MetaTalk

Hello fellow MeFites! I'm wondering if we can discuss as a community the possibility of shifting the site norms and policies around what makes a good AskMe answer. Is this something others would be interested in and what would be a good norm/policy for you? [more inside]
posted by capricorn on Feb 13, 2017 - 157 comments

Cribcage hit the nail on the head with this recent comment: "people who have no idea what they're talking about but think posting answers on AskMe is 'fun' will now believe they have some factual basis for telling you in confident detail exactly what to do..." [more inside]
posted by Tanizaki on Jun 20, 2013 - 201 comments

I'm curious what the status is on the idea of having an anonymous option for answering questions in askme. [more inside]
posted by latkes on May 3, 2013 - 44 comments

Ya'll are being strange and interesting again. Two recent AskMe questions are about whether to correct someone close to you and the answers, along with their reasoning, are fascinating.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Apr 27, 2012 - 140 comments

The sidebar (see Apr 12) featured this post, in which someone's seemingly obscure question was answered in just six minutes. I think MY experience was even more amazing (as my question was more obscure), though it did take Gator an hour and ten minutes to cough up an answer. What are some other AskMe Astounding Stories of Snappy Answers to Obscure Questions?
posted by grumblebee on May 13, 2011 - 46 comments

What is the etiquette for offering one's services as an answer to an AskMe seeking said services? [more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski on Mar 14, 2011 - 25 comments

This is a brief request for the ability to answer anonymously on AskMe, as well as gauge other's interest in such a feature. [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jan 16, 2009 - 94 comments

Poster asks: Does dating through craigslist actually work? I answered simply, "No." My answer's been deleted. This is not the first time my on-topic answers have been deleted from threads and I find it pretty annoying. Further, someone else posted "Yup" and there answer is still there. WTF? [more inside]
posted by dobbs on Aug 29, 2008 - 90 comments

Before you post your next AskMe question, you might try checking out MetaChat's thread of suggested automated AskMe answers. From "Don't eat it" to "Try Craigslist" to "Check out these twenty-five identical previous AskMe questions on this topic" to "Learn how to communicate. Pouring your heart out to 60,000 random strangers on the internet ≠ effective communication with your partner", we've pretty much got every topic covered.
posted by orange swan on Jul 18, 2008 - 115 comments

Also, I think that the definition of "noise" needs to be extended to encompass posts that are just people giving their opinions without providing anything new to the discussion. posted by 1 at 2:08 PM on February 12 [more inside]
posted by bigmusic on Feb 14, 2008 - 31 comments

The poster of this question has clearly stated, "I'm not trying to solve their problems, I'm looking for specific recommendations for a marriage counselor. You know, like a name. If I wanted advice about 'how do I deal with my friends' psychotic marriage problems,' that's the question I'd have asked." I've flagged the responses that judged the poster rather than answering the question, and several of those comments were deleted, but many of them remain. I'm curious about where that line was drawn. Also, if people really feel the need to question the poster's judgment, hopefully they can do it here and leave the thread with less noise.
posted by vytae on Jul 2, 2007 - 55 comments

A few days ago, I had posted something on AskMe, and had got some wonderful replies from my fellow Mefites. I wanted to acknowledge them here, along with the community as a whole (for doing the great work that it does), and say how glad I am to be a pat of it.:) Thank you MeFi!
posted by hadjiboy on Mar 26, 2007 - 22 comments

Posting a esolutionsdata.com link in response to an Ask Metafilter question is bad form. Go hone your stand-up routine somewhere else.
posted by Rhomboid on Dec 29, 2006 - 31 comments

So idle speculation really is "what the green is for"? That's a surprise.
posted by Kirth Gerson on Nov 29, 2006 - 43 comments

Dear AskMe: There is a prince in Nigeria who desperately needs my help. What is the best way to transfer $50K to an overseas bank account?
posted by LittleMissCranky on Jul 8, 2006 - 45 comments

I'd like a way, beyond "best answer," to give feedback/kudos to users who offer exceptionally helpful AskMe answers. [more inside]
posted by Alterscape on May 17, 2006 - 25 comments

What askMeFi question has the most answers... ever?
posted by bjork24 on Apr 25, 2006 - 30 comments

Tags: User profiles show "Top ten tags used on Ask MetaFilter posts" -- which is neat!, but would it maybe be really neat if there were a "Top ten tags used on Ask MetaFilter answers"? I know that what I've asked about and what I've answered to are in pretty different realms.
posted by mimi on Mar 16, 2006 - 13 comments

How many questions is too many for posting on MeFi?

Hi, my name is x, and I'm a MeFi Addict ('hi x!').

yes, it's come to the point in my life where I turn to this site because I know it'll have links/commentary on a variety of issues. I know if I post a question someone will inevitably have a good answer... the question is, what's the ratio of questions I should ask to questions I should answer? If I ask a question, is there some sort of karmic payback I should perform - i.e. try answering a few questions in return? I certainly don't want to seem like I'm a lazy person here. I honestly come after I've done a bit of research - honest!

Just curious - or is this too meta perhaps? I don't want to outstay my $5 welcome... although if a certain site owner had a donation button that might help me sort out my karm ;)
posted by rmm on Feb 23, 2006 - 35 comments

Ask.Meta Question askers/answerers.

What does Ask.metalk work really well with? What does it suck with?
posted by filmgeek on Aug 21, 2005 - 35 comments

Can we have a separate RSS feed showing only answered questions?
posted by Mwongozi on May 20, 2005 - 6 comments

as i wander through every bike-related askme query and see the same user names replying to each question i've started to wonder: would there be a benefit to allowing mefi users to organize themselves into caucus-like groups? would it serve the community better if, in much the same way individuals are grouped by region on their profile pages, we could somehow align ourselves by interest/expertise to make better use of our collective resources?
posted by RockyChrysler on Apr 20, 2005 - 39 comments

Etiquette suggestion: don't get snarky with people who are trying to help you.
posted by techgnollogic on Mar 12, 2005 - 58 comments

This post led me to wonder: would anonymous answers be a useful pony to add to Ask MeFi? [MI]
posted by googly on Mar 2, 2005 - 31 comments

I noticed an AskMe thread with two "Best Answers". Is the ability to mark more than one answer as "best" intentional, or is this a bug? I'm sure there are going to be cases of ties, so perhaps this isn't a bad idea.
posted by tommasz on Feb 16, 2005 - 11 comments

The best answer feature used in this AskMeFi question seems a little disconcerting to me. For a question that's so subjective, is it really appropriate? I find it off putting.
posted by sophie on Feb 14, 2005 - 82 comments

Ask Mefi update: all the questions and answers are in a new database, meaning that new features will be coming soon. First up will be links to all questions and answers on your user page, probably done tonight. Then categories, keywords, and all sorts of cool shit. Let me know if you find any errors in the meantime.
posted by mathowie on Jun 14, 2004 - 37 comments

Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer.

Unless you're in high school and you deserve to get preached to because you're still a teenager.
posted by PrinceValium on May 18, 2004 - 70 comments

AskMe policy proposal: "Please answer the actual question, not what you think should have been the question".

For instance here, crunchland seems to think the question is "what's a good approach to picking colors", whereas namespan is saying "fireworks used to have a feature, now it doesn't, what can I do". This happens all the time. People ask how to fix something on a computer running System A, and the answer is switch to System B. People ask about Anti-virus apps, and are told not to use them and just practice safe-computing. It's a small peeve, but the added noise is not appreciated, especially when you actually care about the answers.
posted by signal on Jan 8, 2004 - 39 comments

In a recent AskMeFi thread a link to a Google query was provided in lieu of an answer [more inside].
posted by cedar on Dec 22, 2003 - 20 comments