I posted a thread to AskMeFi, but it's disappeared

March 11, 2006 5:26 PM

I posted a thread to AskMeFi, but it's disappeared - what's going on?
posted by Happy Dave to Bugs at 5:26 PM (33 comments total)

It wasn't really what askmefi is for.

Or so I hear, anyway.
posted by dersins at 5:28 PM on March 11, 2006

chatfilter.
posted by delmoi at 5:28 PM on March 11, 2006

Try looking here.
posted by Duncan at 5:29 PM on March 11, 2006

Hmmm. Well, I fail to see how it was that different in tone from the life-altering experiences thread, which inspired it. But hey.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:36 PM on March 11, 2006

Hmmm. Well, I fail to see how it was that different in tone from the life-altering experiences thread, which inspired it. But hey.

Well, I support survey questions, but they are not allowed.

You can only ask survey questions if you can come up with a concrete reason you need to have the data, basically.

Or if it's about babies.
posted by delmoi at 5:50 PM on March 11, 2006

I flagged it. "Just curious" doesn't seem to be a good enough reason to ask an open-ended, non-practical question, IMO.
posted by aberrant at 5:52 PM on March 11, 2006

I agree, Happy Dave. Yours wasn't that different from the AskMe that inspired it, which should have been deleted as well, IMO.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:14 PM on March 11, 2006

I think the custom is that if you had an email listed in your profile the person that deleted your post would have told you when and why it was deleted, so you might consider doing that.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:46 PM on March 11, 2006

Agreed Alvy Ampersand - Thanks Rhomboid, I will.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:12 PM on March 11, 2006

Also, that kind of post would be very welcome at MetaChat.
posted by ColdChef at 7:19 PM on March 11, 2006

I second the MetaChat recommendation.
posted by Eideteker at 7:26 PM on March 11, 2006

My daring question was also deleted. I think there's a dark and sinister wave of censorship going on here and I don't like it one bit.
posted by xmutex at 7:26 PM on March 11, 2006

"I think there's a dark and sinister wave of censorship going on here and I don't like it one bit."

Censorship? More like racism.

You know who also deleted questions about sluts, hos, and tricks?

Hitler.

In an SUV, while running over a Critical Mass gathering.

After he got fat, became circumcised, and worked in the Bush administration.

I think I covered all the bases there
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:45 PM on March 11, 2006

I heard he also declawed his cats and invested heavily in South African diamonds, and blamed everything on his diabetic Canadian kid, and used the phrase "begging the question" improperly all the time.
posted by Gator at 7:48 PM on March 11, 2006

Well, that begs the question about what the proper use of the phrase "begging the question" actually is.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:50 PM on March 11, 2006

I ♥ you all.
posted by drpynchon at 7:52 PM on March 11, 2006

I think I covered all the bases there

polyamorous Hitler. Now you're done.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:56 PM on March 11, 2006

did you mention he deleted them from his candybar cellphone with Bluetooth but NO CAMERA while in the Starbucks drive-through?
posted by kcm at 8:06 PM on March 11, 2006

A vegan candybar, of course.
posted by ColdChef at 8:53 PM on March 11, 2006

I hear Hitler likes the new Intel-based Apple products. Also, intelligent design, dios, Drama queen.
posted by drpynchon at 9:00 PM on March 11, 2006

He was a big fan of SCIENCE.
posted by Gator at 9:26 PM on March 11, 2006

Hitler used SCIENCE to get his girlfriend's sister pregnant. Then he executed anyone that could not identify a portabello mushroom.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:45 PM on March 11, 2006

and he had cameras.
posted by quonsar at 10:46 PM on March 11, 2006

I think I covered all the bases there

Well played, sir.
posted by frogan at 10:53 PM on March 11, 2006

Oh, huh. This is interesting. So does my recent question fall into this category, too? Or does the "how to" angle to mine make it closer to "what AskMe is for?"

I've only been reading AskMe for a few months, but I didn't quite pick up on the distinction I'm starting to understand now. I try to look around for FAQs and whatnot. Is there some guide to using the site that I missed?
posted by salvia at 12:47 AM on March 12, 2006

Oh, ha. I just found it. Sorry. I don't spend much time on Meta Talk (though yeah, I suppose Google would've done the trick, too.)

I don't suppose a link to "what makes a good question" could be added to the question form? Or a link to the FAQ could be added to the header or footer of either Mefi or AskMe?
posted by salvia at 12:56 AM on March 12, 2006

I think the custom is that if you had an email listed in your profile the person that deleted your post would have told you when and why it was deleted

That doesn't always happen. I assume it's because the deleter is too busy.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:05 AM on March 12, 2006

Happy Dave: I was disappointed to see your question deleted.

In my experience, Jessamyn always sends an email to a person if she has deleted one of their comments.

Mathowie is good about answering questions about a deletion but sometimes it takes persistence in contacting him.

AFAIK Mathowie does not email you when a comment has been deleted.

It can be frustrating when a reasonable question like yours is deleted and garbage questions like this are not deleted.
posted by mlis at 8:29 AM on March 12, 2006

I think you're all forgetting that Hitler supported the funding of NASA, even though poor people don't have enough Pepsi Blue to drink. Not to mention that he hates bunnies, ponies and pancakes.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:38 AM on March 12, 2006

Well, that begs the question about what the proper use of the phrase "begging the question" actually is.

begging the question
posted by danb at 9:06 AM on March 12, 2006

My Mom was in town this weekend and if she sees me on MetaFilter she'll go read all my posts about her.

Sorry to be a little slipshod. I'll email people when I remove their posts and with comments I'll usually either email or put something in-thread if there were a lot of comments that were removed. mathowie usually doesn't, MLIS has that right. I thought HappyDave and salvia's posts were at about the same level of chattiness and unfortunately posts that are just this side of chatty spawn posts that are just that side of chatty and suddenly there's two chatty posts that people then notice and flag.

Salvia, we are working on a faq that will spell out some of this stuff more directly. And by working on, I mean "typing out answers to" not "thinking good thoughts about" so I hope there's some version of it going live in the next month or so.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:35 PM on March 12, 2006

I've recently had one of my comments censored (removed) becaused it was mocking another MeFite who deserved it. Fine, I thought, I wasn't offering up any new information for the subject (although it was a zinger). However, I've since had people verbally attack me and their posts have not been removed.

What's the deal with that? What's the criteria for removing posts around here anyway?

P.S. I've got thick skin and insults around here don't bother me a bit. In fact, I like them because it means I'm having an effect on people. What DOES bother me is censorship, and unfair censorship at that.
posted by rinkjustice at 11:34 PM on March 12, 2006

jessamyn, thanks for the response. If you want help, like "well-meaning but still kinda new" help, let me know. (I'm offering less because I think I have some special perspective and more because I think it's bad style to make suggestions that cause other people work without offering to pitch in.)
posted by salvia at 1:36 AM on March 13, 2006