Link people v Discussion people

March 15, 2001 12:21 AM

I think there's evidence of a real divide among mefi users, between people who like the links and people who like the discussion. And I think a possible solution is right in front of our faces.
posted by sudama to MetaFilter-Related at 12:21 AM (7 comments total)

What I'd really like to see is for metatalk to become much more active -- for at least a few new categories to be added (ask mefi, free for all, etc -- even if the metatalk home page is restructured to be flat like mefi) and for metatalk to become a sister site to mefi where anything goes as long as it's posted to the right category (and there's an anything goes category for everything else.) Metatalk could be home to all kinds of meta, off topic, and otherwise unlinky stuff that gets posted to metafilter these days.

Perhaps if the MetaFilter community were actively encouraged to use MetaTalk as a free for all kind of space, a lot of problems would take care of themselves. I don't have extensive experience with online communities so this is all conjecture, but between aaron's itching for a metafilter mailing list, thirteen's (and my) urges to "ask metafilter" from time to time, and the slow but steady stream of Meta- (for lack of a more exhausted prefix) posts that somehow wind up on metafilter instead of metatalk (whether they're about metafilter etiquette, proper posts, or they're self links, linkless posts, essays disguised as posts etc etc etc), I think there's an argument to be made for expanding MetaTalk to make room for the community that has formed to let its collective hair down and grow in some organic ways.

(And sure, lots of people like both aspects of MeFi.)

posted by sudama at 12:29 AM on March 15, 2001

This is sounding good and may actually be happening by default. It might, of course, be postponing an impending cataclysm but it might also create enough time to work out a way to avoid one entirely, without having to dive into the sordid world of karma whores or submit to the tyrannical masses.

There does seem to be a bit more static around than when I first started coming here [over a year ago, I think], which probably contributed to my decision to get an account at last. Unfortunately I find I am barely posting, both because whatever salient thought I might have on a subject is usually made by someone else before I even have it clear in my own head, and because I don't want to be part of the problem. These are probably good things but I'm fairly certain that passiveness is not enough to solve the long standing problem of scalability of even loose knit social groups, online or off.

Sudama has addressed this issue but I think we are going to have to experiment with biting our tongues, thinking hard, expressing ourselves and hopefully succeeding in not being the lowest common denominator. I'm not trying to preach - I'm right at the bottom of the food chain myself - I'm just realising as I type that there isn't a bespoke solution.

I hope it's fun trying to create one.

posted by southisup at 5:19 AM on March 15, 2001

This is a good thought, I like the idea of a dedicated random discussion area.
posted by cCranium at 4:35 PM on March 15, 2001

Not a bad idea Sudama, thanks for suggesting it. It's certainly possible that metatalk could solve those needs.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:20 PM on March 15, 2001

A couple of categories under General, such as "Off-topic babble," "Ask MeFi" (for advice and whatnot) and "Brag, brag, brag!" could clear up a couple of the most common thoughts raised in these parts.

I'm guessing you'll use better names though. :-)
posted by cCranium at 5:50 AM on March 16, 2001

But how do you get people to use them? It seems like a lot of the problem threads come from people who are fairly new in MF and may not even realize there's a MetaTalk to be had.

Would it be correct to say that Off-topic babble and Ask MeFi are OK but just not on the MeFi front page? So why not hvae those categories be listed on the MeFi front page to draw traffic there? Why have the somewhat cryptically named (to newbies) MetaTalk be the place to go?

I guess I'm comparing two architectures:

MetaFilter (front page)
MetaTalk
   Ask MeFi
   Off-topic babble
   Self-linkage
   etc.

vs.

MetaFilter
   Community Weblog (front page)
   Ask MeFi
   Off-topic babble
   Self-linkage
   etc.
Metatalk

or even

MetaFilter
   Community Weblog (front page)
   Ask MeFi
   Off-topic babble
   Self-linkage
   Metatalk
   etc.

posted by rodii at 7:32 AM on March 16, 2001 [1 favorite]

While this is true, as off-topic posts are pointed to a MeTa category for further discussion, more and more people will become aware of it's existence.

I'm mildly concerned about changing the purpose of MetaTalk though. I mean, this really is the area to figure out where the site's going and how we can help Matt's vision, right, so I wonder if we want to pollute that aspect of this. Sub-MeFis (your 3rd presentation of the organization) seems like a reasonable thought to me, but if each one is structured like the MetaTalk-to-MetaFilter relationship, that means that Matt has to maintain every section seperately from the others.

We want to make Matt's life easier, not get him to do more crap for our enjoyment. :-)
posted by cCranium at 12:49 PM on March 16, 2001