self-cenetered and unsociable January 11, 2007 8:49 AM   Subscribe

Users who post AskMe questions but never answer others' appear self-centred and unsociable. What about a user who answers a tonne of questions, but never asks any? Is that user a know-it-all?
posted by loiseau to Etiquette/Policy at 8:49 AM (100 comments total)

Users who develop broad-brush caricatures of their fellow users based solely on their userpage stats should probably go for a walk or something instead.
posted by cortex at 8:50 AM on January 11, 2007 [8 favorites]


Huh?
posted by ob at 8:51 AM on January 11, 2007


I think these observations reflect mainly on one user.
posted by grouse at 8:54 AM on January 11, 2007


The question was meant to be lighthearted.
posted by loiseau at 8:56 AM on January 11, 2007


Gee, sorry.
posted by LionIndex at 8:57 AM on January 11, 2007


Perhaps the people in the former group really don't know anything, and the people in the latter group just aren't very curious?
posted by matty at 8:59 AM on January 11, 2007


Just because it's a new year doesn't mean we have to do a MetaTalk 2006 Retrospective.
posted by mendel at 9:00 AM on January 11, 2007


If it's any comfort, my response was also meant to be lighthearted. Sincere, but lighthearted.
posted by cortex at 9:05 AM on January 11, 2007


There's nothing wrong here that a good dose of alcohol can't cure.

Drinking, or rubing, your choice.
posted by edgeways at 9:07 AM on January 11, 2007


Want a weird stat? Here's a weird stat: Yesterday, I had my 444th comment favorited... at precisely 4:44. For you non-religious types, that's the number of The Beast's mildly retarded cousin. So, look on my works, ye mighty, and... have another cruller.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:08 AM on January 11, 2007 [12 favorites]


Drinking, or rubing, your choice.

I don't have to drink that much before I turn into a total rube.
posted by COBRA! at 9:09 AM on January 11, 2007


Hey, it's not me who criticises AskMe posters for not answering others' questions. I think it's a common feeling (and understandably so.)
posted by loiseau at 9:09 AM on January 11, 2007


Perhaps the people in the former group really don't know anything are very lazy, and the people in the latter group just aren't very curious are so curious that they answer their own questions without the help of an anonymous bog?

I don't really believe this.
posted by muddgirl at 9:09 AM on January 11, 2007


I hope, deep in my heart, that it is not so common a feeling as all that.

Maybe it's only a common feeling that it's a common feeling. Perhaps it's not a common feeling at all, but a lot of people think that a lot of other people think that way.
posted by cortex at 9:12 AM on January 11, 2007


jessamyn said it best on metatalk a couple weeks ago (but I'm too lazy to look it up): either you have a pressing question that you can't find answers for anywhere else, or you don't.

I've posted a handful of answers on AskMe. A few tour-de-force's on topics I actually know something about, and a lot of not-extremely-helpful-but-well-intentioned one-liners. I haven't asked a question yet because, well, I don't have any yet.
posted by roll truck roll at 9:14 AM on January 11, 2007


Users who post AskMe questions but never answer others' appear self-centred and unsociable.
Hey, it's not me who criticises AskMe posters for not answering others' questions.

Hmm. A bit of a contradiction, no?
posted by amro at 9:17 AM on January 11, 2007


It annoys me a little when people ask questions in a sequence (like they have something on their mind over series of questions) and they don't respond to the answers. There was a guy a while back who joined seemingly to ask questions (nothing wrong with that) and they were a sequence of "How can I bulk up" "What about this supplement to boost muscle-growth" "How do I loose weight in a particular area". All these questions were fine, but it seemed obvious that he had some misconceptions about weight-training and diet and didn't seem to say much when people gave him good advice.
posted by ob at 9:18 AM on January 11, 2007


Circumsized users have to come up with elaborate rituals to achieve orgasm, including answering questions on AskMe.
posted by klangklangston at 9:20 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


Is that what they were doing? Well it would have been nice of them to tells us when they'd finished wouldn't it? Hmmmph
posted by ob at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2007


If were all truly wise, we would know that we know nothing, and askme would just be full of questions and no answers. I'm not that clever.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:22 AM on January 11, 2007


I'm one that answers but doesn't ask too often. Luckily, there isn't a whole lot that either A - can't be answered by already searching the AskMe or B - I can't find elsewhere. Answering is fun and a good mental break for me.
posted by ml98tu at 9:22 AM on January 11, 2007


What about the circumcised AskMe users who are too afraid to use up their orgasms because they might need to have another orgasm before the 2 week limitation on orgasms is up?
posted by iconomy at 9:26 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


Loiseau: Users who post AskMe questions but never answer others' appear self-centred and unsociable.
Hey, it's not me who criticises AskMe posters for not answering others' questions.
Amro: Hmm. A bit of a contradiction, no?


Nope.
posted by loiseau at 9:33 AM on January 11, 2007


2 week limitation on orgasms is up?

An orgasm lasting two weeks would get tedious and get in the way of work, wouldn't it? To say nothing of the mess.
posted by jonmc at 9:33 AM on January 11, 2007


Hey, it's not me who criticises AskMe posters for not answering others' questions.

I honestly don't care that much about q:a, despite bringing it up on occasion. Heck, I think I visit MePro more often than AskMe.

I usually do it to tweak members who display that $5 sense of entitlement in "Why was my question deleted?" MeTas. Despite the "lightheartedness" of this MeTa I'm going to stop doing it if only to prevent other people from thinking I'm serious and that they are not alone in the pettiness.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:34 AM on January 11, 2007


I'm all a and no q.

Today I realised why that it is - I was so excited at having a question that I forgot to google it first and was rightly jumped on when the answer was the top google result. mea culpa.
posted by patricio at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2007


"An orgasm lasting two weeks would get tedious and get in the way of work, wouldn't it? To say nothing of the mess."

It's like a fucking firehose. (Which reminds me of those spams where they insinuate that my girlfriend is disappointed in the "volume and distance" of my ejaculations. How many girls say after sex, "Honey, that was nice, but you just didn't shoot far enough?")
posted by klangklangston at 9:39 AM on January 11, 2007


/me fingers the delicate lace edges of her petticoat.

If I have to be alone, at least I can be beautiful.

Oh, wait, you said pettiness. Well, apparently I have that, too.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:39 AM on January 11, 2007


I have both asked and answered questions. Thus, I am a self-centered know-it-all. Which is actually pretty accurate.
posted by GuyZero at 9:42 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


An orgasm lasting two weeks would get tedious and get in the way of work, wouldn't it?

Maybe it could get you into a whole new line of work.
posted by Cyrano at 9:43 AM on January 11, 2007


I used to both ask and answer. Now I mostly just answer. Due to the two-week limit, I really need to save my questions for work emergencies (I have four totally different jobs, the the possibility for emergencies is always present.) It's irritating, cause I have some leisure-activity questions I want to ask, but I don't dare. I'd kick myself if I did that -- and then I had to wait two weeks to deal with a work emergency.

I'm NOT criticizing Matt's decision. But that's the effect it has on me.

But it's still fun to answer questions, and I hope I'm helpful when I do so.
posted by grumblebee at 9:44 AM on January 11, 2007


Let's talk about the selfless know-nothings who restrict their activity to the Blue.
posted by cortex at 9:45 AM on January 11, 2007


So if the only-askers are self-centered and the only-answerers are know-it-alls, what does that make the lurkers, those who neither ask nor answer?
posted by dead_ at 9:47 AM on January 11, 2007


You wanna know what I think about users from countries where they spell it tonne?
posted by dame at 9:48 AM on January 11, 2007


It's mathowie's perpetual orgasm, we're just living in it.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 9:50 AM on January 11, 2007


In mathowie's spluge luge, everybody wears a helmet ('cause it's all downhill from here).
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:53 AM on January 11, 2007


When I read this post at first I totally thought I was being personally called out.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:57 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


goddammit Rhomboid you know-it-all mothereffer
posted by cortex at 9:58 AM on January 11, 2007


How many girls say after sex, "Honey, that was nice, but you just didn't shoot far enough?"

*sigh*

long distance relationships, dude.
posted by jonmc at 10:05 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


Sounds like you need an sPhone...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:06 AM on January 11, 2007


If you don't know the answer, you shouldn't answer. Simple as that. Just because somebody answers a lot of questions doesn't mean they SHOULD be answering.
posted by Roger Dodger at 10:11 AM on January 11, 2007


I would comment about the phenomenon, but since I haven't made any posts to metatalk, I don't want to appear to be a know-it-all.
posted by Dave Faris at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2007


Just because somebody answers a lot of questions doesn't mean they SHOULD be answering.

Likewise, just because user Alice answers a lot of questions well doesn't mean user Bill should be answering just as many questions.
posted by cortex at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2007


PS Dave plz start new Metatalk thread ASAP it will help your credibility
posted by cortex at 10:16 AM on January 11, 2007


What about a user who answers a tonne of questions, but never asks any? Is that user a know-it-all?

If you are calling out a specific user, please feel free to do that. Otherwise the answer, like answers to most other vague questions is "it depends." Seriously, if you think someone is asking too many questions, don't answer them. I'm not sure how anyone could lob a question like this into MetaTalk, considering how MetaTalk has been lately, and consider it really light hearted. That said, this AskMe pecadillo is low on my list of gripes. Higher gripes include

- clearly not even trying to use Google/search engine of choice
- "" spellcheck
- rants masked as questions
- rants masked as answers
- people who call the OP an asshole
- vague questions where the OP never comes back to give more information
- questions where the OP says "X is not an option" when X is pretty clearly what they need to do to solve their problem

That said, I think "anonymous bog" is my new favorite phrase to describe this place.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:22 AM on January 11, 2007 [3 favorites]


Top 5 always-answer-never-ask mefites by number of answers given:


597 Sidhedevil
776 pyramid termite
892 JJ86
1304 Rhomboid
1541 paulsc
posted by tkolar at 10:25 AM on January 11, 2007


Sincerely not griping nor calling anyone out. Just interested in others' views on the ask/answer ratio. This should be taken at face value.

MeTa has been kinda complainey, but does that have to mean a non-complainey question has no place? If so, that's too bad. I'm curious about other stuff too, like how other people traverse the site. (Go straight to FPPs? Read My Comments for follow-ups to their remarks? Favourite everything for later? Read only certain tags or categories? Check how many times they've been favourited? etc.)
posted by loiseau at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2007


The question was meant to be lighthearted

LIGHTHEARTED IS NOT TO BE TOLERATED
posted by quonsar at 10:31 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


LOL QUONSAR ALL YOUR BASE IT VIBRATES AND MY TV UNDERSTANDS.

(Dude apologized, enough already.)

posted by and hosted from Uranus at 10:35 AM on January 11, 2007


MeTa has been kinda complainey, but does that have to mean a non-complainey question has no place?

No, it just means that a non-complainey question has to be very carefully framed so that complaininess is nigh impossible to infer.

Remember, in the justice system of Metatalk, a post to the grey is presumed whining until proven lighthearted.
posted by cortex at 10:36 AM on January 11, 2007


also, brownpau ceiling camera is watching elephant piss smock smock fishpants migs!
posted by cortex at 10:37 AM on January 11, 2007


I'm curious about other stuff too, like how other people traverse the site.

I do everything through RSS to see what's new and the My Comments page to track threads in which I've commented.

The only time that I actually load the front page is to gawk at the festering roadkill via the "show deleted posts" greasehonkey thing.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:46 AM on January 11, 2007


Cortex: No, it just means that a non-complainey question has to be very carefully framed so that complaininess is nigh impossible to infer.

Ahh... now I get it. I should use more emoticons!
posted by loiseau at 10:50 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


(Dude apologized, enough already.)

NO! HE MUST BE SMITTEN REPEATEDLY WITH PANTSFISH!

Fucking MetaTalk page is already brimming with dumb callouts and whines; now we have to endure lighthearted questions as well? Bah.

Hey, is this guy Miguel in disguise?
posted by languagehat at 10:55 AM on January 11, 2007


Saucy, madam. I dare you.
posted by cortex at 10:55 AM on January 11, 2007


loiseau writes "Ahh... now I get it. I should use more emoticons!"

Or you could wait until we go a day without some kind of AskMe related pissy fit on MeTa.
posted by OmieWise at 10:59 AM on January 11, 2007


That could be a while...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:03 AM on January 11, 2007


Or you could wait until we go a day without some kind of AskMe related pissy fit on MeTa.

If there was a thing that could drive me to prayer.....
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:03 AM on January 11, 2007


It's good to be the moderator. You might want to fix "maskes" and "vlearly" as well.
posted by tkolar at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2007


What is this AskMetaFilter everyone speaks of? From what I hear, it must be the most awful thing ever created! And use of the product must be compulsory, hence all the abject bleating about the unfairness of various proportions and regulatory actions pursuant to AskMetaFilter.
posted by Mister_A at 11:18 AM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


It's good to be the moderator. You might want to fix "maskes" and "vlearly" as well.

did you say something?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:26 AM on January 11, 2007


I used to think my ask/answer ratio was pretty good (quality is a different matter of course). But this thread makes me feel inadequate.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2007


jessamyn writes "If there was a thing that could drive me to prayer....."

Well, I've said for the past several years that GWB has at least made me a believer, because I just have to know that there's a Hell he'll be headed for.
posted by OmieWise at 11:32 AM on January 11, 2007


Want a weird stat? Here's a weird stat: Yesterday, I had my 444th comment favorited... at precisely 4:44. For you non-religious types, that's the number of The Beast's mildly retarded cousin.

Obiviously retarded. His File Permission of the Beast is read-only.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 12:20 PM on January 11, 2007 [4 favorites]


*lurks*
posted by taliaferro at 12:20 PM on January 11, 2007


Everyday, sometimes twice a day, I read through all of the AskMe questions and most of them, I have no hope of answering. I don't know that movie you saw that once with that guy in it or what your neighbors are up to or why your machine is making that noise. I do my best to answer the odd question here or there that I can help with - how to make coffee, what *I* think you should say to that guy who did that thing - because hey, you just asked me, etc.

And in return, I ask random questions about my cat.

If using AskMe in this way is wrong, then I don't want to be right.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:25 PM on January 11, 2007 [3 favorites]


I so wish there was a "best answer" on MeTa. I would mark you all (except Cortex.) (Just kidding.) (Not really.)

I reply to a lot of questions, or at least it feels like I do. Once in a while I am aware that I'm always telling people what I think about this or that but I'm never coming to them for advice, and I feel like a jerk.

I'd post more questions, but the ones I want answered might lean toward chatfilterland ("when will boy x fall in love with me?"), or else I just figure if I wanted to know the answer so bad I'd google it myself. Bah.
posted by loiseau at 12:36 PM on January 11, 2007


"when will boy x fall in love with me?"

I know the answer to this one, it's "as soon as you toss your computer in the river and start leaving the house more often" unless he's from here in which case it's the opposite.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:50 PM on January 11, 2007 [2 favorites]


Boy & falls in love with jessamyn at 2:50 PM CST on January 11
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:55 PM on January 11, 2007


"when will boy x fall in love with me?"

Just Google it yourself.
Trust me on this.
posted by Floydd at 1:01 PM on January 11, 2007


(except Cortex.) (Just kidding.) (Not really.)

Yeah, well, nothing you can do can take away the glory of my 2001 Collegiate Championship title of Best Pantser, so I'm not sweating it.

posted by cortex at 1:01 PM on January 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


...unless, of course, you're sweat-pantsing it.

sorry.

posted by koeselitz at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2007


Sweat pants are mickey mouse shit. My dog could pants a sweats rube. I made my name on high-degree-of-difficulty shit: overalls, belt-and-suspender jobs, those poured-on pleather clubber girls. It's the true intersection of art and science, lemme tellya.
posted by cortex at 1:15 PM on January 11, 2007


I remember that contest-- the resounding *pop* from that last pleather girl was a thing of beauty.
posted by InfidelZombie at 1:28 PM on January 11, 2007


If using AskMe in this way is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Sounds like the right way to me.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:43 PM on January 11, 2007


"Top 5 always-answer-never-ask mefites by number of answers given: ..."
posted by tkolar at 1:25 PM EST on January 11

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog god."
posted by paulsc at 2:23 PM on January 11, 2007


it's "as soon as you toss your computer in the river and start leaving the house more often" unless he's from here in which case it's the opposite

(tosses house in river)
(leaves computer)
(waits)
(waits)
(waits)
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:36 PM on January 11, 2007


It worked, corpse! The boy fell in love with loiseau!
posted by cortex at 2:48 PM on January 11, 2007


jessamyn wrote...
did you say something?

In retrospect I realized that retroactively deleting my account and every post I've ever made was also an option for you, so all in all I think I'll shut up now... :-)
posted by tkolar at 2:59 PM on January 11, 2007


The only answer to this two sided question: Enforced question to answer ratios. Assuming 80% of current account numbers either never exist or no longer login that gives us around 10,000 active users. Figure askme's average around 10 answers so 1:10 should be about right. Fall below 1:9 and you won't be able to ask until you answer some more. Get above 1:11 and you'll need to ask a question before you can answer. That'll fix those lollygaggers.

jessamyn writes "questions where the OP says 'X is not an option' when X is pretty clearly what they need to do to solve their problem"

We should come up with a special flag for this.
posted by Mitheral at 3:04 PM on January 11, 2007


""when will boy x fall in love with me?"

Just Google it yourself"


Did you mean: when will boy xo fall in love with me
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:23 PM on January 11, 2007


XO, robot fighter?
posted by klangklangston at 4:07 PM on January 11, 2007


It's X-O Manowar, and Magnus, Robot Fighter, loser.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:14 PM on January 11, 2007


Chromosomally XO people are girls with Turner's Syndrome, so you may want to think again! (or go for it I suppose!)
posted by dubious at 4:31 PM on January 11, 2007


Circumsized users have to come up with elaborate rituals to achieve orgasm, including answering questions on AskMe.

Is that what they were doing? Well it would have been nice of them to tells us when they'd finished wouldn't it? Hmmmph


When we finish, we'll let you know.
posted by dg at 5:24 PM on January 11, 2007


Oh, shit. I never really dug Valiant, as it was kinda like the DC for retards. Eclipso sucked too. (Remember the Image/Valiant crossover? Man, that was six ways of suck. I did like Nexus though...)
posted by klangklangston at 5:25 PM on January 11, 2007


But dude, Wizard Magazine said that I could retire on a copy of Deathmate Black!!!

My LCS was a shelf in a rural gas station, below the porno mags and the auto traders. I never even saw a Valiant comic until I got a copy of Rai #0 in a 99ยข store grab bag, some years after the bust.
Ahhh, memories.

posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:23 PM on January 11, 2007


I've never submitted an AskMe. I almost did once, but in searching I found a previous question that was close enough to have an answer in the replies that worked for me. Maybe someday I will. I also do one FPP a year. In the meantime, if I know something that might help, I try to answer.

Then there are people who signed up just for AskMe and that's all they ever use here. I find that a bit odd, but different folks interact with the site in different ways I suppose.
posted by First Post at 7:48 PM on January 11, 2007


I still have my Deathmates somewhere in my closet. The problem with all that comic book boom is that someone still has to buy the fuckers... I do feel like a bit of an idiot for not selling off my hologram Marvel cards like my dad said to...
posted by klangklangston at 9:05 PM on January 11, 2007


Due to the two-week limit, I really need to save my questions for work emergencies (I have four totally different jobs, the the possibility for emergencies is always present.) It's irritating, cause I have some leisure-activity questions I want to ask, but I don't dare.

You don't dare? Have you considered using any of the other options repeatedly mentioned here, grumblebee? Asking at Metachat, emailing fellow users, etc? I happily offer my services any time you have a leisure-activity question you don't dare to ask. Seriously. I'll probably be available to post on any given day; most of the questions I come to AskMe with are already answered in the archives. Just email me and I'll send your question into the green for you.

Any time.
posted by mediareport at 9:37 PM on January 11, 2007


Hahaha. Losers. Heh. I do feel like a bit of an idiot for not selling off my hologram Marvel cards like my dad said to... Ah, fuck.

Anyway, at 147 answers and 5 questions, I was feeling kinda like I shouldn't ask anything more for awhile. That was based on total number of questions, mind. Is anybody really paying attention to the ratio? If so, then I think cortex got it in one.
posted by dreamsign at 12:59 AM on January 12, 2007


The boy will not fall in love with loiseau. She's just too damn awesome.
posted by louigi at 7:14 AM on January 12, 2007


Maybe I am easily entertained but I found this to be the most entertaining mefi*anything* in a long time. Well worth the $5 to let you all know...
posted by bluesky43 at 8:14 AM on January 12, 2007


I'm definitely a know-it-all. My asked to answered ratio is testament to that fact.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 2:37 PM on January 12, 2007


I'm sure that some number of all-answer-no-ask users just find the prospect of posting intimidating. Posting sets you up for a level of scrutiny that you don't have to worry about when you're just commenting. If you just comment, you can totally fly under the criticism radar most days.

I've probably revealed more about my own neuroses in this thread than I'm comfortable with.
posted by loiseau at 4:24 PM on January 12, 2007


"I'm sure that some number of all-answer-no-ask users just find the prospect of posting intimidating. ..."
posted by loiseau at 4:24 PM PST on January 12

Not me.

But look, at 55, I've got
  • Lawyers for relationship and romantic advice, and they all say, "Don't."
  • Doctors for my medical problems.
  • Psychiatrists that would love to talk with me in case I develop mental problems.
  • Bartenders for my moral, philosophical and religious doubts.
  • Tools for most every household and professional job.
  • Service manuals and parts lists for most of my toys.
  • Cookbooks, pots and pans, and 10,000+ meals worth of cooking experience.
  • Computers that work.
  • A blog of my own, that I can, and have, successfully ignored.
  • Everything Art Tatum ever recorded.
Moreover, I'm utterly over me, and of nearly zero interest to the wider world. But as soon as I have a question for AskMe, I promise I'll ask it, two week time limit and the possible reputation expense of the thing be damned. M'kay?
posted by paulsc at 8:08 PM on January 12, 2007 [3 favorites]


I've posted hundreds of answers and asked only five questions. I keep telling myself I need to make better use of askme and there are a number of questions I'm always meaning to post but don't. I think every single question I've posted has been part of an effort to help someone else with a pressing problem and consequently couldn't be put off.
posted by Clay201 at 11:37 PM on January 12, 2007


Meant to add...

There's no special reason I don't post my questions other than that I'm a procrastinator and generally don't do a damn thing until there's a deadline breathing down my neck.
posted by Clay201 at 11:39 PM on January 12, 2007


Just email me and I'll send your question into the green for you.

Thanks for the kind offer, mediareport. I may take you up on this. I've been reticent about it in the past, because I'm not exactly sure how it's different from sock-puppet use.
posted by grumblebee at 2:54 PM on January 13, 2007


I'll search the archives for you first. :)
posted by mediareport at 12:08 PM on January 14, 2007


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