User Numbers

June 10, 2005 8:56 PM

So I've noticed there's a user 25210 and 25209, but no 25208, 25207, 25206, 25205, or 25204. There is, however, a user 25203 but no 25202 or 25201. There's a 25200, 25199, 25198, and 25197, but no 25196, 25195, 25194, 25193, or 25192. There's a user 25191, but no 25190 or 25189. There does happen to exist a 25188 and that's as far as I'm gonna go. I can only hope you've gotten the point by now, but if not: What's with the missing users?
posted by Item to MetaFilter-related at 8:56 PM (37 comments total)

the IDs aren't assigned sequentially.
posted by angry modem at 9:05 PM on June 10, 2005

those pesky 25kers!
posted by amberglow at 9:11 PM on June 10, 2005

I think this is the flip side to the "Matt's rolling in dough! Look at all the fivedollanoobs that have signed up since he opened the flood gates!" question that also comes up from time to time. Essentially, as I understand it, you can reserve a number by signing up. You can only activate it by paying the $5.00. Not everyone pays; ergo, not all user numbers are active, and Matt isn't nearly as wealthy as some of us think he is.

Dorky, yes. He is that.
posted by yhbc at 9:13 PM on June 10, 2005

Ghost Puppets. Scary.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:35 PM on June 10, 2005

If your number's over eight thousand, who really gives a crap about what you think anyway?
posted by ColdChef at 10:07 PM on June 10, 2005

Did you hear something? I thought I heard something. Oh well, it was probably nothing, or just a bitter oldtimer, either one.
posted by yhbc at 10:10 PM on June 10, 2005

They were all incredibly anal-retentive.
posted by LairBob at 10:10 PM on June 10, 2005

People that registered but didn't complete the paypal section.
posted by mathowie at 10:23 PM on June 10, 2005

Like I said, but without the gratuitous dorky joke.

Damn, I sounded bitchy tonight. Sorry, everyone.
posted by yhbc at 10:26 PM on June 10, 2005

Are the usernames taken by non-payers reserved in perpetuity?
posted by Gyan at 10:57 PM on June 10, 2005

Those are all the numbers of people who used to be members until they started asking too many questions, item.
posted by nanojath at 11:16 PM on June 10, 2005

What gives with the obsession over user numbers?
posted by BoringPostcards at 11:56 PM on June 10, 2005

yeah, those unpaid usernames get taken, because every so often a week or a month or several months later, someone eventually pays for an old account and they get to keep their username they picked at the time.
posted by mathowie at 12:38 AM on June 11, 2005

Waaaay too much time on your hands, item.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:24 AM on June 11, 2005

I thought those users didn't test well with the 18-34 year old demographic and were just written out of the show by the head writers.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 4:19 AM on June 11, 2005

Oddly, all of the disappeared members posted questions about user numbers.
posted by cedar at 4:32 AM on June 11, 2005

posted by mischief at 7:24 AM on June 11, 2005

Thanks, everyone, for wheting my whistle. And actually, I never have enough time on my hands (probably because I waste it doing crap like this).
posted by Item at 8:16 AM on June 11, 2005

*jaw drops*


You are one heck of a geek.

/ i keed
posted by wheelieman at 10:29 AM on June 11, 2005

Shhhhhhhh! We don't talk about them anymore.
posted by sourwookie at 10:55 AM on June 11, 2005

ColdChef writes "If your number's over eight thousand, who really gives a crap about what you think anyway?"

You're being generous with that 8k, I thought the cutoff was 7684.
posted by OmieWise at 11:25 AM on June 11, 2005

Actually, the cutoff is 800 (but that's only to make sure quonsar snuck in).
posted by wendell at 12:18 PM on June 11, 2005

wendell writes "Actually, the cutoff is 800 (but that's only to make sure quonsar snuck in)."

Everyone is so generous with these cut-offs. I feel like Daisy Duke, except that I never make the list.
posted by OmieWise at 1:17 PM on June 11, 2005

I hereby declare OmieWise an honorary 14ker! : >
posted by amberglow at 2:32 PM on June 11, 2005

Actually, the cutoff is 800 (but that's only to make sure quonsar snuck in).

quonsar is 986.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:47 PM on June 11, 2005

(not many user numbers can be rotated through 180 degrees without changing their value)
posted by andrew cooke at 3:48 PM on June 11, 2005

Yes, but yours can be flipped vertically.

(andrew cooke: Can be flipped vertically.)
posted by taz at 4:20 PM on June 11, 2005

Amberglow, you're too kind.

*Rushes to post in recent 14k'er thread.*
posted by OmieWise at 8:41 PM on June 11, 2005

Hey can I be an honorary 14ker as well? I mean I know I'm actual 14ker-- but it would be so cool to be an honorary 14ker too! Sort of like earning a real college degree and then having a different school bestow an honorary degree as well.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:54 PM on June 11, 2005

SLG-I suppose I can bestow those kinds of honors. No one told me I can't...so consider this your honorary 14ker degree.
posted by OmieWise at 9:08 PM on June 11, 2005

you can--you have the power, Omie. : >

*one of us...one of us...one of us...*
posted by amberglow at 10:05 PM on June 11, 2005

well, everybody knows that the best mefites have user numbers that are multiples of 1000
posted by Kattullus at 7:21 AM on June 12, 2005

No, the best Mefites have user numbers that are prime both right-side-up and upside-down, and backwards, and upside-down and backwards.
posted by nicwolff at 2:42 PM on June 12, 2005

For reasons unknown to me, the first user beyond #1 is #8: "OneBallJay" who has not graced us with his presence since 2002. It makes me wonder what happened to users 2-7 since that was long before the days of PayPal. Were they test accounts? How did OneBallJay get to be the first real user? What does it say about MeFi that the first "real" user is only half the man he used to be?
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 3:22 PM on June 12, 2005

He paid for it. It was an eBay auction of a low MeFi user number. We don't do anything that tacky these days.
posted by yhbc at 4:59 PM on June 12, 2005

Thanks for the pointer, yhbc. From the thread:

So free mefi pro, which I hope to implement in September.
posted by mathowie at 1:57 PM PST on August 1 [!] (2001)
posted by Kwantsar at 6:54 PM on June 12, 2005

well, everybody knows that the best mefites have user numbers that are multiples of 1000

Word. Gimme five, Kattullus!
posted by salmacis at 4:24 AM on June 13, 2005