It's lazy, it's snarky, it's the smug, knowing older brother of "meh," and half of you are getting it wrong. News at 11. [more inside]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on Mar 10, 2009 - 229 comments

What are the rules for posting to MeFi? Ive noticed that many posts are news articles and many of the op/ed posts get snarked or berated for not being newsworthy... I thought this was "best of the web"? I for one will read digg if I want news and MeFi if I want to find interesting web articles...
posted by subaruwrx on Aug 1, 2007 - 134 comments

So I finally got around to researching full-text search indexes for the database server today. I whipped up some indexes (that are updated hourly) and ran some tests: searches using the indexes were 5-10x faster than the old way. So I brought back tag and post search for logged in users on the search page.

Consider this a test for the next few days, as I would like to bring search back in all sorts of ways (searching a user's posts, favorites, etc), and hopefully this doesn't kill the database server like it has in the past.
posted by mathowie on May 11, 2006 - 35 comments

This is why single link newsfilter posts are bad.
posted by TedW on Apr 8, 2006 - 31 comments

Should MetaFilter have another section called MetaNews to keep the geopolitical stuff separated from the quirky best of web stuff?
posted by parallax7d on Nov 28, 2005 - 4 comments

If you ever find yourself trying to explain what Web 2.0 is all about, here's a quiet, excellent example you can point to. A random web user encounters a breaking news story about a man accused of kidnapping, (apparently) did some rudimentary searching, used a free and useful web archive and search tool, and pointed any interested parties within a certain community of web users to a cached version of the suspect's weblog, which reveals a wealth of interesting if chilling information that moves the narrative of our knowledge forward long before any word of it reaches common news aggregators. Once the new information is there, some chafe is posted but more wheat is added to the story. It may all end up being hooey-- not the weblog of the suspect. But this example of normal people using freely available tools to contribute to the collective knowledge will remain.
posted by juggernautco on Jul 2, 2005 - 34 comments

I guess we are not even going to pretend to follow the guidelines for posts anymore.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood on Apr 28, 2005 - 117 comments

Readability Results for http://www.metafilter.com:
Gunning Fog Index 10.70

Typical Fog Index Scores:
6 TV guides, The Bible, Mark Twain
8 Reader's Digest
8 - 10 Most popular novels
10 Time, Newsweek
11 Wall Street Journal
14 The Times, The Guardian
15 - 20 Academic papers
Over 20 Only government sites can get away with this, because you can't ignore them.
Over 30 The government is covering something up

We're just like Time and Newsweek!
posted by mathowie on Apr 24, 2005 - 36 comments

NewsFilter!
posted by mathowie on Aug 6, 2004 - 80 comments

Obviously, given Seth's latest tirade, many of use are tired of the volume of newsy posts. Heck, even I've complained about it before, although I've long since given up on voicing my complaints. However, there is a new tool over at TodaysPapers.com that I think could be useful for diverting some of the discussion. Look, it even finds the news for you! No need to wait for a post, just jump straight to the discussion! It's also virtually empty, and ripe for a takeover by the MeFi newsies. Please?
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jun 17, 2004 - 113 comments

Predictions: I just noticed the news, "White House to Let Rice Testify in Public" on AP. How long until this becomes an FPP. Doesn't it seem lately that every piece of news is getting posted? Where does one draw the line between news that should be an FPP and news that shouldn't
posted by Outlawyr on Mar 30, 2004 - 110 comments

How News Travels on the Internet; Source -> Meta News -> MiFi - shorthand for MetaFilter, blogging on crack (all users can post?). Not accepting accounts. Currently #8 on DayPop top 40.
posted by thomcatspike on Mar 10, 2004 - 24 comments

Double-posts leak in. (1, 2)
posted by insomnyuk on Oct 16, 2003 - 42 comments

News posts: done right and not so right [more inside]
posted by mathowie on Oct 29, 2002 - 17 comments

Remember when reporters used to contact general people and ask opinions? Well now it appears E-Online is just scraping MetaFilter for their comments.

So the question is... is MetaFilter a good venue for quick comments about news, or should reporters still be doing the leg work on their stories first?
posted by benjh on Jun 1, 2002 - 30 comments

While Googling around, I found this project, done by someone at Berkeley, using a Metafilter thread to point out various types of 'audience'. It seems to have been done to fulfill one of the assignments in this course, whose professor calls Metafilter a 'news-oriented weblog' in the syllabus (scroll down near the end of the page). Are you a "Sharer of News"? An "Idea Generator"? A "Quoter"? Or could you be a "Contrarian", or perhaps a "Humorist/Summarist"?
posted by evanizer on May 29, 2002 - 18 comments

Is Google News Search a weblog? Internet.com seems to think so: 'Googleblog': Search Firm Gets into Weblogging...
posted by andrewraff on Mar 27, 2002 - 9 comments

I wonder ... should Matt just put a quick link to the Washington Post and the Guardian on top MetaFilter, and suggest that their discussion boards be used to discuss their articles?
posted by MidasMulligan on Mar 23, 2002 - 30 comments

I don't like the idea that Metafilter has turned into a news portal. But I'll learn to live with that, it seems to be what most people like. But now we're linking local news? Isn't there a better place for residents of Bradford to discuss pending bus stop proposals? In the name of God, why? Why why why?
posted by y6y6y6 on Jan 30, 2002 - 15 comments

Of yesterday's 27 posts, no fewer than 20 of them were links to news sites or concerned recent events or happenings.
posted by mattpfeff on Jan 23, 2002 - 34 comments

Not sure if something's been covered by the media? Don't want to look silly by writing, "Why isn't anyone reporting this?" when it's in every newspaper but the ones you're reading? Are you finding that the AP wire doesn't have enough information to satisfy you anymore? Here's where to look.
posted by Mo Nickels on Oct 14, 2001 - 13 comments

I was driving across M.I this morning and heard on lansing local radio that 5 persons had received mail with a white powder in them yesterday.just like the ones in F.L. i will look in to this more. i will post more info and link to local paper if possible.
posted by iac6969 on Oct 10, 2001 - 7 comments

Ananova has quirkie news? Is this kind of link worthy of a front page post? I don't think so.
posted by TacoConsumer on Oct 7, 2001 - 5 comments

Could we have a moratorium on Ananova links for now? While other news sources have not been dead on, they seem to be way off base more than others. There are quite a few reading Mefi right now, and disinfo from what looks like a credible source could hurt.
posted by owillis on Sep 13, 2001 - 6 comments

Maybe it's just me, but if just one more person says that any random amusing, ironic, or unusual news story is "just like something out of The Onion!", then I'm going to be forced to go on a massive, multi-state killing spree, and I'm going to take the time to lovingly spell out "METAFILTER MADE ME DO IT" with my victims' entrails.
posted by webmutant on Jul 2, 2001 - 12 comments

Blog-be-gonne. We've talked a fair bit about corporate blogs starting up... is this the first one to shut down?
posted by Neale on Jul 1, 2001 - 3 comments

Who wants a one week moratorium on news items?
posted by capt.crackpipe on Dec 16, 2000 - 3 comments

Are you suffering from information overload? For my own bookmarking benefit, I scanned the front page of MeFi and picked the best links. The list is pretty impressive. Consider this a massive condensed version of what several of you consider to be the premier news sources and content providers on the Internet. Did I miss any? Should some not belong on the list? Got milk? [MORE]
posted by ZachsMind on Jul 2, 2000 - 6 comments

The new and improved MetaTalk is now live. Feel free to tell me what you think about it, and bring up any bugs you find in the bugs area.

The old format was date based, like the weblog, but things discussed here weren't really date dependent. If someone asked for a new feature or highlighted a bug, and I didn't fix it in a week, the post was basically gone forever.

I think the new format meshes better with the way I'd like MetaTalk used - discuss and read topics based on the subject, instead of the date.
posted by mathowie on May 7, 2000 - 3 comments