So I've asked a few AskMefi questions now, and have noticed that they tend to get responses for about five hours, give or take, then the responses stop. When is the optimal time during the week to ask my AskMefi question, so that I get the maximum number of eyeballs looking at my question, and thus, get the maximum number of answers. I know that this may not necessarily increase the quality of the answers I get. I am talking about sheer quantity. Thanks!
posted by Sully on May 20, 2009 - 40 comments

Obama is expected to announce his VP choice tomorrow via text message to the masses. Dozens, or perhaps hundreds, even thousands, of mefites will be notified of the selection all at the very same instant. Several of them may want to make the first crappy post on the subject. Shall we let this happen? [more inside]
posted by gauchodaspampas on Aug 22, 2008 - 232 comments

Does the five bucks make a difference in the quality of our discussions? There's a Freakanomics post on the NY Times today that points to a web page set up to compare comment-streams on MetaFilter and YouTube. [more inside]
posted by mmahaffie on Apr 10, 2008 - 151 comments

My first ever MeFi post failed miserably. Where'd I go wrong? [more inside]
posted by alby on Apr 9, 2008 - 103 comments

Policestate Filter is not Best of the Web. [more inside]
posted by Cool Papa Bell on Feb 2, 2008 - 72 comments

WriteThinkLearn, a PDF for anyone having difficulty participating in MeFi and AskMe. [more inside]
posted by five fresh fish on Jan 13, 2008 - 86 comments

A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before, there is something interesting about the content on the page, and it might warrant discussion from others.

What? [more inside]
posted by prostyle on Oct 30, 2007 - 93 comments

Advertisments are not the best of the web.
posted by BeerFilter on Jun 8, 2007 - 83 comments

Exactly why did this stay up on MeFi?
posted by allkindsoftime on Mar 24, 2007 - 67 comments

Loudon Dreps: self-link, no. Friend-link, yes. Was this post deleted because it sucked, or because I know the guy? If both, I concede. If only because of association, is that transgression articulated somewhere? I couldn’t find it.
posted by Milkman Dan on Nov 21, 2006 - 30 comments

Tune in next week for another exciting edition of jacobean's vapid, ignorant, stupid, shallow and inflammatory question show! What will he ask next? Is it true that clouds are made of water? Why don't people like the same things I do? How long can a person go without takiong a shower? All this and more, coming next week!
posted by Mr. Gunn on Oct 8, 2006 - 80 comments

You knew it was coming, and here it is! Is this really what Metafilter is about? Matt almost got run out of town by a howling mob for allowing ads for a popular site with scantily clad women, but videos of monkeys eating their own semen is A-OK and best of the web?
posted by Justinian on Aug 19, 2006 - 76 comments

I want to be able to write a good FPP (reposted from AskMeFi)
posted by talitha_kumi on May 24, 2006 - 84 comments

This is a terrible, axe-grinding, (self-admitted) newsfilter post with editorializing in both the text of the post and the tags.
posted by trey on May 8, 2006 - 48 comments

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

What? Already. What are you people on about?
Can you be a more explicit in your sugestions for improving my post than just telling me it sucks? A hint, perhaps, to the nature of the suck, rather than just its degree?
posted by If I Had An Anus on Jan 31, 2006 - 51 comments

Is Metafilter an appropriate place to promote UFO myths? Especially from extremely dodgy sources. I think this stuff (like the recent top ufo photos post, and other ufology junk) are something of the worst of the web, not the best. Is this what mefites want?
posted by skallas on Jan 22, 2006 - 55 comments

Christmas. Christmas. Smoke. We can do better than one link posts to one trick ponies, folks.
posted by frecklefaerie on Dec 15, 2005 - 52 comments

I'm confused. What is more important to mefites, actually responding to the content of FPPs, or rating their quality? I see a general (hence, no links in this question) preponderance to the former. It seems that many responses to posts are actually rating the quality of it and/or the poster, rather than the content of the FPP. I've read a lot of the sites about Metafilter and maybe I'm missing a concept or something.

I am truly not trying to be a smartass, I'm genuinely interested in understanding this. Thanks.
posted by Slap Incognito on Dec 13, 2005 - 93 comments

Has there been a slight shift in policy?

The silly personality quiz and the infamous Mushroom post are both things I would have thought would have been flagged copiously and deleted, but they remain.
I am not having a hissy fit, and am perfectly willing to skip over or add to the stillness as I see fit.
This is just seeking some clarification as to if anything different is happening and can we expect more of the same.
posted by edgeways on Nov 16, 2005 - 46 comments

I'm kind of dissapointed with the way things turned out in a post I made to Metafilter yesterday. I was hoping to discuss how many of the leaders of the fat acceptance movement are feeders and the consequences this might have in terms of it's future progress. Oh and I also wanted to discuss the new slate piece I linked to. But of 140+ comments, very few seem to even reference the links I made. Most just gave their opinion on fat people . I read all of the comments, and the general consensus seems to be that topics regarding obesity cannot be discussed sensibly at Metafilter. What should I do in the future to make a better FPP and what other topics should I wholly avoid?
posted by skjønn on Nov 4, 2005 - 73 comments

"This entire genre of editorials are so embarassing: the guy who won't stand for it anymore and finally tells it like it is, which inevitably means high-fiving his readers and foaming with vitriolic bigotry.... I propose the name 'Fratboy Journalism.' "
posted by namespan on Oct 23, 2005 - 62 comments

I suggest we do another contest like amberglow's, on October 1 prehaps? There wouldd be no prizes from me but if someone else steps up and offers that would be ideal. I wont be posting anything because frankly I suck at posts lately. Anyone up to this? After all the crap/shit posts lately, we need happier MeFi days here!!
posted by wheelieman on Sep 19, 2005 - 28 comments

I just wanted to say HUZZAH and thanks to posters from 5-ish Pacific yesterday to, er, NOW for a super-dense, ultra-lickable linkfest! I'll be days behind! HUZZAH!
posted by mwhybark on Aug 1, 2005 - 30 comments

Within AskMe I offered a link
To a site that's quite helpful, I think
And I threw in a line
re: a pet cause of mine
As a post to the blue, would this stink?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on Feb 18, 2005 - 13 comments

Natalie dee now has her very own dog. It's too bad she had to " stone-cold quit my job".

Does This combined with This really belong on the front page?

What _is_ the best way to address this stuff without seeming like a jerk?
posted by edgeways on Feb 5, 2005 - 35 comments

In response to this post about Dick Clark, here are some ways to make better current events posts (more inside).
posted by KirkJobSluder on Dec 13, 2004 - 18 comments

Worst FPP ever? There's plenty of marginally psychotic fetishes out there. This one is neither unusual nor entertaining. There are plenty of specialty sites for this crap (Stile, Rotten), so it would stand to reason that only the most entertaining of it, if any, should make it to Mefi, a more general-interest site.
posted by abcde on Aug 26, 2004 - 44 comments

A what-makes-a-good-post question I'd like to see other MetaFilter dinosaurs answer along with me: What are the best and worst links you ever inflicted on the front page?
posted by rcade on Jul 29, 2004 - 66 comments

The pancakes are getting incredibly stale, people.
Metafilter used to be an addiction for me, but lately with more and more Newsfilter, and boring Newsfilter at that, can we really say we are the best of the Web anymore? Final straw was the posting of that Bush daughter photo.
Is this really what we want this place to be?
posted by konolia on Jul 21, 2004 - 250 comments

How do you decide if you askmefi question is too stupid? [more inside]
posted by drezdn on Apr 16, 2004 - 64 comments

With all the huff and puff about quality, how about a facility in the blue for viewers of threads to rate them? This would have the benefits of indicating examples of quality (to newbies, oldbies with bad memories, etc..) and perhaps the possibility of searching for only threads rated over 7.0 or something. Whaddayasay?
posted by boneybaloney on Apr 8, 2004 - 79 comments

Great thread, people. Keep it coming.
posted by Yelling At Nothing on Dec 11, 2003 - 12 comments

a b c's, 1 2 3's. Here's a thread to critique these.
posted by stonerose on Oct 27, 2003 - 78 comments

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

One of the worst posts I've seen in a long time. No focus or point of discussion, just a jumble of links. I think it should be deleted. Am I wrong?
posted by johnnydark on Oct 3, 2003 - 52 comments

This is garbage.
posted by trharlan on Aug 24, 2003 - 109 comments

I don't know what's worse: slamming Courtney over a photo shoot, getting riled up over the Bloggies or speculating over actors who may or may not be gay. Cult of personality or just plain boredom? Or is this a coping phase after the shuttle thread? Why can't MeFi do better?
posted by ed on Feb 4, 2003 - 83 comments

I realize that the 'ethnic cleansing' was inappropriate as it was. I'm wondering though if anyone who saw it for the five minutes or so it was up could give any suggestions as to how to post it differently, other than a disclaimer on the front page rather than inside. Or was it inappropriate altogether, warning or not? (Yes, I've read posting guidelines.)
posted by dgt on Dec 4, 2002 - 23 comments

I visit several sites and it is interesting to note where a story appears first. More than once I've seen an article on Fark a day or two before it shows up here. I'm not complaining, I know not everyone reads Fark, but is there any sort of policy on this? I mean, I've considered posting articles found on Fark but never have simply because there are 50k Fark members, so anything there will show up on many Blogs, and is thus not likely to be new to a majority of MeFians. Am I wrong? I will only post a on the front page if I can find something that I think will be interesting and new. However that may be an impossible task. Yet it can be done.
posted by Grod on Aug 30, 2002 - 20 comments

a truly outstanding thread. reminiscent of whatever 'metafilter golden age' era for which you pine. nearly all the discussion posts were well thought out, offered interesting perspectives gained through personal experience or outside reading; and many viewpoints were supported by unique and interesting off-site links. whether or not this topic grabbed your interest, this is the type of discussion we should always be striving towards. what can we do to encourage such behavior?
posted by mlang on Aug 8, 2002 - 13 comments

boobies and boobies and gay bashing... oh my! are we living through a mefi nightmare?
posted by mlang on Jul 18, 2002 - 39 comments

You're kidding, right?
posted by Su on May 16, 2002 - 45 comments

For god's sake, enough with the pornolizer
posted by tj on Jan 11, 2002 - 11 comments

The Chilling Effect of Self-Policing. Step inside, won't you? (more)
posted by solistrato on Jan 8, 2002 - 33 comments

Good Morning. Two front page posts, both "Best of City" sites. One with an ulitmatum. The other saying that Oklahoma City needs a front page post just as much as New York.
posted by eyeballkid on Oct 6, 2001 - 18 comments

NOT THE FRONT PAGE!!! How come there's never anything worthy of Metafilter's FRONT page anymore? Clipart links, VH1 and Sports Illustrated stories... Rabbits with stuff on their heads!!! It offends me that I must be subject to these unworthy posts!! All of it should be moved to the SECOND PAGE, and leave the front for the REALLY Good stuff.

So - who wants to form the Star Chamber, stop all this 'not worthy of the FRONT PAGE!!!' whining, and replace it with the benevolent dictatorship so many pine for? Or maybe someone would like to put up a link to the SECOND page of Metafilter, where all of the lesser beings can put their contributions..?
posted by Perigee on Sep 10, 2001 - 5 comments

Am I the only one (and I am a longtime reader, albeit not poster - almost 2 years) who thinks the quality here has gotten BETTER? I've gotten so used to the complaints in MetaTalk about posting that recent content (with some exceptions) has been a nice surprise.
posted by bwanabetty on Aug 31, 2001 - 9 comments

Point CounterPoint - When I first came here, there was some serious discourse on topics. In the last year, this has simply decended into stupid banter (right-vs-left, SUV-vs-environment).

OK, the arguments are fine. However, the nature of the arguer has changed here on MeFi. No longer do we have people with a view. Now we get the reply post that goes after the poster and not the idea.

OK, I am tired. Been a long day and I can't really articulate this fully. In a short sentence: Mefi, despite the intelligence of its users, is looking pretty damn stupid these days.

Argue the point, not the person (or ideolgy)

(drawing concentric circles on my chest)
[Ok, I have only recently registered with MeFi. However, I have been online since the mid 80s, so cut me a little slack.]
posted by sardines on Jul 11, 2001 - 48 comments

I am wary of posting things from the new york times. I guess since many of the things in the times are discussion-worthy, it has to have some personal significance or other spin to be worth a link. also, it needs to be from the last week, even if it hasn't been posted before. that's my impression right now. any comments?

also what about posting this ted rall cartoon? it isn't the type of thing that would garner dozens of comments, i don't think. so i guess i can think about it logically and decide whether it's worth posting. at the same time, i would like to spark talk about ted rall's stuff. my personal website isn't really set up for that sort of thing and doesn't get enough visitors to get an actual discussion going. so what do i do?
posted by benjamin on Apr 29, 2001 - 4 comments