Separating the post from the wanking

December 4, 2006 5:56 PM

This post about James Kim and family was not very carefully constructed, but some of the comments rescue it. Most of the rest of the comments debate whether the item is newsworthy or not, and need to be deleted. Coments about the post should go in this thread.
posted by b1tr0t to MetaFilter-Related at 5:56 PM (32 comments total)

I removed most all of them, continue that here if need be.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:05 PM on December 4, 2006

This post about James Kim and family was not very carefully constructed, but some of the comments rescue it. Most of the rest of the comments debate whether the item is newsworthy or not, and need(s) to be deleted.

Fixed that right up for ya.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:06 PM on December 4, 2006

James Kim's disappearance is really important to a small group of people who have been following it as an evolving news story. The post could have been better, but it's not so lousy that it needs to be deleted in my opinion and it didn't get a lot (two?) flags as a bad post. I also removed some "who the fuck cares" comments earlier.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:09 PM on December 4, 2006

Well, at least now I can cross keswick off my Christmas card list, he was on the bubble anyway.
posted by fenriq at 6:10 PM on December 4, 2006

Whew.. For a second there, I thought someone in that thread was being a little prick. I guess not, anymore. Glad we were saved from that prickyness.
posted by Balisong at 6:11 PM on December 4, 2006

mr_crash_davis, to anyone that watched TechTV shows like the ScreenSavers, they saw him all the time doing segments on the show. To disappear with a 7-month old for a week is pretty messed up and I assumed they just drove off a cliff somewhere in Oregon, so seeing this today really was major news.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:15 PM on December 4, 2006

I just heard about this story last week. I've never met James Kim and I've probably never met anyone who's met him. I'd never even heard of him until last week. I live in a different country. But I still care about this story and I'm glad that the update was posted. For what it's worth.
posted by loiseau at 6:21 PM on December 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

mr_crash_davis : Do you have something against the Kims? Did you know them personally? Why all the prickish comments?
posted by bshort at 6:28 PM on December 4, 2006

I think b1tr0t covered it pretty well, bshort. Sorry I'm not as eloquent as he was.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:32 PM on December 4, 2006

I don't think a lack of eloquence is the problem.
posted by danb at 6:40 PM on December 4, 2006

Ouch. I guess you got me, danb!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:42 PM on December 4, 2006

I'm glad someone posted it, because I was interested in hearing what happened, but none of the other sites I frequent were following the story. So yaaay Kim family!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:12 PM on December 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

If the story is relevant to people beyond that core group who are already following it, then some links to the story should have been added so that the rest of us can follow along.

It's been on the front page of CNN for a few days.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:13 PM on December 4, 2006

MetaFilter: I don't think a lack of eloquence is the problem.
posted by gsteff at 7:15 PM on December 4, 2006

It's been on the front page of CNN for a few days.

It's been on digg about 25 times, plus about 20 other sites in my news reader. I can't think of a more covered story. I simply can't escape it. But some people only read metafilter, so you know, you gotta cover them.
posted by justgary at 8:02 PM on December 4, 2006

Wow, keswick's vacation from the misanthropy-inducing internet and the disappointing people who inhabit it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.

Just throwin' this out there, but maybe his holiday could stand to be a bit longer? His Q:A ratio is pretty sucky, if that helps.

To be fair though, the FPP could have been fleshed out a bit more. On first glance it kind of has a missing white girl vibe going on.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:21 PM on December 4, 2006

It's been on the front page of CNN for a few days.

Sure, but it's possible to see those headlines and assume it's just another jon-benet ramsey type of story that really isn't relevant but that people get emotionally connected to for some reason (eg, race / class reasons - was there a sean bell thread?). I have seen that this story exists but I have not followed up on it - if it is actually of broad interest, to people not personally involved, it'd be worth providing further background information about why we should care. People die or go missing every day. we do not cover them all. It's worth framing the story to clarify why you consider this particular one important.
posted by mdn at 8:23 PM on December 4, 2006

I don't know which comment from keswick was better, the suggestion that people lost in the wilderness should be hunted for sport or his proclamation that he hated everyone else here.
posted by bob sarabia at 8:26 PM on December 4, 2006

It's been on the front page of CNN for a few days.

Not everyone's from the US or reads US news sources.
posted by loiseau at 8:29 PM on December 4, 2006

I predict that when MetaFilter crashes in the Andes, keswick will be the first one eaten.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:31 PM on December 4, 2006

i predict a lot of food poisoning
posted by pyramid termite at 8:34 PM on December 4, 2006

There are many piquant and tasty dishes that can be prepared with bile.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:46 PM on December 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

I predict I'll be first in line to tenderize him.
posted by fenriq at 9:08 PM on December 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

Even if a story is on CNN for a week, I don't read it unless I see it here. If it's not on MetaFilter, it's not important enough for me to read. So there.
posted by The Deej at 9:36 PM on December 4, 2006

It's important to post here because it was posted everywhere else already! Don't you get it?
posted by smackfu at 9:41 PM on December 4, 2006

This has been big news here in San Francisco but, yes, I agree the framing of that post is really, really lame. I hate it when posts are constructed with the assumption that everyone already knows whats going on. b1tr0t nailed it.
posted by vacapinta at 10:10 PM on December 4, 2006

I don't even read the blue anymore, I just wait for the important threads to make their way to the grey, and then, finally, I bestow my presence upon them.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:12 PM on December 4, 2006

some good news
posted by caddis at 3:39 AM on December 5, 2006

We get these kinds of comments every time there's a story of debatable national interest about a dead or missing woman ("pretty white women filter") and, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember them being deleted.
posted by transona5 at 4:01 AM on December 5, 2006

Your favorite missing and/or dead person sucks!

I've already stated my position on newsfilter, so instead of beating a horse that won't die, I'll direct interested parties to click on my username and peruse the history of my MetaTalk posts.
posted by Eideteker at 4:43 AM on December 5, 2006

Not everyone's from the US or reads US news sources.

I guess the Metafilter front page must be sorta confusing for them sometimes, huh.

But they should know where to look.
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:48 AM on December 5, 2006

James Kim's body was found today.
posted by loiseau at 1:08 PM on December 6, 2006