AskMe questions popping up on The Vine.

December 14, 2006 12:01 AM

Looks like our answers to anonymous just don't hack it: The second question on "The Vine", seems remarkably similar to this question, on AskMe.

Though, I have to wonder: I understand the desire for a second opinion, or maybe a third, possibly even a fourth, but what makes you think "Yeah, sure, I got 75 answers the last time I asked this, but I think I need to get a 76th opinion."

Note: There's no permalink on The Vine, so I have no idea when the question will scroll off into the archive, replaced by a new second question that renders this post incomprehensible. Sorry.

Note: this is not a callout or complaint, just something I found interesting and MetaFilter related
posted by Bugbread to MetaFilter-Related at 12:01 AM (19 comments total)

How does:

[W]hat makes you think "Yeah, sure, I got 75 answers the last time I asked this, but I think I need to get a 76th opinion."

not conflict with:

Note: this is not a callout or complaint
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:25 AM on December 14, 2006

Well, it does qualify as asking a second source.
posted by cribcage at 12:34 AM on December 14, 2006

When trawling for political opinions, I keep looking till I find one that agrees with me. Perhaps the poster was doing something similar regarding her queer boyfriend? After-all, too many heads make quick broth. Something to ponder.
posted by econous at 2:27 AM on December 14, 2006

That is so gay.
posted by LarryC at 3:34 AM on December 14, 2006

Perhaps anon submitted it to The Vine and it wasn't answered for quite a while, so she went ahead and asked askme? Then later The Vine picked her question?
posted by FortyT-wo at 3:57 AM on December 14, 2006

Maybe the two boyfriends should hook up. Did anyone ever think of that?
posted by Plutor at 4:02 AM on December 14, 2006

I think FortyT-wo's probably right - a friend of a friend (really!) submitted a question to the Vine way back and it randomly appeared three or four months later. As Dan Savage says...

The dirty little secret of all advice columns--from Ann Landers' to Miss Manners' to mine--is this: Weeks can pass in the time it takes us to get a letter, read it, respond, and get the whole mess published. As a result, most advice-seekers take action before they have a chance to read our advice.
posted by granted at 4:48 AM on December 14, 2006

I think if you're desperate for answers, you'll ask the question anywhere and everywhere. I remember reading somewhere that advice columnists' editors have a sort of informal network that lets them check that they're not all going to answer the same question, since they very often all get the same letters.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:08 AM on December 14, 2006

MY FOUR PARAGRAPHICAL LINEBREAKS IN A POST

LET ME SHOW YOU THEM

MY PARAGRAPHICAL LINEBREAKAMONS LET ME SHOW YOU

Note: this is not a callout or complaint, just MY FOUR PARAGRAPH BREAKS IN A POST OH LET ME SHOW YOU THEM
posted by loquacious at 5:10 AM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

Blazecock Pileon writes "How does:

"[W]hat makes you think 'Yeah, sure, I got 75 answers the last time I asked this, but I think I need to get a 76th opinion.'

"not conflict with:

"Note: this is not a callout or complaint"

Because I'm not upset, and I don't think it's a bad thing, I was just curious about why someone would need another opinion. But the "submitted to The Vine, but not published till quite a bit later" hypothesis seems pretty sound, so my curiosity is satisfied.

Obligatory

additional paragraph

brea

ks.
posted by Bugbread at 5:24 AM on December 14, 2006

Man, I own a copy of "My Own Private Idaho."
posted by drezdn at 8:54 AM on December 14, 2006

And I own a copy of lost boys. We should hook up I guess.
posted by bob sarabia at 9:11 AM on December 14, 2006

Get a room you two, a chatroom preferably, and don't let McCain know what you're up to.
posted by Mister_A at 9:28 AM on December 14, 2006

I was just curious about why someone would need another opinion

Possibly because Sars gives kick-ass advice, and AskMe can be a little erratic.
posted by occhiblu at 9:40 AM on December 14, 2006

plaster casts
posted by cortex at 9:53 AM on December 14, 2006

well... I'm crossing my legs... RIGHT NOW!!!!
posted by edgeways at 1:10 PM on December 14, 2006

Perhaps anon submitted it to The Vine and it wasn't answered for quite a while, so she went ahead and asked askme?

I think the askme came first, because she (wisely) left out any mention of LOTR and Lost Boys from v2. The idea that owning those indicates anything about your sexuality was (deservedly) one of the major sources of ridicule in the original question.
posted by advil at 4:59 PM on December 14, 2006

The Vine doesn't have hyperlinks to specific questions but it does have archives, and this is the one relevant to this discussion.

I think liquorice and Sars both nailed the answer fwiw.
posted by shelleycat at 2:21 PM on December 15, 2006

The best was when I clicked on the link to the vine and went to the second question, which had to do with raincoats. So now my interest is all piqued -- I'm thinking, "How the hell can someone get 75 answers to a question about *raincoats*, or am I just not phrasing my questions right?" And then I click on the AskMe link, right? And by now I'm reallyreally curious -- this question's gotta be good, even if it is just about raincoats -- and low and behold... my boyfriend's gay. Longwinded, yadayada. So what is it about the boyfriend's gay and the raincoat question that makes bugbread figure out that they're asked by the same person? And why does bugbread care that someone asked a question about gayboyfriend and then a question about raincoats? And once again, how are raincoats and gayboyfriend connected?

Don't worry. I figured it out.

Eventually.
posted by incessant at 8:41 PM on December 16, 2006