End the Mefi-celeb love! April 19, 2007 6:35 AM   Subscribe

Could we please stop in-thread "celebrity" derails?
posted by drezdn to Etiquette/Policy at 6:35 AM (76 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

To often, if a published author or television show host posts in a thread, the next string of comments derail into "I love your books/shows/slashfiction." Could we try to cut down on this?
posted by drezdn at 6:36 AM on April 19, 2007


Maybe just email the person and say, hey, it's cool you're on metafilter but doing it in the thread, and everytime seems unnecessary.
posted by drezdn at 6:37 AM on April 19, 2007


Um. How often does this happen anyway?
posted by Firas at 6:39 AM on April 19, 2007


OMG Ian Zering!

I LOVE YOU STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by ND¢ at 6:41 AM on April 19, 2007 [7 favorites]


Nevermind the published authors and television show hosts, it's all this incessant fawning over famous dog breeders, trick-shot pool players and Tuvan throat singers that's really derailing all the threads. And it's gotta stop.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:47 AM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


I agree.

Other methods you may have considered to address this instead of a MetaTalk thread include: shoulder-shrugging, sighing, scrolling, clicking.

But I do agree.
posted by veggieboy at 6:48 AM on April 19, 2007 [3 favorites]


There's also setting fawners' asses on fire, if it bothers you that much.
posted by Firas at 6:52 AM on April 19, 2007


drezdn, pardon the derail, but I loved you as Hemorrhoid Sufferer #2 in that Anusol commercial. You really made me believe that your rectum was inflamed.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:52 AM on April 19, 2007 [14 favorites]


Hi, Mom!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:01 AM on April 19, 2007


Wait, are you the same Dresden that was firebombed in the Second World War? I was a huge fan of that!
posted by staggernation at 7:09 AM on April 19, 2007 [9 favorites]


Wait a minute, is this gonna become a Vonnegut thread? Oh, Mr. Vonnegut, I love your work! You...

huh? He's...?

Really?

Nevermind.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:13 AM on April 19, 2007


Are we being overrun by hipsters now? First the 196 Grand thread and now we are so totally suppose to ignore celebrities because "they are just regular people trying to chill like us," well Mr. Hipster if someone from Arcade Fire comes in here you better damn well I will make a big deal out of it.
posted by geoff. at 7:14 AM on April 19, 2007


Derails are bad. Fawning derails are badder. I too discourage bad.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 7:17 AM on April 19, 2007


I think the one unmistakably great thing about the spread of the web is the true diversity that it engenders. Before the web was was so ubiquitous it was possible that you could go your whole life only hearing the bizarre petty complaints of, at most, a small town or neighborhood, possibly Andy Rooney if you had a tv. Now... (picture me spreading my arms wide as the camera zooms backwards into a vast wide angle shot of a teeming, seemingly endless and impossibly crowded city)... Nothing, no matter how rare or slight will not be complained about, welcome to the twenty-first century, please speak your disappointments clearly and slowly into the device!

Since we're all here already, I will say I find fawning to be just about as unseemly as endless grousing, but I'm just one tiny man.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:20 AM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


Could we please stop asking everyone to act or not act in one particular way?
posted by carsonb at 7:42 AM on April 19, 2007 [4 favorites]


Ok guys. If you could pick one historical figure to show up in your next FPP, who would it be?

Ok me first: The ODB in my forthcoming FPP on his half yartzeit.
posted by kosem at 7:48 AM on April 19, 2007


When I get famous, I'm coming for your threads. You hear me, MetaFilter? And I'm gonna derail the HELL out of em. And I'd like to see you try and stop me.

Also, please tell me how much you love my work.
posted by hermitosis at 7:58 AM on April 19, 2007


If someone from Arcade Fire comes in here someone in the green will recommend he should listen to some Arcade Fire.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:59 AM on April 19, 2007 [5 favorites]


Woah. There's a 196 Grand thread? I was at that party. Glad I read MetaTalk. Now gotta go hunt me down that post.
posted by yeti at 7:59 AM on April 19, 2007


Are we being overrun by hipsters now?

Could we please stop falling down slippery slopes? The bruising chafes my nipples.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:05 AM on April 19, 2007


OK. I give up. Where's the 196 Grand thread?
posted by yeti at 8:06 AM on April 19, 2007


To clarify, one of the cool things about metafilter is that there are big voices from both inside and outside the net that will occasionally post here. It seems to me though, that often when they do post, the thread becomes about them, their pros and cons, etc, rather than the discussion that originally interested them.

I could be completely wrong about this, but I imagine this would keep people with some level of recognition away from becoming regular members of the community.
posted by drezdn at 8:08 AM on April 19, 2007


You know what else I hate? When people go into threads about comedians and say "eh, he's alright, I guess, but [other comedian] is way funnier."

you know what I mean? It's like, come on, we're talking about THIS guy, not YOUR guy. stop derailing.

And what's with people who go into threads about food and say "oh my god, I'd love to have some of that if I lived in that area." you know what, we're not talking about where YOU live. get over yourself.

and what about people in askme threads where someone is looking for a recommendation for a local doctor and someone says "Try [Doctor Somebody], good luck." Good luck? How is good luck a recommendation for a doctor? Keep your answers on topic, people!
posted by shmegegge at 8:11 AM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


but I imagine this would keep people with some level of recognition away from becoming regular members of the community.

So this is about encouraging celebrities to post?

I love celebrities! Good idea.
posted by kosem at 8:12 AM on April 19, 2007


So this is about encouraging celebrities to post?

Ideally, I would say it's about encouraging anyone with something insightful to post.
posted by drezdn at 8:14 AM on April 19, 2007


So no, then.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:16 AM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


celebrities are encouraged to post but posting about celebrities, not so much.

or so you think. my next celebrity post shall be epic and defy all sense, reason, and deletion reasons.
posted by Stynxno at 8:19 AM on April 19, 2007


196 Grand thread, I was there too! Only I knew no one and left, really, really early. I had no idea it was such a rocking party until the thread. I feel as if my indie cred got points ("Party Mentioned on Gawker +10, Use with White Burlap Bag of Coke +13 at Future Parties")
posted by geoff. at 8:21 AM on April 19, 2007


I'm Al Gore, bitches!
posted by Mister_A at 8:46 AM on April 19, 2007


I've been gone a couple of hours, could someone please fill me in on what thread drezdn is talking about? Say, are you affiliated with The Dresden Files? I don't really like the shows, mind you, but the books aren't bad.
posted by who squared at 8:56 AM on April 19, 2007


I am a huge fan of this post.
posted by ORthey at 8:58 AM on April 19, 2007


Forget actual celebrities indeed. Didn't we jizz ourselves all the way to the sidebar when the inventor of that stupid coffee press actually showed up? As if marketing his wares online is not part of his job...
posted by scarabic at 9:01 AM on April 19, 2007


starfuckers, etc.
posted by four panels at 9:08 AM on April 19, 2007


MetaFilter: Didn't we jizz ourselves all the way to the sidebar?
posted by Mister_A at 9:19 AM on April 19, 2007


When I get famous, I'm coming for your threads. You hear me, MetaFilter? And I'm gonna derail the HELL out of em. And I'd like to see you try and stop me.

Also, please tell me how much you love my work.



For the record, I favorited that comment now. Way before that unspecified point in the future when you will sell out.
posted by juv3nal at 10:02 AM on April 19, 2007


I promise not to fawn if John Fogerty ever posts here.

If Dinah Washington or Dorothy Parker come back from the dead & get Mefi accounts, however? I shall earn the title of Queen of Sycophant Land with every fiber of my being.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:09 AM on April 19, 2007


Except the fibers in your shirt which I assume will be on the floor.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 10:21 AM on April 19, 2007


Oh, right.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:44 AM on April 19, 2007


I'd take my shirt off for Dinah Washington, too.
posted by Mister_A at 11:37 AM on April 19, 2007


My grandma loves that coffee press.
posted by graventy at 12:11 PM on April 19, 2007


I'd imagine if God Himself posted in one of our many atheist threads it would pretty much have to derail things.
posted by bondcliff at 12:11 PM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


What's with all the recent obsession about “derailing”? I think we should discuss this.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:16 PM on April 19, 2007


"Oh my God. He totally just looked at me. I LOVE YOU MC CHRIS! MC CHRIS! LOOK AT THESE! THEY'RE JIGGLING BABY!"
posted by four panels at 12:32 PM on April 19, 2007


I'd imagine if God Himself posted in one of our many atheist threads it would pretty much have to derail things.

Let's not make this about dios, ok?
posted by carsonb at 12:33 PM on April 19, 2007


I agree. What's up with fawning over celebrities who show up one time and post something (I'm looking at you, Woz. Or I would be, if you did not outshine the sun.) but are not a part of our community. Dilettantes! Day-trippers! People-with-Lives! I spurn them.

From now on, I'm going to fawn all over certain prominent Mefites whenever they appear in a thread. I'm going to tell them which of their previous posts I favorited, and that I would have added them to my contacts but I didn't want to be presumptuous. I'm going to praise them everywhere for being so down-to-earth and approachable (whether that is true or not). If ever a comment or post of theirs gets deleted, I'm going to cry about it in MetaTalk. Everyone will think I'm a prominent Mefite's sockpuppet (but whose?) and I will bask in the reflected glory.

And Drezdn, I've read Jonmc -- and you are no Jonmc.
posted by Methylviolet at 1:02 PM on April 19, 2007 [1 favorite]


I'd imagine if God Himself posted in one of our many atheist threads it would pretty much have to derail things.

Metafilter Christianity Thread #4573920031
Mefite #1: Cuz god isnt even real, lol!
Mefite #2: He is real, your Eyes have been closed to His Glory!
Mefite #1: Nuh uh!
Mefite #2: Uh huh!
Mefite #1: Suck it fundy!
Mefite #2: See you in Hell, heathen!
God: Actually I am real.
Mefite #1: If I dont have to believe in the teal crockery in orbit around Uranus I dont have to believe in you! Asshole!
Mefite #2: My Lord and Savior would never reveal His Glory in front of an Unbeliever! Antichrist!
God: You know what, fuck you guys! Asshats!
[God has been banned from Metafilter]
Mefite #1: Did you see what I did there with "uranus"? Lol!
Mefite #2: Christ, what an asshole.
posted by supercrayon at 1:21 PM on April 19, 2007 [6 favorites]


The Aero Press? That thing seriously kicks ass. Seriously.
posted by slogger at 1:56 PM on April 19, 2007


I can't wake up Wendell.
Please advise.
posted by Dizzy at 4:28 PM on April 19, 2007


Dizzy, if you use that cattle prod on me one more time, I'll derail your ass and serve it as cake.

At least you didn't put it in AskMe.
posted by wendell at 4:34 PM on April 19, 2007


Close the door.
Close.
The.
Door.

(NOT BATH-IST)
posted by Dizzy at 4:37 PM on April 19, 2007


And lose the Riddler costume; we're not in the bathouse.

Besides, I met Frank Gorshin, and you are no Frank Gorshin.

And PLEASE do not try to wake up vronsky. He'll just try to come up with another comeback and fail. It was funny the first 137 times.

How many batshit-insane threads are currently active on MetaTalk now, five? I'm going to put all my responses to everything in the others in here for a while. It should raise the 'non-sequiturity' factor a few notches.
posted by wendell at 4:41 PM on April 19, 2007


1) vronsky is cowering under my Honda Civic in the garage, muttering something about "Sanjaya was robbed, man".
2) I've had a question mark tatooed on my chest since 1983.
3) I'm tuckered out-- if you're hungry, help yourself to some Jeno's PizzaLogs.
4) I'd ban myself if I could.
posted by Dizzy at 4:49 PM on April 19, 2007


Oh, crap, EVERY thread in MeTa has gone batshit crazy.

Is cortex gonna be in trouble when Mom and Pop get back!

Quick, everybody! We've got to clean up this place! We need ten new MeTa posts, all innocuous bugs or feature requests with NO SNARKS INSIDE! Let's get moving people!!!!!
posted by wendell at 4:59 PM on April 19, 2007


Hi, Kirth Gerson's mom!
posted by davy at 6:00 PM on April 19, 2007


Oh, well said, Davy!

Davy, thank you for being such a genuine guy, and not compromsing on what you really believe to be important. I learned to read from your comments and I look back on those times as some of the happiest of my childhood. I can hardly overestimate the effect that experience has had on the trajectory of my life.

You really changed the world, or at least mine.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:10 PM on April 19, 2007


davy, my mom thanks you! Yesterday was her 92nd birthday.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:12 PM on April 19, 2007


Can I come over here and play? I'm fresh out of material and... Oh man, cocaine is a hell of a drug.

ps dizzy, your honda has an oil leak. And I need some cake.
posted by vronsky at 6:32 PM on April 19, 2007


So Vronsky Was Here.

Strange times, when gods walk among humans. Back in early 80s he was already a legend, we, proto-vronskyettes, learning to comment in our humble way used to envy the big boys with many favorites.

Vronsky is a great guy, admired and respected by anyone who does his homework and learn HOW everything begun.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:38 PM on April 19, 2007


Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Dragline: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
Society Red: You just said he could eat anything.
Dragline: Did you ever eat fifty eggs?
Luke: Nobody ever eat fifty eggs.
Prisoner: Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
Loudmouth Steve: Yeah, but in how long?
Luke: A hour.
Society Red: Well, I believe I'll take part of that wager.
posted by vronsky at 6:43 PM on April 19, 2007 [3 favorites]


Well, I'm kind of a big deal but I don't get any damned fawning.

WHERE'S MY FUCKING FAWNING?
posted by fenriq at 7:03 PM on April 19, 2007


Wow. Fenriq. Maybe "Drezdn" should start throwing out more call-outs to "the big guys."

If 'Riq (we call him 'Riq) is still around or peeking in, I'm wondering what sort of innovations he foresees or hopes for in the coming two decades of MetaTalk.

The internet is absolutely throwing a spin on the way things used to be done.

Fawning, however, is timeless.
posted by Methylviolet at 7:12 PM on April 19, 2007


I vote this thread be deleted but I can't take it to MetaTalk. What should I do?

~newbie in networkland
posted by infini at 8:13 PM on April 19, 2007


Hi, Mom!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:01 AM on April 19


Hi, Kirth Gerson's mom!
posted by davy at 6:00 PM PST on April 19


I wasn't trying to be nasty or anything. It's just that my mom doesn't read Metafilter. In fact, she knows nothing about it. And please don't tell her, for the love of all that's holy!
posted by davy at 9:04 PM on April 19, 2007


Dear methylviolet,

You're dumped.

Nub,
Daby!
posted by davy at 9:06 PM on April 19, 2007


But Davy -- I thought we agreed we could fawn on other people. Those other prominent Mefites mean nothing to me; it was only farcical.
posted by Methylviolet at 10:32 PM on April 19, 2007


*fawns over liquorice*
posted by Firas at 10:58 PM on April 19, 2007


*throws Bambi on top of liquorice-ice-baby*
posted by wendell at 11:00 PM on April 19, 2007


checks liquorice to see if its the nice blobby black kind or those weird red sticks. discovers its blobby. pops in mouth. fawns. chews and swallows.


*burps*
posted by infini at 12:31 AM on April 20, 2007


So I've got a boatload of pre-peeled grapes here and I can't feed them to my dog. What do I do?
posted by davy at 1:16 AM on April 20, 2007


I vote this thread be deleted but I can't take it to MetaTalk. What should I do?

First, you have to complete the voter registration process.

Bring cash.

Lots of it.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:34 AM on April 20, 2007


Kirth Gerson, your mother raised you well.
posted by davy at 5:13 AM on April 20, 2007


Davy, my mom's beginning to like you, but no matter what you do, she'll always like me best.





There just isn't time.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:25 AM on April 20, 2007


Kirth... do I have to be a citizen first?
posted by infini at 10:23 AM on April 20, 2007


Or is taht a netizen?
posted by infini at 10:23 AM on April 20, 2007


No, as long as the cash is not some play money, like pesos or renminbi.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:38 AM on April 20, 2007


hmm in my purse i have some euros, pence, a twenty pound note and a few rupee coins.
posted by infini at 12:11 AM on April 21, 2007


« Older MeFi shoutout on tonight's Mythbusters   |   MyFlags Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments