Wo bist du, Peter? February 14, 2008 12:32 AM   Subscribe

What happened to koeselitz? Come back! I always appreciate your intelligent, thoughtful, learned comments.

Or are you pulling a Zarathustra?
posted by nasreddin to MetaFilter-Related at 12:32 AM (87 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

I hope he's only taking a time out for personal reasons, because he's one of my favorite posters, here, too.
posted by cgc373 at 12:37 AM on February 14, 2008


OH HELL NO!

Not koeselitz...

Jesus the fuck. I sure hope it's a temporary crunch-time kinda dealie because I'll seriously miss the guy... he's definitely one of my favorite MeFites. I also believe I owe the man a beverage for something or another and I don't like outstanding dues.
posted by Kattullus at 12:46 AM on February 14, 2008


I shall miss him while he's gone as well. I'm sure he has his reasons and will return in good time.
posted by Abiezer at 2:30 AM on February 14, 2008


That's what they said about quonsar...
posted by chlorus at 4:43 AM on February 14, 2008


Man that account closing button is bad news of some sort.
posted by OmieWise at 4:43 AM on February 14, 2008


Well, except the part about missing him.
posted by chlorus at 4:44 AM on February 14, 2008


what? it's been twelve days since he last wrote something here?

i spent a month offline in burma & nobody posted a metathread of "where's ubu?"

(Button room.) nasreddin: Now, listen, Cadet. I've got a JOB for you. See this button? (Ubu reaches for the button) DON'T TOUCH IT! It's the CLOSE ACCOUNT button, you FOOL!

UBU: So... what'll happen?

nasreddin: That's just IT! We don't KNOW! Maayyyybeeee something bad?... Mayyyybeeee something good! I guess we'll never know! 'Cause you're going to guard it! You won't TOUCH it, will you?

(Ubu salutes. nasreddin leaves.) nasreddin: Hehhhh... hehhhh... hehhhh... hehhhh...
Ubu marches back and forth, staring at the button.) ANNOUNCER Oh, how long can trusty Cadet Ubu hold out? How can he possibly resist the diabolical urge to push the button that could erase his very existence? Will his tortured mind give in to its uncontrollable desires?

(Announcer grabs Ubu, forces him closer to button) Can he resist the temptation to push the button that, even now, beckons him ever closer? Will he succumb to the maddening urge to eradicate history? At the MERE... PUSH... of a SINGLE... BUTTON! The beeyootiful SHINY button! The jolly CANDY-LIKE button! Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?

UBU: NO I CAN'T!!! EEEEEYAAAHHHH! (pushes button)

posted by UbuRoivas at 5:48 AM on February 14, 2008 [6 favorites]


hm, F5 doesn't seem to do much.

carry on, folks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:50 AM on February 14, 2008


I had a dream about koeselitz, that I ran into him working at a checkout line at a supermarket. I gave him a hard time about needing a little time off from this place. He just mentioned he was spending way too much time here about a week ago. I think we'll see him again. I agree, he'll be missed in the meantime.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:54 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Um jessamyn, was all of what you just wrote part of the dream or is there a secret paragraph break in there somewhere?
posted by peacay at 5:57 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


I miss koslants already.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:02 AM on February 14, 2008


Um jessamyn, was all of what you just wrote part of the dream

"I met this guy," she begins, "and he looked like he might have been a hat check clerk at an ice rink. Which in fact he turned out to be"
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:15 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


well, shit. hope you're right, jessamyn.
posted by generalist at 6:22 AM on February 14, 2008


Why does account closing require removal of all personal information? If a person wants to leave simply because they are wasting too much time, they may not want everything removed. Perhaps there should be an option to 'suspend' an account, and a "This Mefite is on vacation" label.
posted by delmoi at 6:35 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


That's so weird, Ubu; I was just dreaming about algebraic identities and sky-blue skies.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:37 AM on February 14, 2008


was all of what you just wrote part of the dream

It's all pretty much part of a dream to me, but yeah first two sentences dreamland, last three, reality.

delmoi, while I agree with you in spirit, really the vacation option involves just stepping away from the keyboard and doesn't require a button of any sort.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:41 AM on February 14, 2008


I took about 6 months off last fall (work, childcare duties...)
and now feel fresher and cleaner than ever.
Highly recommend it!
(But it is best to leave a little note, because a couple of (very nice) people
thought I was dead. I was just realllly busy...)
posted by Dizzy at 6:49 AM on February 14, 2008


I'm not too in love with this new Metafilter assisted suicide thingy.
posted by taz at 6:52 AM on February 14, 2008 [2 favorites]


Me neither. I don't think the suicide button has really been a net positive for the community.
posted by grouse at 6:59 AM on February 14, 2008 [2 favorites]


Has anyone heard of this new super secret website where the best old time ex-mefites are hanging out and having the best discussions ever?
posted by Dr. Curare at 7:07 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Me neither. I don't think the suicide button has really been a net positive for the community.

But perhaps it's a different story for the user?
posted by jmd82 at 7:08 AM on February 14, 2008


The user can always get the same thing by e-mailing the mods. I see this as something that makes the mods' lives easier at the expense of also making it easier to impulsively quit.

I have mixed feelings on the whole "This account is disabled" thing too, but that is a whole 'nother discussion.
posted by grouse at 7:17 AM on February 14, 2008


That's too bad, he always seemed like good people.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:19 AM on February 14, 2008


Will we do this every time someone closes their account?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:20 AM on February 14, 2008 [5 favorites]


Matt, Jess, Cortex - the Big Red Button was a bad idea.

EB freakin' left. Freakin' EB for chrissakes.

And really, what does the Big Red Button add to the site? A chance for people to leave in a tantrum? Do we really want to encourage this behavior?

Seriously, I didn't find out about EB until, like a week ago, and it kinda screwed with my head. When the crap did that happen anyway? A damn shame is what it is.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:28 AM on February 14, 2008


Will we do this every time someone closes their account?

Only if they're interesting, which is decided by my irreproachably objective opinion. koeselitz's presence is the first one of these things I'll actually miss.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:28 AM on February 14, 2008


And vronsky! I forgot vronsky! Who's back now!

And UbuRoivas too, I guess!

posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:30 AM on February 14, 2008


Metafuneral. Good thing we already have a Meta-undertaker.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:35 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


I'm happy to see you back, Dizzy. (though it seems I've gone away myself)
posted by Kwine at 7:40 AM on February 14, 2008


,
posted by Floydd at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2008 [2 favorites]


The user can always get the same thing by e-mailing the mods. I see this as something that makes the mods' lives easier at the expense of also making it easier to impulsively quit.

And really, if you quit yourself, then you can have us unquit you any time. We've had a lot of people do that actually. We felt that it seemed sort of silly for people to have to go through us if they were mad at the site and/or just needed a break. This is the sort of thing a user should be able to do themselves. We really did get a lot of requests from people who needed time off, to time them out and then untime them out and it was a labor-intensive way to deal something we didn't need to be involved with.

We follow-up with people who we think may be having a problem in many cases and see if there's something we can do. I think the big change has been that there's an actual message on the user page that they're not coming round anymore whereas before it was either a guessing game or "email the mods" or MeTa time.

My preference would be for people to just make the choice on their own to not come here if they felt it was negatively impacting their life. However, realistically people have felt that there's a value in having US do something that it takes them some effort to undo. Given that, it makes sense to put that power in the hands of the user and not have them have to IM/email/MeFi mail us to have their account shut down at some uncertain "when we get the message" time in the future.

Do we really want to encourage this behavior?

I think the corrolary question is if someone wants to leave, should we be trying to dissuade them?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:46 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


I have mixed feelings on the whole "This account is disabled" thing too, but that is a whole 'nother discussion.

I'd actually like to see something like this expanded to include people who haven't posted in a year, maybe instead of 'disabled' it could label them as 'inactive' or something. But that is also a whole 'nother conversation.

I'm always sad to see people stop using the site. Occasionally I'll dig through old posts and I'll see member names that I haven't even thought about in years, and I'll wonder what happened to them.
posted by quin at 8:18 AM on February 14, 2008


then you can have us unquit you any time

Why can't I unquit you!?
Too soon?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:19 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Yes. We simply cannot have enough Metaweeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

And rending of garments. Don't forget that.
posted by rtha at 8:29 AM on February 14, 2008


We are all merely figures in jessamyn's dream. If she were to wake up, we would all disappear.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:57 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Has anyone heard of this new super secret website where the best old time ex-mefites are hanging out and having the best discussions ever?

The Chestnut Tree Cafe?
posted by ludwig_van at 9:05 AM on February 14, 2008 [2 favorites]


We are all merely figures in jessamyn's dream. If she were to wake up, we would all disappear.

Time is a wheel

posted by ludwig_van at 9:11 AM on February 14, 2008


Hey mathowie or pb, is there a chance that "Close Account" link can be aligned right? It fuckin' freaks me out every time I go to edit my preferences.
posted by carsonb at 9:11 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Damn koeselitz;
We'll miss you
posted by -t at 9:31 AM on February 14, 2008


Astro Zombie 2 has simply stopped commenting, and nobody seems to notice.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:43 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


I've been commenting on DailyKos, mostly.
posted by Astro Zombie 2 at 9:44 AM on February 14, 2008 [2 favorites]


carsonb, there's another step you have to go through to confirm the close after clicking the link so there's little chance you could accidentally click it and close your account.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:47 AM on February 14, 2008


Aha, that's good intel. Thanks, pb.
posted by carsonb at 9:52 AM on February 14, 2008


Well, that does it, I'm leaving Metafilter forever! So long, fuckers!
posted by Krrrlson at 10:00 AM on February 14, 2008


Okay, I'm back.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:00 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Koeselitz? That fucker ran out before I could get the beer he promised me for having written the best post ever? What a hoser.

I hope he returns soon or has something much better to do. Otherwise, I expect a mouse in a beer bottle from SOMEONE here.
posted by not_on_display at 10:02 AM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I'm bummed he's not here at the moment.

Side note / pony: Should there be an activity note when a friend disables their account?
posted by rush at 10:34 AM on February 14, 2008


if you quit yourself, then you can have us unquit you any time. ... We felt that it seemed sort of silly for people to have to go through us if they were mad at the site and/or just needed a break. This is the sort of thing a user should be able to do themselves.

Why not allow people to reactivate their accounts for themselves, too, then, jessamyn et al?

I think people are more likely to reactivate themselves than to contact a mod for it.

In dios's thread here the other day, I pointed to a thread in which koeselitz had a lot to say as an example of a substantive, intelligent political discussion. I hope he comes back.
posted by ibmcginty at 10:36 AM on February 14, 2008


I too will miss koeselitz.

And I noticed you were gone Ubu -- just figured you were stuck at one of those borders you like to cross. I was gonna send out a search party, but then I forgot.

We all have a secret urge to sneak off (Gautama style) in the middle of the night and leave our family behind. But the search for new meanings is not an easy path. And it frequently leads right back to where you began.
posted by vronsky at 10:50 AM on February 14, 2008


Has anyone heard of this new super secret website where the best old time ex-mefites are hanging out and having the best discussions ever?

You won't find Quonsar there.
posted by vito90 at 10:57 AM on February 14, 2008


I gave him a hard time about needing a little time off from this place. He just mentioned he was spending way too much time here about a week ago. I think we'll see him again.

...

My preference would be for people to just make the choice on their own to not come here if they felt it was negatively impacting their life. However, realistically people have felt that there's a value in having US do something that it takes them some effort to undo.


Looks to me like some people end up relating to Metafilter as a self-loathing alcoholic relates to alcohol. I support the existence of a button to help those who are too weak-willed to not use websites they no longer want to use.

Meanwhile, should I get bored of the place I'll just, you know, stop typing metafilter.com into the address bar.

Also, re-enabling a self-disabled account should cost $5.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 11:09 AM on February 14, 2008


jessamyn, in your dream did you have mushrooms when you went to the checkout?
posted by BeerFilter at 11:10 AM on February 14, 2008


This is how you do temporaryObitfilter.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 11:10 AM on February 14, 2008


I just type "metat[tab]", personally. It could be "m[tab]", if not for metachat or metafiltr.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:20 AM on February 14, 2008


Aww.
posted by klangklangston at 11:31 AM on February 14, 2008


Why not allow people to reactivate their accounts for themselves, too, then, jessamyn et al?

well, then what would be the difference between that and just signing out? I think the point of the disable button is that it really allows you to quit a habit that is sucking too much time from you.

If you have the kind of schedule where your responsibilities are specific to certain times/ places/ expectations, that's one thing, but if you're trying to write a novel or finish a thesis or really impress your boss with an outstanding project, then the temptation of signing in here may keep you from excelling to the degree you imagine you otherwise might, making it ultimately seem like a negative. And in certain fields, you could always be spending more time on your career, so whatever time you're spending on metafilter must be taking away from your success. For others, you always have time to waste between busy periods, or you leave work at work etc, but I think circumstance is as much a factor as personal will.
posted by mdn at 12:26 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


well, then what would be the difference between that and just signing out? I think the point of the disable button is that it really allows you to quit a habit that is sucking too much time from you.

Bingo. I'm sure someday we'll get mail from someone saying, "uh, oops, I couldn't find the 'logout' link and I clicked on that and read the confirmation text and said yes and I guess that wasn't the logout link?" but it hasn't happened yet. What we have seen is the drop off of "hey, can you, uh, ban me for a while?" emails from folks who need some enforced time away.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:42 PM on February 14, 2008


Fair enough, cortex. I'd still favor a few-days delay, or a couple of screens to click through, or having to respond to an email, or something, rather than leaving it for people to email the mods. But you obviously know how people are reacting and using this stuff better than I do.
posted by ibmcginty at 1:25 PM on February 14, 2008


Heath Ledger, then koeselitz? Coincidence?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:38 PM on February 14, 2008


...some people end up relating to Metafilter as a self-loathing alcoholic relates to alcohol

For me it's the cloth covered mother monkey dummy I crouch upon to feel like I'm cared about on the internet-- but it has no nipple for milk.

Maybe Koeselitz had to hop over to the wire mesh mother for a while to keep from starving to death.
posted by jamjam at 1:49 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


If people could reenable their accounts without emailing the mods, then disabling your account would quit being the mild threat it serves as now. And yet, people would use it more often.
posted by roll truck roll at 1:54 PM on February 14, 2008


koeselitz thinks he has problems? I'm still here, but 368 people have showed up to encourage me to disable.
posted by hermitosis at 2:01 PM on February 14, 2008


Yeah, I should clarify that I think the suicide button should be turned off, but not until after hermitosis gets his 500.
posted by grouse at 2:04 PM on February 14, 2008


Personally, I'm glad that Dizzy is back. We need more people who like cake around here.
posted by slogger at 2:21 PM on February 14, 2008


Thanks, slogger!
I'll send you a biiiig slice on your birthday!
posted by Dizzy at 2:31 PM on February 14, 2008


I really like Cake. Is there anyone who could send me their long-delayed live album for my birthday?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:43 PM on February 14, 2008


The worst thing about this rash of people leaving Metafilter is that it has forced many MeFites to wonder if they would be missed if they clicked that 'Close Your Account' link.

"Is my contribution to Metafilter worth a Meta thread once I go?" they have begun to wonder. For some, the desire to find out is probably too great a temptation. For many of those, the disappointment must be palpable.

Did I say worst? I meant best.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:49 PM on February 14, 2008


Oh, by the way, I found out the other day that It's Raining Florence Henderson pushed that button as well. Which sucks. But I hear he'll be back, which is great. And that his contribution to the Metafilter Writers Collaboration will still go ahead, which is (as far as I'm concerned) even better.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:53 PM on February 14, 2008


Seriously, could someone please tell me what happened to EB? I'm kinda irked by this.
posted by Afroblanco at 3:31 PM on February 14, 2008


He quit in a huff after some contentious MetaTalk threads.
posted by grouse at 3:33 PM on February 14, 2008


There's some discussion in this epic thread (when it happened) and this largely unrelated thread from a few days later. A lot to slog through, but search for his name and you should get somewhere. Essentially, he closed his account out of frustration with not seeing sexism dealt with in the manner he'd prefer, or at least matters related to that, and also after firing off email to a bunch of women on the site trying to rally them to his position.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:56 PM on February 14, 2008


koeselitz emailed me--he's just taking a break for life purposes, and he'll be back once he has things figured out.
posted by nasreddin at 4:01 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


Oh, by the way, I found out the other day that It's Raining Florence Henderson....

NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!

Perhaps we need degrees of closed accounts. On Vacation, BRB- with maybe a nice picture of some trees or a beach, so we don't worry. Flamed Out- with a picture of a middle finger and a link to the relevant discussion. BANHAMMER - oh, something appropriately metal.
posted by louche mustachio at 4:21 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


koeselitz emailed me--he's just taking a break for life purposes, and he'll be back once he has things figured out.

Yay! Enjoy your break and come back refreshed, k!
posted by languagehat at 5:00 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


And It's Raining Florence Henderson is just taking some time off, as well, not abandoning us. Calm down, everything is going to be all right some day, when he returns. And until then, we have each other. (I know, we suck, but we're all we have right now, okay?)
posted by cgc373 at 5:34 PM on February 14, 2008


koeselitz emailed me--he's just taking a break for life purposes, and he'll be back once he has things figured out.

And It's Raining Florence Henderson is just taking some time off, as well, not abandoning us.


Oh, jolly good on both counts!
posted by trip and a half at 6:10 PM on February 14, 2008


hey, nasreddin, tell koeselitz I'm sending him a Three Philosophers beer.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:15 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


[Diogenes, Epicurus, Pythagoras; you can't really see them in that picture. The beer is good, though - cherry flavored.]
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:19 PM on February 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


nasreddin: koeselitz emailed me--he's just taking a break for life purposes, and he'll be back once he has things figured out.

Phew!
posted by Kattullus at 8:38 PM on February 14, 2008


The beer is good, though - cherry flavored.

There's also the "Socrates" line, but people don't seem so fond of the hemlock aftertaste.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:46 PM on February 14, 2008


How about we have a dropdown default button with the disable your account link?
We could have a week, or a month as the options, after which, if the user wanted to come back, he or she could reinstate their account themselves. But, there would be no actual way of disabling your account permanently (it scares the bejesus out of me too, even knowing that I can contact the mods to undo it). I think if the poster is really fed up with this site, and wants to take a break, a month is a fair bit enough of time for him to think things over, and if he or she's truly not interested in the site anymore, then they probably won't come back after the month's over anyway, but if they would like to, then they can. Until then, their user page will say, "This account is disabled". (This will give the user some satisfaction of knowing that they've gone through with what they wanted to, and it'll give us the hope that if the user ever wants to come back, there's a very easy way for them to do so.)
posted by hadjiboy at 9:37 PM on February 14, 2008


not_on_display: I just saw that post you made--can I buy you a beer too???
posted by hadjiboy at 9:39 PM on February 14, 2008


So has anyone actually come back from the Great Beyond yet? I think that a little animated shambling zombie icon should show up next to their name everywhere, because they're the LIVING DEAD of MeFi.

“Brains… nice, fresh, brains…”
posted by XMLicious at 11:40 PM on February 14, 2008


vronsky left and came back
posted by Kattullus at 11:51 PM on February 14, 2008


❊ drives stake through vronsky's heart and stuffs his mouth with holy wafers ❊
❊ drapes garland of garlic bulbs around the corpse's neck ❊
posted by XMLicious at 12:35 AM on February 15, 2008


So has anyone actually come back from the Great Beyond yet?

Yeah, a few folks have.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:54 AM on February 15, 2008


'tis but a scratch.

COUNT DRACULA by Woody Allen

posted by vronsky at 8:14 AM on February 15, 2008


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