Killfile request

November 1, 2001 8:44 AM

I don't know if this has been mentioned or suggested before; but, regarding all the talk of 'stupid posts' and 'useless comments' --- what if matt built in an "ignore this user" feature? Then all posts from that user would never appear on your screen, all the comments would be blanked out with " *** this comment ignored ***"; or you could have your choice -- ignore posts but not comments. And then you could have a user admin screen that lets you see everyone you're ignoring. that way, you could periodically check and see if they've gotten better and you don't care to ignore them anymore.
again, i don't know if this has already been discussed. i searched for it but couldn't find anything. just a thought.
posted by bliss322 to Feature Requests at 8:44 AM (12 comments total)

i think this feature could, potentially, be rather resource intensive considering the number of people who might use this feature and how many times all of these people request pageviews. that doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be implemented -- but the reality is that it's hard on the server.
posted by moz at 9:04 AM on November 1, 2001

I have a built-in "ignore" feature in my brain.
posted by ColdChef at 9:50 AM on November 1, 2001

Something like this would be much better handled on the user end. If Matt ever offers this site as XML, it wouldn't be too hard to cobble together a MetaFilter reader that supports Usenet features such as killfiles (and the opposite, promotion of specific users you always want to read). I'd love a feature like this, though I can live without the public "plonk" statements people use when adding someone to a killfile.
posted by rcade at 9:50 AM on November 1, 2001

How about "have this user eliminated by a contract killer"? Much less server-intensive. And an ideal source of income, if Matt takes a 10% cut.
posted by holgate at 9:54 AM on November 1, 2001

Wouldn't that require an XML feed, holgate?
posted by Marquis at 10:14 AM on November 1, 2001

How about "have this user eliminated by a contract killer"?

I think we have a contracter all lined up....
posted by mattpfeff at 10:26 AM on November 1, 2001

By ignoring certain posts, wouldn't some conversations not make any sense? It's like trying to understand a conversation by only hearing one party.
posted by mutantdisco! at 10:33 AM on November 1, 2001

By ignoring certain posts, wouldn't some conversations not make any sense?

Not any more so than they already don't.

This wouldn't necessarily be very resource-intensive on the server end. The "kill list" would best best stored in a cookie ont he user's browser, and a simple substring search of that cookie before displaying each post would suffice.
posted by kindall at 11:18 AM on November 1, 2001

QWK used to call this a "twit filter."
posted by crunchland at 11:46 AM on November 1, 2001

(Excuse tangent in this interesting discussion: the worst keyboard splurge scenario comes when you're reading and seriously pondering what's being said for some time, sort of getting into a rhythm - in this case thinking about mutantdisco!'s valid point and how to interpret the reactions to stupid comments imbedded in subsequent posts -and then, all of a sudden, when you're completely off your guard, you read two funny comments in quick succession, i.e.Not any more so than they already don't. and then QWK used to call this a "twit filter.". You just about hold it the first time but the second, well, you just have to let it all out and try to remember where you left the sawdust. Cheese! )

posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:06 PM on November 1, 2001

This has been mentioned before (and many other times since), but of course without a requested feature list, it's tough to know that without an exhaustive search.

Note: I'm not attacking you, I'm just re-prompting Matt for a requested feature list
posted by fooljay at 12:53 PM on November 1, 2001

*** this comment ignored ***
posted by fuq at 1:25 PM on November 1, 2001