* gazes stuporously at cover, hums mindlessly, waits for Godot rkent *
posted by languagehat at 7:01 AM on May 26, 2005

* posts the image of the Clam Dip and Other Delights album cover *
posted by COBRA! at 7:06 AM on May 26, 2005

*hangs self*
posted by felix betachat at 7:07 AM on May 26, 2005

*jerks off to his own magnificence.*
posted by Kwantsar at 7:10 AM on May 26, 2005

*with a silk tie*
posted by dhruva at 7:10 AM on May 26, 2005

I wanted to post a response in the original thread, realized it fits better here. Selection from the comment:

Metafilter surrenders.

Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore? I mean, I like drinking beer and looking at boobies too... but I don't need to commiserate about it ten times a day with a bunch of former frat boys.

My immediate response was that, yeah, one may have seen this first on Fark, but there's no way that we could have a coherent discussion about it there. Same with links from boingboing, etc.

What's everyone's real purpose in coming to MetaFilter? Is it really that we all need a stream of "holy crap that's awesome, I've never seen that before" links? Or is it, at least partly, about the conversation? It's not that all MetaFilter threads are created equal; I have definitely read a few that seem less than insightful.

But on average, it's way better here than at a lot of other places. (Slashdot's probably an exception, for tech-related stuff.) So why isn't it enough that someone finds an interesting link, or preferably a series of links, and wants to discuss it in this atmosphere? Do we really need all the hyperventilation about "NewsFilter" and "oh my god, that source sucks, I can't believe you read it and think we want to read it"?

I recognize that many of the more political posts are basically just grandstanding, and I acknowledge that most of those would be better emailed to Eschaton or Daily Kos or something. But the average "Today, _X_ happened. Discuss" thread really doesn't bother me. In fact, sometimes it even brightens my day to have the opportunity to discuss it here instead of trying to wade through the Fark forums.
posted by rkent at 7:18 AM on May 26, 2005

Sorry, I actually got a phonecall from my subletter and had to go write a sublease contract. Naturally I could have clicked "post" first but... sometimes I forget things.

Sorry again, and thanks for the hold music, skillet.
posted by rkent at 7:19 AM on May 26, 2005

Kwantsar, your morning coffee enema really worked some magic. Please tell us some more about how wonderful you are.
posted by AlexReynolds at 7:19 AM on May 26, 2005

*Struggles and shouts his text.*

Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattmann of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell are plunged in torment plunged in fire whose fire flames if that continues and who can doubt it will fire the firmament that is to say blast hell to heaven so blue still and calm so calm with a calm which even though intermittent is better than nothing...

Rkent: I agree with you, like a million, by the way.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:21 AM on May 26, 2005

Are we really having this discussion again?
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:26 AM on May 26, 2005

The problem of course is that you'd be hard-pressed to find an 'X happened. Discuss' thread that is not immediately derailed into grandstanding by one or more of the regular Axegrinding Krewe.
posted by darukaru at 7:28 AM on May 26, 2005

The problem of course is that you'd be hard-pressed to find an 'X happened. Discuss' thread that is not immediately derailed into grandstanding by one or more of the regular Axegrinding Krewe.

Yeah, no kidding.
posted by AlexReynolds at 7:31 AM on May 26, 2005

Hardly axegrinding, AlexReynolds. It was merely a snarky rebuttal of your point (a joke made, admittedly, at your expense).

Don't worry. With the sheer number of "good", generic, inoffensive comments drowning out "axegrinding", specific, offensive comments in MeTa, why should you really care?
posted by Kwantsar at 7:51 AM on May 26, 2005

Rebuttal of what? Meh... Anyway, don't let that stop you from grinding that axe of yours, kiddo.
posted by AlexReynolds at 7:54 AM on May 26, 2005

rkent, look how short that linked article was. There's almost nothing to discuss; it was a lazy post to a ridiculously slim story. Hell, I used to volunteer at a suicide hotline that was eventually folded into a less comprehensive service, and I couldn't find anything worth saying in response to that lame post.
posted by mediareport at 8:12 AM on May 26, 2005

so, alex, have you stopped fucking chickens yet?
posted by quonsar at 8:13 AM on May 26, 2005

>why should you really care?

>>Anyway, don't let that stop you from grinding that axe of yours, kiddo.

You guys are going to have to totally amp it up to get to the delicious level of, say, a jonson vs. y2karl grudgematch entertainment intensity, guys.

Come on, try harder, damn it. As a service to the community, if nothing else.

so, alex, have you stopped fucking chickens yet?

I still deny that categorically. And still in a henrykissinger voice.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:15 AM on May 26, 2005

so, alex, have you stopped fucking chickens yet?

Well, I must have, because of all the time I spend fucking pigs, according to Kwantsar.
posted by AlexReynolds at 8:20 AM on May 26, 2005

You guys are going to have to totally amp it up to get to the delicious level of, say, a jonson vs. y2karl grudgematch entertainment intensity, guys.

Nah, that's okay. I'm perfectly happy to stand aside while he makes an asshole of himself by his own efforts.
posted by AlexReynolds at 8:22 AM on May 26, 2005

Good effort!

I await more hijinks! Well, not await, so much as anticipate. Well, not so much anticipate as expect. OK, not so much expect as not give a flying fuck.

Which is, I imagine, where most of us are with that whole thing.

*wiggles eyebrows, hints broadly*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:26 AM on May 26, 2005

I'm with stavros.

Well, not *with* him...
posted by me3dia at 8:33 AM on May 26, 2005

Are we really having this discussion again?
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:26 AM PST

I'm sorry. Did you not read your Welcome to Hell manuel? Go back and read page 3 where it lists the penance for your sins right after item # 43: Each morning you will begin your day with 3 million leg lifts followed by 10 million story problems.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:43 AM on May 26, 2005

I'm with me3dia. I'd be with stavros, but the older man wiggling his eyebrows in a hinting manner has always creeped me out. Sorry, wonderchicken.
posted by raedyn at 8:43 AM on May 26, 2005

?
posted by sciurus at 8:45 AM on May 26, 2005

*wiggles eyebrows in a hinting manner*
posted by quonsar at 8:51 AM on May 26, 2005

*wiggles eyebrows, hints broadly*

alt.unkyporn

*wiggles eyebrows in a hinting manner*

alt.grampyporn.
posted by y2karl at 8:56 AM on May 26, 2005

So, after we've solved the links v. discussion matter, can we have posts on the chicken v. egg, creamy v. chunky, tastes great v. less filling, and Boris v. Natasha matters?

FWIW: egg, chunky, who wants icky light beer anyway, and Natasha (of course).
posted by anapestic at 9:19 AM on May 26, 2005

So, I mean, is Metafilter about the links or about the discussion? I've been here almost six months now (I know, I know), and this still hasn't been settled. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

On preview: anapestic said it better, which just goes to show you, although I'm not sure what exactly.
posted by OmieWise at 9:22 AM on May 26, 2005

That nobody likes Boris, OmieWise.
posted by anapestic at 9:23 AM on May 26, 2005

anapestic writes "That nobody likes Boris, OmieWise."

This kind of assertion is what brings down the level of discourse here. Make it an FPP and we'll discuss it.
posted by OmieWise at 9:29 AM on May 26, 2005

OmieWise: "So, I mean, is Metafilter about the links or about the discussion? I've been here almost six months now (I know, I know), and this still hasn't been settled. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

I've been here for a couple years now, and as far as I can tell, Metafilter is about the snarking. Don't let up on the tag editorializing, newsfiltering, or asking about what "." means, folks, it's our meat and potatoes!
posted by Plutor at 9:45 AM on May 26, 2005

I'd prefer MeFi to be Boing-Boing-with-discussion, but the Fark-with-more-syllables model seems more popular.
posted by liam at 9:45 AM on May 26, 2005

I'd prefer MeFi to be Boing-Boing-with-discussion

So you're saying you want more buzzwords, old news, factually incorrect news, uninformed opinions, and Disney?
posted by keswick at 9:52 AM on May 26, 2005

So you're saying you want more buzzwords, old news, factually incorrect news, uninformed opinions, and Disney?

Don't forget the narcissistic self-promotion!
posted by felix betachat at 9:59 AM on May 26, 2005

We already have the narcissism. Promotion is limited to that of promoting your friends, particularly if you or they are A-Listers. (See: Kottke, J.)
posted by keswick at 10:05 AM on May 26, 2005

So, wait - after all these years of wriggling something in a hinting manner, I finally find out it was supposed to be my eyebrows?
posted by taz at 10:14 AM on May 26, 2005

Well, I certainly wouldn't have seen it on Fark because I avoid that damned site like the crappy plague it is.
posted by fenriq at 10:57 AM on May 26, 2005

> I've been here for a couple years now, and as far as I can tell,
> Metafilter is about the snarking.

Well, you just don't mention that. It's like wine snobbery, where you yammer on about blush, terroir, depth, earthiness, finesse, finish, maturity, yadda yadda, and never drop the least little hint that the main taste--above, below, beside, behind and in front of all the others--is ETHANOL, a basically nasty taste; and that if wine didn't get you high nobody on earth would drink it no matter how much it blushes. Likewise with mefi (and every other message board in the Known Universe), you can have all the fun Flash links imaginable but if you filter out the snarkery traffic will drop by 98%, because that's what gets the peoples wound up and off. Flamage is the Internet Drug.
posted by jfuller at 11:00 AM on May 26, 2005

taz, are you just finding out about the boyzone??
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:18 AM on May 26, 2005

jfuller, that is a trenchant analogy. Thank you.
posted by sciurus at 11:30 AM on May 26, 2005

Metafilter: more Disney.
posted by me3dia at 12:35 PM on May 26, 2005

Lately I'm having a hard time figuring out what the fuck is going on around here.
posted by Cyrano at 1:59 PM on May 26, 2005

Jeez. Why do you hate wine?
posted by graventy at 2:10 PM on May 26, 2005

I see MetaFilter as a group of people looking for social contact who are bad at small talk, so we're all under the pretense of somehow highlighting the best of the web so that we have an excuse to talk to one another. (Like ordering conversations in Monty Python's MEANING OF LIFE.)

News is a nice conversation starter. Silly links are a nice conversation starter. "Heh. Jiggy!" doesn't go anywhere except, well, Jergins and a tissue, which is why I'm here and not Fark.

I know that some people use MeFi to find those things that also appear on memepool, fark, boingboing, etc., etc., etc. rather than the community aspect and I don't fault them that.

I'm not going to be interested in everything here and neither is anyone else. I accept that there are FPPs and ask.metafilter questions I'll just breeze by and I'd hope everyone would do the same. Although I would encourage the constant MetaTalk callouts, simply because they cue some of the most entertaining discussions.

If there's some Platonic ideal MetaFilter that we're not living up to, then oh well, IMHO we might as well enjoy what we got rather than bitching about the "good old days" when everyone got along, there was no ChatterFilter crap and no one ever had a political stance we disagreed with. But I'm new around here. I could be wrong.
posted by Gucky at 2:14 PM on May 26, 2005

A/S/L?
posted by yerfatma at 2:19 PM on May 26, 2005

That nobody likes Boris, OmieWise.

Aw, shut up your mouth!
posted by languagehat at 2:33 PM on May 26, 2005

I'm with stavros.
Well, not *with* him...
Not true. I've seen the photos.

I see MetaFilter as a group of people looking for social contact who are bad at small talk, so we're all under the pretense of somehow highlighting the best of the web so that we have an excuse to talk to one another.
Ouch. The truth hurts.
posted by dg at 3:26 PM on May 26, 2005

The big questions don't have answers, and discussing them almost always goes nowhere fast. They are only addressed by finding what works for you and trying to model that for others who may care.

Please don't ever try to "resolve" whether it's about the links or the discussion ever again, or I'll be forced to get postmodern on both your dimes.
posted by freebird at 4:02 PM on May 26, 2005

I can't belive that AlexReynoldsFucksChickens tag has only been used once. My next FPP will DEFINITELY have that tag on it.
posted by shmegegge at 4:32 PM on May 26, 2005

Awesome! You rock!
posted by AlexReynolds at 4:39 PM on May 26, 2005

As a very recent MeFite, this thread in many ways epitomizes to me what MeFi is - some regulars in a bar/cafe/lounge who welcome strangers to chip in on the topic du jour (or heure), but who have a steady thread of caustic banter for each other, while occasionally rhapsodizing philosophic or extremely practical - with the occasional useful/funny/strange/common link.
posted by birdsquared at 7:33 PM on May 26, 2005

...and if you stay long enough, that caustic banter will be hurled at YOU and if you survive unscathed you might ascend to The Cabal, which does not exist, here, there, or in #mefi.

No good at small talk? I take umbrage, sir, and shall presently become vexed.
posted by WolfDaddy at 7:37 PM on May 26, 2005

So, after we've solved the links v. discussion matter, can we have posts on the chicken v. egg, creamy v. chunky, tastes great v. less filling, and Boris v. Natasha matters?

Fork! Spoon! : the only Metatalk thread to have made it into a book, as far as I'm aware. Although some party poopers didn't give their permission to have their comments reproduced, so it was bowdlerized to (even more) incomprehensibility in the actual publication. Ah well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:13 PM on May 26, 2005

I like vinegar on my chips. Also, Bevets smells of wee.
posted by Decani at 5:16 AM on May 27, 2005

don't talk about vinegar on your chips and Bevets' wee in the same breath, please.
posted by taz at 6:13 AM on May 27, 2005

(Also, I'm so good at small talk that wrong numbers call me back just to talk to me, for true. Nyah!)
posted by taz at 6:18 AM on May 27, 2005

MetaFilter: not Jergins and a tissue, which is why I'm here and not Fark.
posted by orthogonality at 5:49 PM on May 27, 2005