They left when? March 3, 2008 4:36 PM   Subscribe

We have a "joined" date in user profiles. Can we have a "left" date for the pushers of the big red button?
posted by nevercalm to Feature Requests at 4:36 PM (95 comments total)

I don't think making a big deal about people's self-imposed exit/exile is an improvement for the site.

I've long seen other communities do a "last active on xxx, x, xxxx" but that's kind of creepy if people aren't aware of it from the outset.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:41 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


Why? It's a vanishingly small percentage of the population who have actually closed their own accounts at this point; we don't really need a "banned on:" field for folks who were ejected of their own accord; and a click into their activity page will give you a date on their actual functional departure from the site. It doesn't seem like a thing that really begs for inclusion as a standard field.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:43 PM on March 3, 2008


That's to nevercalm, not Matt.

WHY IS IT CREEPY MATT EXPLAIN YOURSELF
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:44 PM on March 3, 2008


Why? It crossed my mind and seemed interesting (and it doesn't need to be "banned on." That's just harsh). We've got metrics for everything else, why not this? If it's somehow creepy....even better.
posted by nevercalm at 4:46 PM on March 3, 2008


Whats with this obsession over button-pushers? Plenty of people have left the site for good, abandoning their accounts, without ever pushing any button.

Its not hard to get 'last active' given that its fast to check all three subsites. Or did you mean "last looked at the site" matt? That is creepy.
posted by vacapinta at 4:48 PM on March 3, 2008


OK, here's a better answer. I noticed that konolia left, and it wasn't immediately obvious why. A "left" date would allow me to more quickly scan her recent stuff and possibly find what was the straw that finally broke that particular camel's back.

On preview: I'm merely wondering about people who flipped the switch on their accts, not any sort of "last logged in" or "last viewed." That IS creepy.
posted by nevercalm at 4:51 PM on March 3, 2008


Anything that makes a flameout less public is a good thing.
posted by tommasz at 4:51 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


Yeah I think it's sort of better that the "last looked at the site" is admin-only stuff and really there's a button thread two doors down.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:51 PM on March 3, 2008


JESUS FUCKING CHRIST PEOPLE.

They left. They might be back. Might not, whatever. Point is that they left you, me and everyone else and like any breakup, for god sakes, move on with your life.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:52 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


I'm disappointed that the 'close your account' button, is not, in fact, big and red. Can we fix that too?
posted by pombe at 4:53 PM on March 3, 2008 [3 favorites]


NOTE TO SOME PEOPLE: Stop caring so goddamned much about people closing their accounts. For fuck's sake, already.
posted by secret about box at 4:55 PM on March 3, 2008


Indeed, it is big and red once you get past the little yellow text. Life is satisfying once again.
posted by pombe at 5:01 PM on March 3, 2008


Note to everyone cursing and swearing: it's just a little fucking question. On a fucking website. Calm the fuck down. K?
posted by nevercalm at 5:04 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


I don't like notes, can you text me?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:07 PM on March 3, 2008


I don't feel the need to bother, frankly. Just take it down a notch. I simply asked a question, it doesn't require any venom to answer. If it's no, then it's no and let's close this. If you want to flame out, hurry up with it, I have to be at work at 5am and won't be able to hang around much longer.
posted by nevercalm at 5:10 PM on March 3, 2008


Can we have a 'Last Meal' field too?
posted by ardgedee at 5:11 PM on March 3, 2008


THIS IS THE BUTTON

Look! Look with fascination...upon your DOOM!
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:13 PM on March 3, 2008 [3 favorites]


A "left" date would allow me to more quickly scan her recent stuff

You can do this by clicking on her activity for each subsite, as listed in her profile. None of that activity will be from after she left. So the left date actually gives you no information that helps to pin down the cause, since it will always be a date at the end of the person's activity.

Anything that makes a flameout less public is a good thing.

Yes.
Having dates like this would be like a big sign saying "Do you ever wonder whether people would miss you if you left? Indulge your urge to find out, with a handsome granite memorial page that your admirers can visit." Ugh.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:13 PM on March 3, 2008


Hey, another account disabling thread! So, once again, friends it's:

The Account Disabled Blues (pre-flagged as double)

I went and punched that button
To shut down my account
I got those ol' disabled blues
In very high amount,
Lord knows I got 'em...
Them ol' account disabled blues.
From my ol' jonmc baseball cap
down to my Hermitosis shoes.

I'm like a kid without a toy,
Or dirtynumbangelboy,
Hey man it's like I tol' ya,
I feel just like Konolia,
Man I got 'em...
Them ol' account disabled blues.
Now I can't post no comments,
Y'all go on out and spread the news.

I'm tired of being offline,
Just layin' round this shack,
I believe I'll be like quonsar,
And get myself on back,
Cause babe I got 'em...
This ain't the way I oughtta choose.
I gotta get on back to MeFi,
Lose these account disabled blues.

I'm gonna get on back to MeFi, y'all
And looooooooose... these account disabled blues.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:14 PM on March 3, 2008 [4 favorites]


nevercalm, I think people are being more silly and piss-takey than anything. Don't sweat it too much; no one is flaming out.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:15 PM on March 3, 2008


Can you make it be red and BLINK?

K. I'm asking for far too much in this thread.
posted by nevercalm at 5:15 PM on March 3, 2008


Yeah, nevercalm, I'm mostly just being silly. It's all good.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:18 PM on March 3, 2008


If you leave us, we'll sell your clothing on eBay. This breakup hurt us. We demand vengeance.
posted by ninjew at 5:23 PM on March 3, 2008


Point is that they left you, me and everyone else and like any breakup, for god sakes, move on with your life.

But Blaine, we have destiny together! /chumbawumba
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:23 PM on March 3, 2008


Am I doing something wrong?

Yes, a little less tongue please.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:26 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


Note to everyone cursing and swearing: it's just a little fucking question. On a fucking website. Calm the fuck down. K?

FUCK YOU ALL. I'M TIRED OF THIS FUCKING SITE AND ALL OF YOU ASSHOLES ON IT.

Just kidding. You guys are great.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:28 PM on March 3, 2008


It's time to lose that button. I don't know whose bright idea it was to implement that feature, but it was bad, like leaving razor blades around on suicide watch. Maybe we just want that kind of person to leave us alone, but really, many, many here are just a twitch away from being that person. Up the ante, require an email to Matt to kill one's self off. Please. Too many times it seems someone has a moment of crises and then offs themselves. Not good.
posted by caddis at 5:31 PM on March 3, 2008


Less going, and more coming.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:31 PM on March 3, 2008


Hey, when you click on the "Keep your account" button, can you display something sweet like, "Thanks for staying?" That would be awesome.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:32 PM on March 3, 2008


I think clicking the button should automatically turn your userpage into a "wall of shame" where other members could taunt you in clever and hurtful ways. Then the best taunts could be collected in a wiki, and perhaps turned into a book. We can all share the royalties.
posted by languagehat at 5:38 PM on March 3, 2008 [6 favorites]


caddis: Just a website
dnab: just a website
quonsar; just a website
Ethereal Bligh: Just a website

And above all, above all...

talk.
posted by Sparx at 5:41 PM on March 3, 2008


sorry, it's more than just a website, it's a community
posted by caddis at 5:45 PM on March 3, 2008


I think it needs to be personalized.

For example, it would say:

last responded to a comment by mr_crash_davis: 03/18/2007.

That's not too hard, is it?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:51 PM on March 3, 2008


Can we have a drop-down for users who are leaving? So it will display: "This account is disabled due to [bannination/hissyfit/self-mutilatory flameout/boredom/insensitive-yet-oversensitive/imaginary slight/filthy self-linker/recidivist/not as clever as he or she thought]."
posted by Eideteker at 5:56 PM on March 3, 2008


Isn't someone being racist or sexist or homophobic or pantyhoseist or insensitive to Christians or insensitive to the FSM or too US-centric or too politically correct or self-linky or something so that we can let up on the Close Account Button as a MeTaTopic? Sheesh.
posted by desuetude at 6:00 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


Well, there was some off-color tranny deletion on Aisle 69573. Will that hold you till dinner?
posted by pineapple at 6:05 PM on March 3, 2008


I'd like The Button a whole lot better if I could press it in other people's profiles.

PS. The button is definitely not red in my OS X 10.3.9/FF 2.0.0.12 setup -- it's just a regular button control. Not complaining, just saying.
posted by loiseau at 6:08 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]


yeah, I'm almost hoping for another GiveWell, desuetude.
posted by desjardins at 6:11 PM on March 3, 2008


"(klang, I think there's a greasemonkey script for that. not kidding.)"

I can't install scripts at work. Mostly because not everyone can be trusted to install scripts at work, and I don't want to ask for an exemption just so I can screw around more efficiently.

On the topic of the big red button, it would be nice if pressing it disabled your account until you'd had taken some MDMA, gotten a massage and realized that we are all God. Of course, a mod should be dispatched to facilitate all of this.

Get that system in place, Matt. Time's wastin'.
posted by klangklangston at 6:12 PM on March 3, 2008


Desuetude, desjardins—Until I saw you to commenting to each other there, I didn't realize how often I confuse the two of you.
posted by klangklangston at 6:13 PM on March 3, 2008


"last looked at the site"

You keep track of that? You know that I'm here roughly 85 times a day? I'm so embarrassed. Don't tell anyone, okay?
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:13 PM on March 3, 2008


In the previous Big Red Button thread, I said:

Too many people are making too much of the high-profile quits (most of which are followed within weeks by a high-profile return). Cut it out. This is going to be my last comment on the subject (and that does NOT mean I'm quitting - I will NEVER Push the Red Button myself. Period.) Let's find something more interesting to MetaTalk about.

Now, I know I'm breaking my own promise that that would be by last comment on the subject (SO SUE ME. Oops... shouldn't've said that... too many of my enemies here are lawyers), but I had an idea that may (or may not) cut down on the post-account-quitting anxiety among some of the people left behind. Since the personal info on an account is hidden when it's disabled, you could put a text field next to the Big Red Button in which the quitter (and you ARE a quitter could make one last statement (of limited length): Why are you quitting? Would you like other MeFites to stay in touch (in which case, you have to leave an email address there because the one in your account will be hidden)? Any Famous Last Words? And that blurb would then appear on the disabled account's userpage. (On preview, what Eideteker suggested, but an essay question, not multiple choice)

You would get some genuinely meaningful info from those leaving because "I'm moving to a tiny island where there is no internet access" or "If my boss catches me MetaFiltering one more time, he won't fire me, he'll kill me" or "I'm just getting too old for this" or "I'm starting to not like myself anymore, I might come back if I find my better self". And if they just say "USER X is mean to me! Waaaaah!" or "You people all suck! I'm going to LGF where they love me!", well, that's informative too, and the nastiest messages will just remind us that there are some people we shouldn't bother caring about. If somebody regrets the message they leave on their way out, then the only way to wipe it clean is to come back. And, not to get too serious, but in the extreme case of somebody actually having a life-threatening flame-out, a good-bye note that looks like a suicide note might just be the first best warning anybody will get.

It also will get many "leavers in a huff" to stop and think to themselves about what they're doing and why they're doing it and maybe change their mind, particularly those who might otherwise end up with Quitters Remorse and ask the mods to be reinstated a few hours later. Yes, this could be abused, but I'm not going to give anybody any ideas right now.

The "Why I'm Voluntarily Leaving" Field (does not apply to banned accounts - although a "banned for self-linking" message from the mods would answer some stupid questions before they're asked). A pony whose time to whinny has come. Maybe.
posted by wendell at 6:15 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]


I think in addition to the other counts like number of comments and favorites, each user should have "number of other users they've driven to leave".

Or better yet, "kills", with icons like the enemy flags below the cockpit of WWII fighter planes.
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:23 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]


"I know I'm breaking my own promise that that would be by last comment on the subject (SO SUE ME..."

*sues wendell*

*wins*

*takes possession of 1/2 bag Chee-tos and a flat 2-liter bottle of Dr Pepper*
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:28 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


*sigh* I miss Johnny Ladykiller and his fedora. I wonder how they're doing. Has anybody gotten a postcard or seen him around craigslist or anything?
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:36 PM on March 3, 2008




nevercalm, I think people are being more silly and piss-takey than anything. Don't sweat it too much; no one is flaming out.

NO FUCK YUO
posted by secret about box at 6:39 PM on March 3, 2008


I am going to bed soonish. Can I have a big BLUE button with stars and the moon and "Sweet Dreams" on it? And then tomorrow morning, a big YELLOW button that says "Good Morning Sunshine!" ?

Oh, and can Matt make me coffee? (jessamyn strikes me as a tea drinker, and I can't imagine cortex waking up before me.)
posted by desjardins at 7:03 PM on March 3, 2008 [3 favorites]


who cares when they left?
posted by matteo at 7:13 PM on March 3, 2008


Lord. How about when someone disables their account, clicking on their name in past posts instantly directs the clicker to a flash representation of a crying clown being bludgeoned by a crowd of lolcats. People leave. Get over it. Sometimes they come back. Be happy. And the Easter Bunny is real, but working at a 24 hour diner in Las Vegas.
posted by Atreides at 7:18 PM on March 3, 2008


Desuetude, desjardins—Until I saw you to commenting to each other there, I didn't realize how often I confuse the two of you.

Yeah, we're doing that on purpose to fuck with you. Right, desjardins? Wanna make somethin' of it, klang? Shall we kick your ass? FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

Just kidding. Don't go flaming out and close your account and blame me.
posted by desuetude at 7:19 PM on March 3, 2008


jessamyn strikes me as a tea drinker, and I can't imagine cortex waking up before me.

I am entirely java-driven and even though I am on the east coast, cortex wakes up before me most days. I'll work on the good morning sunshine button, that's a nice idea.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:24 PM on March 3, 2008


jessamyn strikes me as a tea drinker, and I can't imagine cortex waking up before me.

Fun fact: me and Jessamyn usually wake up about the same time, and she's three hours ahead of me. I'm not a sleeper-inner.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:25 PM on March 3, 2008


Also: we have the exact same thing to say, at all times, because we are robots.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:25 PM on March 3, 2008 [4 favorites]


I am going to bed soonish. Can I have a big BLUE button with stars and the moon and "Sweet Dreams" on it? And then tomorrow morning, a big YELLOW button that says "Good Morning Sunshine!" ?

Want want want want. (Coffee would be appreciated, too.)
posted by desuetude at 7:29 PM on March 3, 2008


You are NOT idiots, you are funny cartoon animals, and we all LOVE you.

And you don't have real jobs and you are each just reading us 24/7 because it is so personally rewarding.
posted by yhbc at 7:30 PM on March 3, 2008


jessamyn strikes me as a tea drinker, and I can't imagine cortex waking up before me.

you can't imagine cortex waking up before you, you have to experience it.
posted by spiderwire at 7:33 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


While we're at it, can we also have a "reincarnated as ___ on ____"

Example: Hermitosis closed account on 2/28/08 10:00
Reincarnated as Hermitosis1 on 2/28/08 10:01...
posted by special-k at 7:35 PM on March 3, 2008


Okay, this seems as appropriate a place as any for me to re-float my request that the "Disable me" page includes a box in which you type your mandatory death haiku before you leave. Seventeen syllables to sum everything up seems about right.
posted by onlyconnect at 7:37 PM on March 3, 2008


also, i would like to repeat my request on the other thread:
a list of self-disabled accounts sorted by favorites/comments/userid, sorta like a memorial to fallen MeFites [ . . . ]

[and] the names [should scroll] up the screen like the credits sequence in an old NES game, while some cheesy MIDI song plays in the background.
posted by spiderwire at 7:37 PM on March 3, 2008


Truth be told, I really like wendell's idea. It seems like flame-outs are all the rage right now, and it just seems depressing to go combing through recent threads to find out what happened to someone whom I felt (and it feels odd to say it) connected to through this site. Like, I wasn't ever really in the same discussions with quonsar, but konolia, dirtynumbangelboy, and jonmc are a little shocking to see go. If they had something to say in their own words, I'd like to see it.

I too wonder if there's really a need for the big red button to begin with, but I guess sometimes you just need to be able to "slam" the phone down, as it were. I'd just like to see the flame-outs end completely, really.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:37 PM on March 3, 2008


I am entirely java-driven

I figured jessamyn would've been implemented in a more verbose language.
posted by secret about box at 7:43 PM on March 3, 2008


I think it should be like Spiderwire's idea above, but it done more like the Oscars "people who died this year" thingy, with soaring orchestral music, and stillframes from a characteristic thread, and lots of oohs and ahhs from the crowd. It'd be perfect - there'd be very famous Ingmar Bergmans and Heath Ledgers, and then the sound editors and other nobodies.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:54 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


or it could be like a list of NetHack high scores:
quonsar was killed by a fish.

jonmc was killed by a wall of sound.

...
posted by spiderwire at 8:01 PM on March 3, 2008


Oh Metafilter, I wish I could quit you.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:29 PM on March 3, 2008


I like the idea of a cemetery, full of MeFi Zombies rising from their gravestones to feast on the current crop of noobs.

*looking around, slightly worried noobish expression on face*
*reads tombstone on bottom of screen*

Here lieth [username]
Joined 1/17/2001
Left 6/7/2004
Rejoined 7/14/2004
Left again 7/25/2004
Rejoined 1/3/2005
Favorites: [nnn]

*and then*
Bleargh I EAT YOUR COMMENT
posted by not_on_display at 8:50 PM on March 3, 2008


quonsar was killed by a fish.

But quonsar's back now.

Reincarnated by a pair of pants, no doubt.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:56 PM on March 3, 2008


I would like to formerly request the removal of the "This account is disabled" text from disabled accounts.

If someone wants to leave, its no one else's business. The ceaseless drama-queenery and attention-whoring is getting tiring.

Actually, can we just delete GBCW threads entirely instead of just closing them?
posted by empath at 8:58 PM on March 3, 2008


formally.. jeez.
posted by empath at 8:58 PM on March 3, 2008


Hey, when you click on the "Keep your account" button, can you display something sweet like, "Thanks for staying?" That would be awesome.

I was going to mention this myself. I was quite disappointed the button just returned me to the editing page.

Also, can we have the button on every page? There's still too many people here.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:13 PM on March 3, 2008


Also, I think in general mefites could do with a reminder that metafilter is not about you. Don't make things personal and don't take things personally.
posted by empath at 9:14 PM on March 3, 2008


Konolia left too?!!!
Fuck all you intolerant fuckers who drove her out!
Fuck the "close your account" button.
posted by caddis at 9:28 PM on March 3, 2008


But quonsar's back now.

He's savegame-abusing. Cheater.
posted by spiderwire at 10:07 PM on March 3, 2008


it would be nice if pressing it disabled your account until you'd had taken some MDMA, gotten a massage and realized that we are all God. Of course, a mod should be dispatched to facilitate all of this.

Would we get to choose the mod?
posted by Señor Grumpus at 1:09 AM on March 4, 2008


Anything that makes a flameout less public is a good thing.

Fiddlesticks. Nothing beats a good old-fashioned MetaTalk flameout. Pepperidge Farm remembers.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:47 AM on March 4, 2008


Konolia left too?!!!

I think this is the biggest problem, when a user is just browsing throught the site, feeling fine and suddenly find out that some user quit and the natural reaction is "What?! Why?! When?!"

The only real way to "solve" this is to start a "users who have left" site, something similar to the deleted threads site, where a person can check to see who's left. Ideally, it would include why they left or even better, a non negative statement by the original poster stating why they left.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:23 AM on March 4, 2008


Oh yeah, how do the mods feel about what I proposed?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:41 AM on March 4, 2008


Brandon, I think that would be a good idea if it were run by someone that wasn't a mod. (I'm not sure who runs the deleted threads site.) Otherwise, I feel it would turn into a popularity contest akin to the Oscars in memoriam segment.
posted by spec80 at 7:52 AM on March 4, 2008


Brandon, why not maybe just make some notes on the wiki? Doing a respectful job of summing up departures there would probably be okay, and as an informational archive rather than a Site it'd have less problems with the potential "popularity contest" weirdness that spec80 just nodded toward.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:11 AM on March 4, 2008


Bad experiences with wikis, left scars. Maybe therapy? I dunno...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:26 AM on March 4, 2008


The wiki means you no harm. It's not like those other wikis. It loves you, and cares for you, and likes you just the way you are.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2008


Bad experiences with wikis, left scars. Maybe therapy? I dunno...

Just roll it back to a previous version, duh
posted by spiderwire at 8:44 AM on March 4, 2008


think this is the biggest problem, when a user is just browsing throught the site, feeling fine and suddenly find out that some user quit and the natural reaction is "What?! Why?! When?!"

The only real way to "solve" this is to start a "users who have left" site, something similar to


like a wee meta graveyard with virtual candles, unturnoffable midi of 'john browns body' and things like that ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 8:48 AM on March 4, 2008


Jess had noted that Metafilter is more like a small city now, so it stands to reason that there should an obits page or "Notices" page, somewhere.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:57 AM on March 4, 2008


Can I put my slightly soiled mattress giveaway notice on there?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:24 AM on March 4, 2008


You could have... if Afroblanco's TOTALLY AWESOME idea of a MeFiList hadn't been shot down in flames by a bunch of unimaginative folk.
posted by pineapple at 9:34 AM on March 4, 2008


Every time someone leaves, the site should generate an Oregon Trail headstone for them, like "JonMC died of Yellow Fever."

The causes of death should be random, though generally always attributable to keeping the rations on meager and the pace on grueling.
posted by klangklangston at 10:13 AM on March 4, 2008


jonmc took a break from MetaChat
So he left MeFi, too
konolia got tired of being persecuted for her persecution
And being silenced on the Blue
dnab had a hissy fit
I'm not really sure, but he left in a snit
Flamed out on MetaTalk just a little bit
Refrain:
Those are people who quit, quit
Those are people who quit, quit
Those are people who quit, quit
Those are people who quit, quit
They were all my friends, and they quit

Apologies to Jim Carroll, common decency
posted by Eideteker at 10:47 AM on March 4, 2008 [1 favorite]


Ok ya'll, I've started a Members Who Have Left Page. Suggestions welcome on what sort of format it should take.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:01 PM on March 4, 2008


Maybe we should have an even BIGGER red button that says, "None of these morons understand my special snowflake genius and I need a hug."
posted by misha at 2:45 PM on March 4, 2008 [2 favorites]




my mistake -

here it is jon !
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:01 PM on March 4, 2008


None of these morons understand my special snowflake genius and I need a hug.

I dare you to get that made into a t-shirt.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:07 PM on March 4, 2008


None of these morons understand my special snowflake genius and I need a hug.

I dare you to get that made into a t-shirt.


If you do, please mail me one.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:17 PM on March 4, 2008


I'm not sure who runs the deleted threads site.

It's puke & cry.
posted by desjardins at 7:02 AM on March 7, 2008


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