Do we need entire threads devoted to the ridicule of personal ads, their creators, and their unfashionable lifestyles and politics? [more inside]
posted by kid ichorous on Oct 22, 2009 - 199 comments

Feeling safe posting on MetaFilter. Courtesy, disagreement, "welcoming" environments and related topics. [more inside]
posted by subbes on Oct 9, 2009 - 461 comments

Is it inappropriate to comment that you're unimpressed with a post? [more inside]
posted by msalt on Jun 7, 2009 - 145 comments

People need to chill out on the poster of this AskMe Question [more inside]
posted by Ironmouth on Feb 26, 2009 - 181 comments

Mac guru John Gruber leverages MeFi Music to make fun of Microsoft Songsmith. [more inside]
posted by infinitewindow on Jan 12, 2009 - 44 comments

The use of "let me google that for you" is getting a little snarky.
posted by desjardins on Dec 11, 2008 - 73 comments

Intercalated with the fantastic yarns touched off by the cab driver story, some people are getting very personal and bilious. [more inside]
posted by eritain on Sep 29, 2008 - 126 comments

Can we simply answer the question, rather than snarking or preaching? Thanks!
posted by lonefrontranger on Feb 24, 2008 - 70 comments

Yes it is a double, but it is also good example of how one or two cranky farts can totally change the tone of a thread. [more inside]
posted by aspo on Oct 8, 2007 - 185 comments

Crawl over the grass at a moderate pace, beating your forehead against the ground at one-second intervals. The place where your head rests when you lose consciousness may be the approximate location of your septic tank. Or it may not.
posted by The Confessor on Jul 28, 2007 - 47 comments

Was this really necessary? What did Eric Raymond ever do to you people? How is "Let's all compete to come up with the most clever insult" best of the Web?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on May 22, 2006 - 56 comments

there seems to be a lot of pointless snarking occuring in ask.metafilter. One of the appeals of ask.mefi was the relatively calm and non-judgemental tone. Now it seems to be sliding into Usenet territory. Perhaps this is one of the inevitable stages of online communities.

So I am asking if "answer moderation" with the temporary vacationing of those who commit multiple, egregious offenses might reset things. It might not, but I can't think of any other solutions.

and yes, I have been part of the problem at times.
posted by craniac on Mar 16, 2006 - 56 comments

Occasionally, I am reminded why I shouldn't read the comments here.

I guess I'm soft-hearted or something, but I thought that yankeefog's link was a pretty good one: inspiring, heart-warming, maybe a little fluffy, but it's the holidays. So, after I read the article, I clicked back to the comments and the first half dozen replies are people whining about having to register to read it. Particularly annoying is thirteenkiller's one word dismissal. I'm sure a lot of thought went into that. I mean, what purpose does that kind of post serve other than to make yourself look like a complete dick? Seriously, you have time to dress up your user page with ironic hideously stupid rainbow shit, but you don't have time to swipe a password from bugmenot? Yeesh.
posted by MegoSteve on Dec 31, 2005 - 54 comments

Has anyone ever noted an odd behavior regarding the first comments on some AskMetafilter questions? I've noticed the more than occasional instance of snarky, snide or oddball comments by the first person there. It's almost as if these people are marking their territory by pooping on the thread. Are there other sociological parallels or is there an name for this behavior?
posted by quadog on Jun 24, 2005 - 36 comments

The signal to snark ratio on Metafilter is at an all-time low, as evidenced by this thread.

Metafilter's always been snarky, but I just thought the vicious personal attacks in the thread were completely out of hand and ruined it completely, starting with kjh's "that's what you get for dressing like an idiot" and spiraling downward to keswick's various "clever" remarks. (The irony of the image near the bottom of the page just kills me, though.)
posted by MegoSteve on May 17, 2005 - 229 comments

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

In light of the recent tragic events in AskMe, and on MeFi, I move that we enable some kind of vote-banning system, or just close new user signups altogether until inbreeding causes us to become one eyed, immune-system-less pedigree albinos.
posted by armoured-ant on Jan 6, 2005 - 102 comments

a good man is dead, let's be snarky!
posted by Capn on Jun 10, 2004 - 86 comments

Gratuitious personal insults do not burnish the shine on a class act - From this recent metafilter discussion : "....do you not get annoyed by off-topic barrages and rows upon rows of text cut-and-pasted directly from the link itself without a fucking grain of comment on the content? I don't mind quoting a link if it adds to a comment; but quoting an entire article that you've alreadly linked to without including a single original thought is why I started calling him a bobblehead. He doesn't even understand the quip. I realize that his brain is likely mush after years and years of drug abuse"
posted by troutfishing on May 1, 2004 - 133 comments

I have refrained from participating in the recent political thread wars. I agree the political threads are hopeless, but I can't disagree with the folks who say, "If you don't like it, don't read 'em." Fair enough. Surely MeFi is big enough for all of us?

But please, please, PLEASE: if you are a political thread brawler, at least have the decency to keep your snark and bile out of the non-political threads. It really pisses in my oatmeal to be reading an interesting article about a little-known scientific finding, hit the discussion, and run smack into this.

And troutfishing, you're just as out of line: Osama, conspiracy theory—WTF, man?

The political threads are tolerable because, as people keep pointing out, however bad they are, they're a small part of MeFi. But if the crap in them, and the cranks who dominate them start spilling over into every other MeFi thread—we're doomed.
posted by Slithy_Tove on Dec 19, 2003 - 96 comments

"I've got Lupus." You're a werewolf!? No wonder you don't go outside. I'm no model MeFite, but this struck me as particularly offensive, inappropriate, and sophmoric, especially in the context of the thread. Sharing too much personal information is discouraged, but I don't think anybody deserves this amount of disrespect.
posted by eddydamascene on Oct 20, 2002 - 51 comments

Having just posted a comment, and having had a pang of worry over an unintentional snarkiness implied by an italicisation, i continued to the thread on james randi which seems to be about to blow up due to the charming "Fuck you and your know-nothing smugness." comment. An unanswearble, i guess, but what is with these peeps?
posted by robself on Sep 6, 2002 - 32 comments

Danger! An idea is loose! KillkillkillkillKILL!

This guy is obviously an idiot and is best ignored.

Sir I hope your ignorance bites you in the ass.

Farenheit 451, anyone?

I'd like to ask this guy to blow me.

Fuck you....you dumb bastard and your attempts at public debate.

Well! I'm glad to see that the standard of Metafilter discussion is as high as ever! We wouldn't want this place to sink to the level of Fark, Plastic, or Free Republic, heaven forfend.
posted by Slithy_Tove on Aug 25, 2002 - 51 comments

Give the gaddamned snide comments a break. It's a flippin' discussion and some tend to add anecdotals. Yes! That is what some people do. To add to DISCUSSION. Would you be like this during a conversation at the pub? To hell with being personable!
posted by crasspastor on Feb 8, 2002 - 47 comments