seeing deleted comments September 22, 2010 7:52 AM Subscribe
So I was looking at this bizarre Metatalk thread and started to wonder: is there a way for me to see which of my comments have been deleted?
Just curious if this is possible. I posted it here rather than emailing the mods because I thought others would want to know how to do this, if it is possible...
Just curious if this is possible. I posted it here rather than emailing the mods because I thought others would want to know how to do this, if it is possible...
You are mistaken. You have never had any comments deleted. There is nothing to see here.
Signed,
THE CABAL
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Signed,
THE CABAL
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
that way lies madness.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:05 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:05 AM on September 22, 2010
You have never had any comments deleted. The mods just unthink the things you thought you wrote. And we have always been at war with Eastasia.
posted by crunchland at 8:16 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by crunchland at 8:16 AM on September 22, 2010
We'll email them to you if you want to see them, no problem.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:17 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:17 AM on September 22, 2010
From the FAQ: Deleted comments are gone for good, though they still exist in the database.
Not sure this sentence makes a lot of sense. If they're still in the database then they're not gone for good. They're no longer accessible through the site (unlike a deleted post, if you know where to look), but they're not gone for good.
Just sayin'.
posted by jontyjago at 8:24 AM on September 22, 2010
Not sure this sentence makes a lot of sense. If they're still in the database then they're not gone for good. They're no longer accessible through the site (unlike a deleted post, if you know where to look), but they're not gone for good.
Just sayin'.
posted by jontyjago at 8:24 AM on September 22, 2010
Yeah, that could use a little bit of a tweak to the language.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:33 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:33 AM on September 22, 2010
Pardon me, that could have been using a little bit of a tweak.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:34 AM on September 22, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:34 AM on September 22, 2010 [9 favorites]
Whenever one of my scintillating works of literary brilliance is removed, I think it would be appropriate to replace the text with a picture of a unicorn weeping a single tear.
This will be an appropriate memorial to a thought that can never be recovered, no longer brightening the world with its clarity and depth of intellect.
posted by winna at 8:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [16 favorites]
This will be an appropriate memorial to a thought that can never be recovered, no longer brightening the world with its clarity and depth of intellect.
posted by winna at 8:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [16 favorites]
The language willen on have be tweak. Uses the prior future implausible construction.
posted by Babblesort at 8:43 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by Babblesort at 8:43 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
We're all tweaking now.
posted by quin at 8:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by quin at 8:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Of course if you haven't had any comments deleted, and you write to the mods asking for the list, they're going to open a file on you...
posted by ecurtz at 9:00 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ecurtz at 9:00 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Maybe Fishbike can figure out the dick joke:fart joke ration in the set of all deleted comments. I think it is like 1.7:1 or thereabouts.
posted by Mister_A at 9:09 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Mister_A at 9:09 AM on September 22, 2010
Where did that "n" come from? Cabal, I'm looking at you!
posted by Mister_A at 9:09 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Mister_A at 9:09 AM on September 22, 2010
jessamyn: "We'll email them to you if you want to see them, no problem"
That sounds like an awful idea. I have enough self-loathing without being shown a highlights reel of the worst shit I ever said on MetaFilter.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:11 AM on September 22, 2010 [15 favorites]
That sounds like an awful idea. I have enough self-loathing without being shown a highlights reel of the worst shit I ever said on MetaFilter.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:11 AM on September 22, 2010 [15 favorites]
funny, i clicked wrong link, back to the censorship thread, closed, thinking it was THIS thread...what was the topic?
oh, think it was Dan (dhartung) who told me
"this is not a message board"
that was YEARS ago and still i meme and paw and...
posted by clavdivs at 9:15 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
oh, think it was Dan (dhartung) who told me
"this is not a message board"
that was YEARS ago and still i meme and paw and...
posted by clavdivs at 9:15 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Mister_A: “Maybe Fishbike can figure out the dick joke:fart joke ration...”
THESE ARE HUNGRY TIMES PEOPLE, SO REMEMBER: ONLY THREE DICK JOKES PER FART JOKE – THE REST ARE NEEDED BY OUR BOYS UP AT THE FRONT!
posted by koeselitz at 9:25 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
THESE ARE HUNGRY TIMES PEOPLE, SO REMEMBER: ONLY THREE DICK JOKES PER FART JOKE – THE REST ARE NEEDED BY OUR BOYS UP AT THE FRONT!
posted by koeselitz at 9:25 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Maybe Fishbike can figure out the dick joke:fart joke ration in the set of all deleted comments. I think it is like 1.7:1 or thereabouts.
You're pretty close actually, it's 1.873:1 overall. I tried splitting the data into one month intervals and graphing the ratio over time. It's generally pretty constant, but there's a significant uptick around July 2006 that might be interesting to dive into a bit further.
posted by FishBike at 9:29 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
You're pretty close actually, it's 1.873:1 overall. I tried splitting the data into one month intervals and graphing the ratio over time. It's generally pretty constant, but there's a significant uptick around July 2006 that might be interesting to dive into a bit further.
posted by FishBike at 9:29 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
That was when someone signed up that "Dick Army" sockpuppet during the midterm primaries.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:33 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:33 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Your Dick Army is no match for my Fart Navy.
posted by Mister_A at 9:43 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Mister_A at 9:43 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
I have enough self-loathing without being shown a highlights reel of the worst shit I ever said on MetaFilter.
Hey, can you guys send me iamkimiam's deleted comments? Thanks!
*gets red pen, makes popcorn*
posted by nomadicink at 9:47 AM on September 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
Hey, can you guys send me iamkimiam's deleted comments? Thanks!
*gets red pen, makes popcorn*
posted by nomadicink at 9:47 AM on September 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
We'll email them to you if you want to see them, no problem.
All of them?
posted by timeistight at 9:52 AM on September 22, 2010
All of them?
posted by timeistight at 9:52 AM on September 22, 2010
This one time I had a knee-jerk reaction to a comment that I thought was saying bikers deserved to be run over and killed, and I told someone to go fuck themselves in the ear. I was willing to let my hasty idiocy stand, but a mod (cortex, I think?) did me a favor and deleted it anyhow. Not sure I've ever had any other comments deleted.
posted by Plutor at 9:55 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Plutor at 9:55 AM on September 22, 2010
All of them?
If you really want. We may respond with "well, there's a LOT of them" if it seems like it'd be a great big paste job, but generally speaking it's not a great big deal. That said, the utility of the list is not always that high either; if you've got a specific angle of curiosity, we can try to address some specific aspect of deletion history instead of dumping a wall of out-of-context text on you.
This one time I had a knee-jerk reaction to a comment that I thought was saying bikers deserved to be run over and killed, and I told someone to go fuck themselves in the ear. I was willing to let my hasty idiocy stand, but a mod (cortex, I think?) did me a favor and deleted it anyhow.
Oh man, you totally did, and it was me, and it was the eye, actually! Cleaned up a whole little derail from that, yeah.
But what's really got me upset is that one of your other deleted comments (you have a few, but nothing significant) included a stray </div> that was fucking up the flow of the admin view of your deleted comments.
And that's the story of how I spent my breakfast fixing broken HTML in a deleted comment.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [6 favorites]
If you really want. We may respond with "well, there's a LOT of them" if it seems like it'd be a great big paste job, but generally speaking it's not a great big deal. That said, the utility of the list is not always that high either; if you've got a specific angle of curiosity, we can try to address some specific aspect of deletion history instead of dumping a wall of out-of-context text on you.
This one time I had a knee-jerk reaction to a comment that I thought was saying bikers deserved to be run over and killed, and I told someone to go fuck themselves in the ear. I was willing to let my hasty idiocy stand, but a mod (cortex, I think?) did me a favor and deleted it anyhow.
Oh man, you totally did, and it was me, and it was the eye, actually! Cleaned up a whole little derail from that, yeah.
But what's really got me upset is that one of your other deleted comments (you have a few, but nothing significant) included a stray </div> that was fucking up the flow of the admin view of your deleted comments.
And that's the story of how I spent my breakfast fixing broken HTML in a deleted comment.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [6 favorites]
Heh. That reminds me of the time I contacted <img src="http://www.gifs.cc/stline1.gif">. Good times.
posted by Plutor at 10:06 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Plutor at 10:06 AM on September 22, 2010
Heh. That reminds me of the time I contacted...
I read that as "I contracted ", which I kind of like better.
posted by lohmannn at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2010
I read that as "I contracted ", which I kind of like better.
posted by lohmannn at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2010
nomadicink: "Hey, can you guys send me iamkimiam's deleted comments? Thanks!
*gets red pen, makes popcorn*"
Good God. I don't know which is worse. This is like some fucked up trolley problem.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:22 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
*gets red pen, makes popcorn*"
Good God. I don't know which is worse. This is like some fucked up trolley problem.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:22 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Google does not sleep. It waits to unleash your deleted comments.
posted by lukemeister at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by lukemeister at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010
Is "trolley problem" an euphemism?
posted by Mister_A at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister_A at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Nevermind the contents, I'm just curious as to whether I've ever had a comment deleted (as in specifically pruned, rather than just lost when a thread was deleted). I've written a lot of fairly agitprop shit to MetaTalk over the years but I can't recall any of it ever being deleted that I noticed.
Seems like an extremely straightforward DB query - any mod want to Mefi Mail me the answer?
posted by Ryvar at 10:25 AM on September 22, 2010
Seems like an extremely straightforward DB query - any mod want to Mefi Mail me the answer?
posted by Ryvar at 10:25 AM on September 22, 2010
This is like some fucked up trolley problem.
I know what each of those words means, and yet I had no idea what this sentence meant until I googled "trolley problem". And now I'm glad I did. I feel like I have been somewhat edumacated as a result of the peculiar direction this thread has taken.
posted by FishBike at 10:26 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
I know what each of those words means, and yet I had no idea what this sentence meant until I googled "trolley problem". And now I'm glad I did. I feel like I have been somewhat edumacated as a result of the peculiar direction this thread has taken.
posted by FishBike at 10:26 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Ryvar, you've had 16 comments deleted over the years. 4 from the blue, 10 from the green, and, notably, 2 from they grey, though those were both just cleanup after some sort of mispost incident, not so-bad-they-need-deleting-even-here barnstormers.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:28 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:28 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I read that as "troll-ey problems" which I think we could have been not needing more of.
That said, please delete this comment and email it to me. KTHX
posted by not_on_display at 10:31 AM on September 22, 2010
That said, please delete this comment and email it to me. KTHX
posted by not_on_display at 10:31 AM on September 22, 2010
26, 6, and 1, Mister_A. And an appalling 0:0 DF ratio.
And I'm pretty sure the AskMe formulation of the trolley problem is something like "Dear hivemind: my brother's fiance is dead set on a plan to sleep with five random men before the wedding day, to 'sow her wild oats' as she put it, but I suspect I can distract her from doing that if I start a no-strings sexual relationship with her myself and keep that going up till they're married. Obviously neither is a great choice, but which way do I go with this?"
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:39 AM on September 22, 2010 [6 favorites]
And I'm pretty sure the AskMe formulation of the trolley problem is something like "Dear hivemind: my brother's fiance is dead set on a plan to sleep with five random men before the wedding day, to 'sow her wild oats' as she put it, but I suspect I can distract her from doing that if I start a no-strings sexual relationship with her myself and keep that going up till they're married. Obviously neither is a great choice, but which way do I go with this?"
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:39 AM on September 22, 2010 [6 favorites]
Obviously neither is a great choice, but which way do I go with this?
you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you
posted by pyramid termite at 10:45 AM on September 22, 2010 [14 favorites]
you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you
posted by pyramid termite at 10:45 AM on September 22, 2010 [14 favorites]
Wow. If Ryvar has had 16 comments deleted, I figure I must've had at least a few dozen.
I don't know how far this train is going, but I'd love to get on if I can – if it's not too much trouble, how many comments have I had deleted? (I guess I'm next in line after Mister_A, of course.)
posted by koeselitz at 10:45 AM on September 22, 2010
I don't know how far this train is going, but I'd love to get on if I can – if it's not too much trouble, how many comments have I had deleted? (I guess I'm next in line after Mister_A, of course.)
posted by koeselitz at 10:45 AM on September 22, 2010
This thread has convinced me to stay the hell away from streetcars for good.
posted by maudlin at 10:47 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by maudlin at 10:47 AM on September 22, 2010
I don't even want to know where the fat man and the reverse trolley factor into that scenario, cortex.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:47 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by iamkimiam at 10:47 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
cortex: “And I'm pretty sure the AskMe formulation of the trolley problem is something like ‘Dear hivemind: my brother's fiance is dead set on a plan to sleep with five random men before the wedding day, to 'sow her wild oats' as she put it, but I suspect I can distract her from doing that if I start a no-strings sexual relationship with her myself and keep that going up till they're married. Obviously neither is a great choice, but which way do I go with this?’”
pyramid termite: “you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you”
Naw, that's not a trolley problem; it's just a trick question. The simple answer is: your brother's fiance is wrong. Because she is female, she's suppose to use the feminine form, fiancée. Also, she forgot the accent.
posted by koeselitz at 10:49 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
pyramid termite: “you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you”
Naw, that's not a trolley problem; it's just a trick question. The simple answer is: your brother's fiance is wrong. Because she is female, she's suppose to use the feminine form, fiancée. Also, she forgot the accent.
posted by koeselitz at 10:49 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
koeselitz, you're at 29, 36, 7 with a 0:0 as well.
And while I don't mind looking these up particularly, yeah, we probably shouldn't do this all day.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:51 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
And while I don't mind looking these up particularly, yeah, we probably shouldn't do this all day.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:51 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
HA! I'm winning so far!
posted by koeselitz at 10:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by koeselitz at 10:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Wikipedia defines the trolley problem thusly:
posted by FishBike at 10:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [25 favorites]
A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are 5 people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you can flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch?The best solution is to edit Wikipedia so that the alternate track is empty.
posted by FishBike at 10:52 AM on September 22, 2010 [25 favorites]
That's an...unorthodox approach to the Wikiyashi Maru, cadet.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:56 AM on September 22, 2010 [24 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:56 AM on September 22, 2010 [24 favorites]
huh. I have no idea how many comments I've had deleted. I'm really curious, now.
posted by shmegegge at 10:58 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by shmegegge at 10:58 AM on September 22, 2010
cortex: I'm guessing there's no easy way to send those deleted comments to me via email? I mean, I'll bet I fit into the "well, there's a LOT of them" category if anybody does. It's just that – probably for the sweet effervescence of shameful regret – I'd like to see the idiotic crap I've posted in the past. My ego of course stubbornly insists that every one of those comments was deleted as part of a derail clean-up not brought on by myself; but I know in my heart that I'm a loud-mouthed bastard, and my heart has been wanting to stick it to my ego for a long time now.
posted by koeselitz at 11:01 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 11:01 AM on September 22, 2010
Your Dick Army is no match for my Fart Navy.
Surely you mean Fart Air Force. Think about it.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:07 AM on September 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
Surely you mean Fart Air Force. Think about it.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:07 AM on September 22, 2010 [3 favorites]
All of my comments can be boiled down to either a dick or fart joke. In fact, my entire spoken, written, and musical output is pretty much variations on "my fart is longer than your dick." I have a D:F ratio of ∞:∞
posted by not_on_display at 11:12 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 11:12 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing there's no easy way to send those deleted comments to me via email?
No, its easy if you don't mind it being totally ugly formatting-wise. Check your mail. How edifying any of it will be out of context is another question, but providing context would be less trivial.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:25 AM on September 22, 2010
No, its easy if you don't mind it being totally ugly formatting-wise. Check your mail. How edifying any of it will be out of context is another question, but providing context would be less trivial.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:25 AM on September 22, 2010
As far as I know the only comment of mine that was deleted was in the "what does vagina taste like?" thread.
I think I said "a D Cell."
posted by bondcliff at 11:29 AM on September 22, 2010
I think I said "a D Cell."
posted by bondcliff at 11:29 AM on September 22, 2010
∞8∞
widen out that colon a bit and it works both ways. /puerile
posted by carsonb at 11:36 AM on September 22, 2010
widen out that colon a bit and it works both ways. /puerile
posted by carsonb at 11:36 AM on September 22, 2010
I don't want to know how many deleted comments I've had, because I'm betting it's not all that many, and I have a rep to maintain here.
*waggles fingers in a menacing fashion*
Boo. I'm spooky and I bite!
posted by quin at 11:36 AM on September 22, 2010
*waggles fingers in a menacing fashion*
Boo. I'm spooky and I bite!
posted by quin at 11:36 AM on September 22, 2010
Man I can't believe I got swept by koeselitz!
posted by Mister_A at 12:00 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister_A at 12:00 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Everyone should get in the habit of taking screenshots of comments that might get deleted. People on livejournal do this a lot, and they are a really good source for "netiquette".
With all due respect, there is a "name and shame" aspect to this sort of thing that only sometimes is useful here. Sometimes people say appalling shitty way out of character things and having someone basically following them around with a sign saying "you said this, it sucked!" can inhibit people being able to move past it. I agree that some things maybe we shouldn't just move on from, but the bulk of the stuff that gets deleted here gets deleted because it's getting in the way of the community functioning properly.
Also in some cases, screenshotting and reposting itself will break the general "don't do this here" guidelines [i.e. outing someone's real name or whatever] and that is still not okay.
Put another way if the site etiquette is "don't be an asshole" reposting asshole comments [even as screenshots] isn't always kosher.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:04 PM on September 22, 2010
With all due respect, there is a "name and shame" aspect to this sort of thing that only sometimes is useful here. Sometimes people say appalling shitty way out of character things and having someone basically following them around with a sign saying "you said this, it sucked!" can inhibit people being able to move past it. I agree that some things maybe we shouldn't just move on from, but the bulk of the stuff that gets deleted here gets deleted because it's getting in the way of the community functioning properly.
Also in some cases, screenshotting and reposting itself will break the general "don't do this here" guidelines [i.e. outing someone's real name or whatever] and that is still not okay.
Put another way if the site etiquette is "don't be an asshole" reposting asshole comments [even as screenshots] isn't always kosher.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:04 PM on September 22, 2010
God, that trolley problem thing seems completely straightforward. Is there anyone who hesitates to answer "flip the switch"?
Huh. I guess I'm a pragmatist.
On topic: I sometimes wish there was an automatic mechanism to send me a form-email when a comment was deleted, ie: "A comment you made in x thread has just been deleted. Please know we do occasionally have to edit threads to maintain a respectful atmosphere, blah blah, please see site faq..."
It feels a little weird (on a not-in-any-way-super-important-level) to just have a comment go away and not really have the opportunity to try again.
posted by serazin at 12:07 PM on September 22, 2010
Huh. I guess I'm a pragmatist.
On topic: I sometimes wish there was an automatic mechanism to send me a form-email when a comment was deleted, ie: "A comment you made in x thread has just been deleted. Please know we do occasionally have to edit threads to maintain a respectful atmosphere, blah blah, please see site faq..."
It feels a little weird (on a not-in-any-way-super-important-level) to just have a comment go away and not really have the opportunity to try again.
posted by serazin at 12:07 PM on September 22, 2010
Everyone should get in the habit of taking screenshots of comments that might get deleted.
Why, what purpose would it serve?
posted by nomadicink at 12:08 PM on September 22, 2010
Why, what purpose would it serve?
posted by nomadicink at 12:08 PM on September 22, 2010
cortex: “No, its easy if you don't mind it being totally ugly formatting-wise. Check your mail. How edifying any of it will be out of context is another question, but providing context would be less trivial.”
Well, to be fair, I didn't ask for it because I thought it would be edifying, really. Heh. And it's not. Yeesh - I have posted some real shit over the years. What possible justification did I think I had in posting big stupid ASCII blocks and five-page excerpts from Xenophon to Ask, of all places? And I totally forgot about that time I got drunk and did that stupid stunt where I did a chain of comments linked one to the other across a bunch of mostly-empty threads. Sorry for all the grief, guys.
posted by koeselitz at 12:11 PM on September 22, 2010
Well, to be fair, I didn't ask for it because I thought it would be edifying, really. Heh. And it's not. Yeesh - I have posted some real shit over the years. What possible justification did I think I had in posting big stupid ASCII blocks and five-page excerpts from Xenophon to Ask, of all places? And I totally forgot about that time I got drunk and did that stupid stunt where I did a chain of comments linked one to the other across a bunch of mostly-empty threads. Sorry for all the grief, guys.
posted by koeselitz at 12:11 PM on September 22, 2010
Is there anyone who hesitates to answer "flip the switch"?
It depends a lot on who the people are, I suppose.
posted by From the Fortress at 12:30 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
It depends a lot on who the people are, I suppose.
posted by From the Fortress at 12:30 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
serazin: “God, that trolley problem thing seems completely straightforward. Is there anyone who hesitates to answer ‘flip the switch’?”
To be fair, the problem can be stated as a more difficult case; the Wiki page mentions this further down, and it's the case I've heard before myself. A teacher of mine used to state it this way:
An evil villain has remotely set in motion an empty train loaded with explosives; it's barreling down the track, headed at top speed toward a small station where there are five people. The villain has sabotaged the track so that the train will jump the rails right before it reaches the station; if that happens, it will certainly kill the five people. You're standing on a bridge over the tracks with a small crowd, watching the train approach; it occurs to you that if a heavy enough weight is dropped on the rails, the train will be derailed before it reaches the station and the people will be saved. Looking around, you notice that right next to you, standing right against the railing, is an immensely obese man. Most human bodies wouldn't be heavy enough to stop the train, but his body is. All you'd need to do to save those five people is push a fat man off a bridge to his death. So... do you do it?
I think it's a much harder question that way. It's easy to flip a switch; and you're right, it isn't easy, but I think most people could be counted on to make that decision. However, this other case sharpens the dilemma; here, you have to take personal agency and actually directly kill a guy to save the people. I think that's tougher, and I think a majority of people probably couldn't do it. I don't think I could, anyway, even though I'm pretty sure it'd be right to.
posted by koeselitz at 12:32 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
To be fair, the problem can be stated as a more difficult case; the Wiki page mentions this further down, and it's the case I've heard before myself. A teacher of mine used to state it this way:
An evil villain has remotely set in motion an empty train loaded with explosives; it's barreling down the track, headed at top speed toward a small station where there are five people. The villain has sabotaged the track so that the train will jump the rails right before it reaches the station; if that happens, it will certainly kill the five people. You're standing on a bridge over the tracks with a small crowd, watching the train approach; it occurs to you that if a heavy enough weight is dropped on the rails, the train will be derailed before it reaches the station and the people will be saved. Looking around, you notice that right next to you, standing right against the railing, is an immensely obese man. Most human bodies wouldn't be heavy enough to stop the train, but his body is. All you'd need to do to save those five people is push a fat man off a bridge to his death. So... do you do it?
I think it's a much harder question that way. It's easy to flip a switch; and you're right, it isn't easy, but I think most people could be counted on to make that decision. However, this other case sharpens the dilemma; here, you have to take personal agency and actually directly kill a guy to save the people. I think that's tougher, and I think a majority of people probably couldn't do it. I don't think I could, anyway, even though I'm pretty sure it'd be right to.
posted by koeselitz at 12:32 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
In fact, my entire spoken, written, and musical output is pretty much variations on "my fart is longer than your dick." I have a D:F ratio of ∞:∞
Your poor girlfriend.
posted by nomadicink at 12:33 PM on September 22, 2010
Your poor girlfriend.
posted by nomadicink at 12:33 PM on September 22, 2010
HA! I'm winning so far!
OK, now I have to ask...
cortex, would you mind looking up mine? I'm curious.
posted by zarq at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
OK, now I have to ask...
cortex, would you mind looking up mine? I'm curious.
posted by zarq at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
The absurd one ferry full of convicts and one ferry full of good citizens and either of you can blow up the other or I'll blow up both of you Joker scheme is a (silly) variant on the trolley prob.
posted by Babblesort at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Babblesort at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
cortex writes "But what's really got me upset is that one of your other deleted comments (you have a few, but nothing significant) included a stray </div> that was fucking up the flow of the admin view of your deleted comments.
"And that's the story of how I spent my breakfast fixing broken HTML in a deleted comment."
My quoter leaves stray </div>s all the time; sorry about that, I'll try and cut them out in the future.
pyramid termite writes "you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you"
Man that is an injoke I seriously hope doesn't gain traction.
posted by Mitheral at 1:23 PM on September 22, 2010
"And that's the story of how I spent my breakfast fixing broken HTML in a deleted comment."
My quoter leaves stray </div>s all the time; sorry about that, I'll try and cut them out in the future.
pyramid termite writes "you should help her yourself - that way you can take pictures and blackmail her later if she does something to you"
Man that is an injoke I seriously hope doesn't gain traction.
posted by Mitheral at 1:23 PM on September 22, 2010
I'm proposing that we have a new subsite... The Black. Where once a week, all deleted comments are posted with usernames removed. Just a huge textdump of out of context nonsense we can all look at and talk about. I don't know what we'd name it. maybe MetaDon't or something.
It could end up being the most popular subsite of all.
posted by hippybear at 1:26 PM on September 22, 2010 [10 favorites]
It could end up being the most popular subsite of all.
posted by hippybear at 1:26 PM on September 22, 2010 [10 favorites]
No problem.
The fat guy gets it.
I mean he was fat right, obese even?
Why are you all looking at me like that?
posted by adamvasco at 1:27 PM on September 22, 2010
The fat guy gets it.
I mean he was fat right, obese even?
Why are you all looking at me like that?
posted by adamvasco at 1:27 PM on September 22, 2010
I think the problem I have with all trolley style problems (and I think they have an older origin in questions about lifeboats and cannibalism) is that they assume the person deciding has complete knowledge and perfect prescience. I have never actually experienced either state.
posted by bearwife at 1:29 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by bearwife at 1:29 PM on September 22, 2010
we probably shouldn't do this all day.
awww, I was gonna ask next.
er, I mean, that's what your mom said =p
posted by nomisxid at 1:33 PM on September 22, 2010
awww, I was gonna ask next.
er, I mean, that's what your mom said =p
posted by nomisxid at 1:33 PM on September 22, 2010
zarq: 37, 3, 4, with a 0:0.
Holy crap. Sorry to have made so much work for you over the years. :(
posted by zarq at 1:36 PM on September 22, 2010
Holy crap. Sorry to have made so much work for you over the years. :(
posted by zarq at 1:36 PM on September 22, 2010
nomisxid: 0, 14, 0, 0:0.
clav: 22, 5, 0, 0:0.
And now I am officially closing up shop for the day!
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
clav: 22, 5, 0, 0:0.
And now I am officially closing up shop for the day!
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Your poor girlfriend.
This.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2010 [4 favorites]
This.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2010 [4 favorites]
If they're still in the database then they're not gone for good.
You, sir, have never administered a database. Database keys are similar to house and car keys in that you know they exist somewhere but they can be irretrievable by less than divine powers.
posted by GuyZero at 1:59 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
You, sir, have never administered a database. Database keys are similar to house and car keys in that you know they exist somewhere but they can be irretrievable by less than divine powers.
posted by GuyZero at 1:59 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, no! The antipodes loses again. If you do come back, I'd love to know how many of mine got deleted.
posted by b33j at 2:00 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by b33j at 2:00 PM on September 22, 2010
man, i'm late for the party, but being new here, I'm sure my deleted comment stats are way low. Not saying I haven't said anything worth deleting (I know of at least one deleted comment) but I just haven't been around long enough to build up any numbers worth noting.
posted by patheral at 2:00 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by patheral at 2:00 PM on September 22, 2010
Does the db record which bastard mod hit the delete button so that I can put them in the path of a trolley joke about it with them, should I ever get the chance?
posted by holgate at 2:23 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by holgate at 2:23 PM on September 22, 2010
Mister_A: "Man I can't believe I got swept by koeselitz!"
My numbers would put you all to shame. I don't consider my day complete without a deletion.
posted by gman at 2:30 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
My numbers would put you all to shame. I don't consider my day complete without a deletion.
posted by gman at 2:30 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Does the db record which awesome person hit the delete button so that I can send them exotic beers, should I ever get the chance?
It does, at least for the last year or two; the admin interface and the db recordkeeping on admin work really improved a lot after pb came on staff, so there's a real evolution in the info we have from 2007 on. Older deletions, where they even exist in the database (back in the early days deletion was deletion), don't have such annotation available. We have to go looking a bit to see who deleted what even as is, because it's rarely that important for us to know unless there's a very specific question of who was doing what in a specific situation.
...but not before you do mine, right?
I might go through and make a pass tomorrow at some point for people who have explicitly asked for it after I shut the gates today.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:05 PM on September 22, 2010
It does, at least for the last year or two; the admin interface and the db recordkeeping on admin work really improved a lot after pb came on staff, so there's a real evolution in the info we have from 2007 on. Older deletions, where they even exist in the database (back in the early days deletion was deletion), don't have such annotation available. We have to go looking a bit to see who deleted what even as is, because it's rarely that important for us to know unless there's a very specific question of who was doing what in a specific situation.
...but not before you do mine, right?
I might go through and make a pass tomorrow at some point for people who have explicitly asked for it after I shut the gates today.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:05 PM on September 22, 2010
Bummer, I kind of wanted to know how many deleted comments I had. It's like the Metafilter equivalent of thinking about a party the next morning and cringing at drunken comments I made that no one will ever remember.
posted by malapropist at 3:15 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by malapropist at 3:15 PM on September 22, 2010
I'm pretty sure I don't have ant deletions, fucking admins.
posted by darkmatter at 3:35 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by darkmatter at 3:35 PM on September 22, 2010
Cortex, please do me too? (I know you're closed, and I can't come up with any excuse for an knowing my stats is citical. Also; in what other context could I ever ask you to do me?)
posted by bilabial at 3:53 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by bilabial at 3:53 PM on September 22, 2010
You'll need a fine single malt scotch whiskey, for starters.
posted by not_on_display at 4:06 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by not_on_display at 4:06 PM on September 22, 2010
And I'm pretty sure the AskMe formulation of the trolley problem is something like "Dear hivemind: my brother's fiance is dead set on a plan to sleep with five random men
"Streetcar Named Desire" problem?
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:17 PM on September 22, 2010
"Streetcar Named Desire" problem?
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:17 PM on September 22, 2010
Metafilter: Ooh! Do me now!
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 4:23 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 4:23 PM on September 22, 2010
You'll need a fine single malt scotch whiskey, for starters.
DONE
wait what
posted by The Whelk at 4:45 PM on September 22, 2010
joke about it with them, should I ever get the chance?
Say Campion that kluge fellow you have, could he open my chubb.
posted by clavdivs at 5:02 PM on September 22, 2010
Say Campion that kluge fellow you have, could he open my chubb.
posted by clavdivs at 5:02 PM on September 22, 2010
A little peek into the shitpile.
How about a one-time, don't-fucking-ask-for-it-ever-again, very special episode of MetaTalk release of everyone's deleted comment count, by user number?
posted by fleacircus at 5:26 PM on September 22, 2010
How about a one-time, don't-fucking-ask-for-it-ever-again, very special episode of MetaTalk release of everyone's deleted comment count, by user number?
posted by fleacircus at 5:26 PM on September 22, 2010
Throw me in there if you're still dealing.
Let's see, I have, er...roughly 4,000 comments. I was going to try and estimate how many have been deleted, but I realize if I under-estimate, I look like a douche, and if I over-estimate, I still look like a douche.
In conclusion, I guess I kinda look like a douche. The farts are from those fiber bars, they're lethal.
posted by maxwelton at 5:58 PM on September 22, 2010
Let's see, I have, er...roughly 4,000 comments. I was going to try and estimate how many have been deleted, but I realize if I under-estimate, I look like a douche, and if I over-estimate, I still look like a douche.
In conclusion, I guess I kinda look like a douche. The farts are from those fiber bars, they're lethal.
posted by maxwelton at 5:58 PM on September 22, 2010
item: 30, 24, 3
bilabial: 0, 6, 1
malapropist: 0, 1, 0
maxwelton: 5, 7, 0
I don't know what this dick fart business is, but you'll have to get it from cortex.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:24 PM on September 22, 2010
bilabial: 0, 6, 1
malapropist: 0, 1, 0
maxwelton: 5, 7, 0
I don't know what this dick fart business is, but you'll have to get it from cortex.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:24 PM on September 22, 2010
How about a one-time, don't-fucking-ask-for-it-ever-again, very special episode of MetaTalk release of everyone's deleted comment count, by user number?
Oh HELL no.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:26 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh HELL no.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:26 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would love to see my deleted comment count, just because I suspect I'm a complete zero.
However, I completely understand if these requests have become tedious, silly, and annoying and the mods would prefer not to.
posted by never used baby shoes at 6:35 PM on September 22, 2010
However, I completely understand if these requests have become tedious, silly, and annoying and the mods would prefer not to.
posted by never used baby shoes at 6:35 PM on September 22, 2010
I don't know what this dick fart business is, but you'll have to get it from cortex.
posted by jessamyn at 6:24 PM on September 22 [+] [!]
And there, in a nutshell, is the difference between men and women.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:36 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by jessamyn at 6:24 PM on September 22 [+] [!]
And there, in a nutshell, is the difference between men and women.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:36 PM on September 22, 2010
I would love to see my deleted comment count
1, 0, 0
And just for the record mine are 16, 57, 18
And a lot of the AskMe ones (which may be true for others as well) are from when we did the big shift to allow "more inside" in AskMe. Prior to that, people had just used the first comment to add more. So at some point we checked the threads and the ones were the first comment was also by the OP we'd delete the comment and move it to the "more inside" section. So there may be some weirdness there.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:57 PM on September 22, 2010
1, 0, 0
And just for the record mine are 16, 57, 18
And a lot of the AskMe ones (which may be true for others as well) are from when we did the big shift to allow "more inside" in AskMe. Prior to that, people had just used the first comment to add more. So at some point we checked the threads and the ones were the first comment was also by the OP we'd delete the comment and move it to the "more inside" section. So there may be some weirdness there.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:57 PM on September 22, 2010
Thanks jessamyn!
posted by never used baby shoes at 7:03 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by never used baby shoes at 7:03 PM on September 22, 2010
i too am curious about my deleted count, but only because my Mefiversary was this week. i am 2 Years Old. :D
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:38 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:38 PM on September 22, 2010
i too am curious about my deleted count
5, 11, 0
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:49 PM on September 22, 2010
5, 11, 0
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:49 PM on September 22, 2010
Actually, now that I think of it, deleted comment counts don't mean much by way of how likely a person is to make delete-worthy comments. What we should be talking about is the ratio of deleted comments to total comments:
Ryvar
mefi 4:1658
meta 10:1387
ask 2:459
total 16:3504
0.46%
Mister_A
mefi 26:6166
meta 6:3453
ask 1:217
total 33:9836
0.34%
koeselitz
mefi 29:5729
meta 36:2477
ask 7:2406
total 72:10612
0.68%
zarq
mefi 37:3633
meta 3:1688
ask 4:219
total 44:5540
0.79%
nomisxid
mefi 0:812
meta 14:228
ask 0:841
total 14:1881
0.74%
clavdivs
mefi 22:3329
meta 5:1039
ask 0:34
total 27:4402
0.61%
item
mefi 30:1619
meta 24:839
ask 3:269
total 57:2727
2.09%
bilabial
mefi 0:31
meta 6:66
ask 1:970
total 7:1067
0.66%
malapropist
mefi 0:24
meta 1:42
ask 0:89
total 1:155
0.65%
maxwelton
mefi 5:2906
meta 7:499
ask 0:438
total 12:3843
0.31%
never used baby shoes
mefi 1:700
meta 0:333
ask 0:88
total 1:1121
0.09%
jessamyn
mefi 16:2660
meta 57:10769
ask 18:7875
total 91:21304
0.43%
posted by koeselitz at 7:55 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ryvar
mefi 4:1658
meta 10:1387
ask 2:459
total 16:3504
0.46%
Mister_A
mefi 26:6166
meta 6:3453
ask 1:217
total 33:9836
0.34%
koeselitz
mefi 29:5729
meta 36:2477
ask 7:2406
total 72:10612
0.68%
zarq
mefi 37:3633
meta 3:1688
ask 4:219
total 44:5540
0.79%
nomisxid
mefi 0:812
meta 14:228
ask 0:841
total 14:1881
0.74%
clavdivs
mefi 22:3329
meta 5:1039
ask 0:34
total 27:4402
0.61%
item
mefi 30:1619
meta 24:839
ask 3:269
total 57:2727
2.09%
bilabial
mefi 0:31
meta 6:66
ask 1:970
total 7:1067
0.66%
malapropist
mefi 0:24
meta 1:42
ask 0:89
total 1:155
0.65%
maxwelton
mefi 5:2906
meta 7:499
ask 0:438
total 12:3843
0.31%
never used baby shoes
mefi 1:700
meta 0:333
ask 0:88
total 1:1121
0.09%
jessamyn
mefi 16:2660
meta 57:10769
ask 18:7875
total 91:21304
0.43%
posted by koeselitz at 7:55 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why Jess would have so many deleted comments.
You really need to let your petty jealousies go, Cortex.
posted by crunchland at 8:02 PM on September 22, 2010
You really need to let your petty jealousies go, Cortex.
posted by crunchland at 8:02 PM on September 22, 2010
0.61% WASTE!
thats like recoverable water from brushing your teeth.
posted by clavdivs at 8:16 PM on September 22, 2010
thats like recoverable water from brushing your teeth.
posted by clavdivs at 8:16 PM on September 22, 2010
Heh. For the record, I'm 35, 23, 15, (2). Because, unlike the vast majority of users, I've actually had comments deleted from Music. Bam! (Though both contained some form of the word "test".)
Most of our deleted comments are mod cleanup stuff—leaving notes/comment and then yanking them back out when trying to polish up a thread after some deletions, or leaving test comments when rolling out new features or tweaks, that sort of thing.
Though I do appear to have left a few dumb jokey comments in askme before I came on staff. Including an Infocom joke involving typing "smoke bowl" at a prompt.
My DF ratio is also, alas, 0:0. I think the implication is clear: "dick" and "fart" are the Elbereths of Metafilter commenting.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:17 PM on September 22, 2010
Most of our deleted comments are mod cleanup stuff—leaving notes/comment and then yanking them back out when trying to polish up a thread after some deletions, or leaving test comments when rolling out new features or tweaks, that sort of thing.
Though I do appear to have left a few dumb jokey comments in askme before I came on staff. Including an Infocom joke involving typing "smoke bowl" at a prompt.
My DF ratio is also, alas, 0:0. I think the implication is clear: "dick" and "fart" are the Elbereths of Metafilter commenting.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:17 PM on September 22, 2010
Mister_A: “Man I can't believe I got swept by koeselitz!”
You'll notice that on average jessamyn has more of her comments deleted than you do. The fact that my ratings grant you such a lily-white, saintly commenting status seems to indicate that I've made a serious error somewhere, actually.
posted by koeselitz at 8:21 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
You'll notice that on average jessamyn has more of her comments deleted than you do. The fact that my ratings grant you such a lily-white, saintly commenting status seems to indicate that I've made a serious error somewhere, actually.
posted by koeselitz at 8:21 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
jessamyn: "gman: 65, 3, 18"
Although it appears you have me beat by five overall, and we are tied in the prestigious MeTa deletion category, cortex's explanation clearly disqualifies you.
posted by gman at 8:28 PM on September 22, 2010
Although it appears you have me beat by five overall, and we are tied in the prestigious MeTa deletion category, cortex's explanation clearly disqualifies you.
posted by gman at 8:28 PM on September 22, 2010
This is neat - both because people (including me) are so interested in their own numbers, and the mods are so willing to provide them. Otherwise-invisible comment deletion is not exactly typical as a moderation choice in the arenas I'm used to, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the interest.
(I think I've had 3-5ish comments deleted from Ask, all no doubt well-deserved.)
posted by restless_nomad at 8:28 PM on September 22, 2010
(I think I've had 3-5ish comments deleted from Ask, all no doubt well-deserved.)
posted by restless_nomad at 8:28 PM on September 22, 2010
I'm still bitter that my epic calculation of the world's daily production of human snot was deleted, not least because it blemishes my 0,0,0 suckhole star.
posted by Rumple at 8:39 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Rumple at 8:39 PM on September 22, 2010
hippybear: there already is a MeFi Black.
speaking of which, I need to get my ass back there
i've said too much
posted by jtron at 8:52 PM on September 22, 2010
speaking of which, I need to get my ass back there
i've said too much
posted by jtron at 8:52 PM on September 22, 2010
Potomac Avenue
mefi 5/1802
meta 11/559
ask 0/524
total 16/2885
0.55%
gman
mefi 65/2358
meta 3/1464
ask 18/119
total 86/3941
2.18%
posted by koeselitz at 8:55 PM on September 22, 2010
mefi 5/1802
meta 11/559
ask 0/524
total 16/2885
0.55%
gman
mefi 65/2358
meta 3/1464
ask 18/119
total 86/3941
2.18%
posted by koeselitz at 8:55 PM on September 22, 2010
Of course this is all academic as the true champions of deleted comments are unlikely to ask for their own numbers.
posted by Justinian at 9:11 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Justinian at 9:11 PM on September 22, 2010
If a mod is still doing these, me please. I know I've got a bunch in Ask, but I can't remember any in grey or blue.
posted by juv3nal at 9:24 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by juv3nal at 9:24 PM on September 22, 2010
Oh unless that counts comments in posts that get deleted. In which case that would account for some on the blue.
posted by juv3nal at 9:25 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by juv3nal at 9:25 PM on September 22, 2010
juv3nal: 0, 21, 1
and I don't think this counts comments in posts that get deleted unless the comments were deleted before the post was. Not 100% sure on this one.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:36 PM on September 22, 2010
and I don't think this counts comments in posts that get deleted unless the comments were deleted before the post was. Not 100% sure on this one.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:36 PM on September 22, 2010
This is only comments that were themselves deleted. Undeleted comments in deleted posts don't come into it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:41 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:41 PM on September 22, 2010
I kinda wish I had more comments deleted. Sometimes I look back at what I've posted and cringe...
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:44 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:44 PM on September 22, 2010
That sounds right otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd have stuff for the blue.
posted by juv3nal at 9:45 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by juv3nal at 9:45 PM on September 22, 2010
ooh, can I have mine, too, before I tuck myself in?
snzz znk mumphhhh
posted by not_on_display at 9:53 PM on September 22, 2010
snzz znk mumphhhh
posted by not_on_display at 9:53 PM on September 22, 2010
not_on_display: 35, 147, 67You bad bad man. Spanking from the mod of your choice bad.
posted by Rumple at 10:24 PM on September 22, 2010
Mildly curious but really I'd rather nominate some more of my comments that didn't get deleted.
posted by msalt at 11:55 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by msalt at 11:55 PM on September 22, 2010
What am I, chopped liver?
posted by b33j at 1:27 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by b33j at 1:27 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think it's a much harder question that way. It's easy to flip a switch; and you're right, it isn't easy, but I think most people could be counted on to make that decision. However, this other case sharpens the dilemma; here, you have to take personal agency and actually directly kill a guy to save the people. I think that's tougher, and I think a majority of people probably couldn't do it. I don't think I could, anyway, even though I'm pretty sure it'd be right to.
I am also pleased to see that the wiki page contains the even stickier version:
A brilliant transplant surgeon has five patients, each in need of a different organ, each of whom will die without that organ. Unfortunately, there are no organs available to perform any of these five transplant operations. A healthy young traveler, just passing through the city the doctor works in, comes in for a routine checkup. In the course of doing the checkup, the doctor discovers that his organs are compatible with all five of his dying patients. Suppose further that if the young man were to disappear, no one would suspect the doctor.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:39 AM on September 23, 2010
I am also pleased to see that the wiki page contains the even stickier version:
A brilliant transplant surgeon has five patients, each in need of a different organ, each of whom will die without that organ. Unfortunately, there are no organs available to perform any of these five transplant operations. A healthy young traveler, just passing through the city the doctor works in, comes in for a routine checkup. In the course of doing the checkup, the doctor discovers that his organs are compatible with all five of his dying patients. Suppose further that if the young man were to disappear, no one would suspect the doctor.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:39 AM on September 23, 2010
And now I am officially closing up shop for the day!
Dude, WTF, I named a piece of my brain after you, doesn't that count for anything?!
posted by nomadicink at 6:16 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dude, WTF, I named a piece of my brain after you, doesn't that count for anything?!
posted by nomadicink at 6:16 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm curious, too. I'd guess most people are.
Is there any way to make this a user-visible-only part of one's profile? That way it wouldn't be competitive but we'd have a sense if and when we're seriously doing something wrong.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:18 AM on September 23, 2010
Is there any way to make this a user-visible-only part of one's profile? That way it wouldn't be competitive but we'd have a sense if and when we're seriously doing something wrong.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:18 AM on September 23, 2010
Judith Jarvis Thomson's essay on "The Trolley Problem."
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:25 AM on September 23, 2010
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:25 AM on September 23, 2010
That way it wouldn't be competitive but we'd have a sense if and when we're seriously doing something wrong.
I suspect the mods would get in touch with anybody who is seriously doing something wrong. Much as I'm a fan of MeFi stats in general, I think adding this to user profiles, even if only visible to the user, is probably not a good idea overall.
I can just see a certain class of already problematic users keeping a note of their current deleted comments count, and every time they see it going up by one, reviewing their comment history to figure out which one was deleted. Followed by an angry e-mail to the mods or an angry MeTa thread about it, which I don't think we are looking for ways to create more of.
Not that everyone who has comments deleted occasionally is going to do that, far from it. But I assume if the mods haven't tried to contact you about it, then it's not at a level where it's really a problem, so the feedback you might get from a visible count isn't useful anyway. And for those people where it is at a problematic level, it's better to let the mods initiate and manage that discussion, rather than have it be prompted by a counter ticking over steadily, so the feedback they'd get from a visible count is not only not useful, but actively harmful.
posted by FishBike at 6:30 AM on September 23, 2010
I suspect the mods would get in touch with anybody who is seriously doing something wrong. Much as I'm a fan of MeFi stats in general, I think adding this to user profiles, even if only visible to the user, is probably not a good idea overall.
I can just see a certain class of already problematic users keeping a note of their current deleted comments count, and every time they see it going up by one, reviewing their comment history to figure out which one was deleted. Followed by an angry e-mail to the mods or an angry MeTa thread about it, which I don't think we are looking for ways to create more of.
Not that everyone who has comments deleted occasionally is going to do that, far from it. But I assume if the mods haven't tried to contact you about it, then it's not at a level where it's really a problem, so the feedback you might get from a visible count isn't useful anyway. And for those people where it is at a problematic level, it's better to let the mods initiate and manage that discussion, rather than have it be prompted by a counter ticking over steadily, so the feedback they'd get from a visible count is not only not useful, but actively harmful.
posted by FishBike at 6:30 AM on September 23, 2010
It's pretty well policy that a metric allowing a race for king of the shit pile won't be displayed.
posted by Mitheral at 6:39 AM on September 23, 2010
posted by Mitheral at 6:39 AM on September 23, 2010
koeselitz, I think your headers are out of order,
nomisxid
mefi 0:812
meta 14:228
ask 0:841
total 14:1881
0.74%
14 ask deletions sounds about right for me.
posted by nomisxid at 8:26 AM on September 23, 2010
nomisxid
mefi 0:812
meta 14:228
ask 0:841
total 14:1881
0.74%
14 ask deletions sounds about right for me.
posted by nomisxid at 8:26 AM on September 23, 2010
Yeah - gman pointed that out. Fixing that at the moment, actually.
posted by koeselitz at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2010
"God, that trolley problem thing seems completely straightforward. Is there anyone who hesitates to answer "flip the switch"?"
Huh. I guess I'm a pragmatist.
The trolley problem is a test for whether you are a "consequentialist" in ethics - that is, if you believe that the main thing that makes an action right or wrong is its consequences n the circumstances. (Rather than, say, the intentions of the person acting, or the rights of the individuals involved, or whether the action fits with a rule of behavior you would endorse as an all-situations no-exceptions general rule.) So maybe you are a consequentialist.
A common version of consequentialism is "utilitarianism", according to which the consequence we're aiming for is to maximize the overall pleasure/happiness, and minimize the overall unhappiness/pain, that are felt by all feeling organisms in aggregate. (So a cartoon version of utilitarianism would say: kill one to save five, because we can disregard things like the "right" of the one not to be sacrificed, or the wrongness of deliberate killing under any circumstances, etc. this is supposed to illustrate a way that utilitarianism departs from some of our usual moral intuitions - utilitarianism says "no question, killing the one is the right thing to do", where I think our moral intuitions are more divided than that.) So maybe you are a utilitarian consequentialist.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:46 PM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Huh. I guess I'm a pragmatist.
The trolley problem is a test for whether you are a "consequentialist" in ethics - that is, if you believe that the main thing that makes an action right or wrong is its consequences n the circumstances. (Rather than, say, the intentions of the person acting, or the rights of the individuals involved, or whether the action fits with a rule of behavior you would endorse as an all-situations no-exceptions general rule.) So maybe you are a consequentialist.
A common version of consequentialism is "utilitarianism", according to which the consequence we're aiming for is to maximize the overall pleasure/happiness, and minimize the overall unhappiness/pain, that are felt by all feeling organisms in aggregate. (So a cartoon version of utilitarianism would say: kill one to save five, because we can disregard things like the "right" of the one not to be sacrificed, or the wrongness of deliberate killing under any circumstances, etc. this is supposed to illustrate a way that utilitarianism departs from some of our usual moral intuitions - utilitarianism says "no question, killing the one is the right thing to do", where I think our moral intuitions are more divided than that.) So maybe you are a utilitarian consequentialist.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:46 PM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
So – the stats above weren't totally borked – the percentages were correct, since they're of course cumulative. However, the ask and meta counts were flipped. Here they are again, fixed, and a bit more condensed so they don't take up the page; I also added a few. They're in alphabetical order, everyone whose count's been mentioned here, in case anyone in the world besides me cares:
bilabial
mefi 0:31, ask 6:975, meta 1:61, total 7:1067 = 0.66%
clavdivs
mefi 22:3329, ask 5:39, meta 0:1034, total 27:4402 = 0.61%
cortex
mefi 35:6049, ask 23:1363, meta 15:18473, total 73:25885 = 0.28%
gman
mefi 65:2358, ask 3:104, meta 18:1479, total 86:3941 = 2.18%
item
mefi 30:1619, ask 24:290, meta 3:818, total 57:2727 = 2.09%
jessamyn
mefi 16:2660, ask 57:7915, meta 18:10730, total 91:21305 = 0.43%
juv3nal
mefi 0:1572, ask 21:1452, meta 1:549, total 22:3573 = 0.62%
koeselitz
mefi 29:5729, ask 36:2435, meta 7:2448, total 72:10612 = 0.68%
malapropist
mefi 0:24, ask 1:90, meta 0:41, total 1:155 = 0.65%
maxwelton
mefi 5:2906, ask 7:445, meta 0:492, total 12:3843 = 0.31%
Mister_A
mefi 26:6166, ask 6:222, meta 1:3448, total 33:9836 = 0.34%
never used baby shoes
mefi 1:700, ask 0:88, meta 0:333, total 1:1121 = 0.09%
nomisxid
mefi 0:812, ask 14:855, meta 0:214, total 14:1881 = 0.74%
Potomac Avenue
mefi 5:1802, ask 11:535, meta 0:548, total 16:2885 = 0.55%
Ryvar
mefi 4:1658, ask 10:467, meta 2:1379, total 16:3504 = 0.46%
zarq
mefi 37:3633, ask 3:218, meta 4:1689, total 44:5540 = 0.79%
posted by koeselitz at 1:23 PM on September 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
bilabial
mefi 0:31, ask 6:975, meta 1:61, total 7:1067 = 0.66%
clavdivs
mefi 22:3329, ask 5:39, meta 0:1034, total 27:4402 = 0.61%
cortex
mefi 35:6049, ask 23:1363, meta 15:18473, total 73:25885 = 0.28%
gman
mefi 65:2358, ask 3:104, meta 18:1479, total 86:3941 = 2.18%
item
mefi 30:1619, ask 24:290, meta 3:818, total 57:2727 = 2.09%
jessamyn
mefi 16:2660, ask 57:7915, meta 18:10730, total 91:21305 = 0.43%
juv3nal
mefi 0:1572, ask 21:1452, meta 1:549, total 22:3573 = 0.62%
koeselitz
mefi 29:5729, ask 36:2435, meta 7:2448, total 72:10612 = 0.68%
malapropist
mefi 0:24, ask 1:90, meta 0:41, total 1:155 = 0.65%
maxwelton
mefi 5:2906, ask 7:445, meta 0:492, total 12:3843 = 0.31%
Mister_A
mefi 26:6166, ask 6:222, meta 1:3448, total 33:9836 = 0.34%
never used baby shoes
mefi 1:700, ask 0:88, meta 0:333, total 1:1121 = 0.09%
nomisxid
mefi 0:812, ask 14:855, meta 0:214, total 14:1881 = 0.74%
Potomac Avenue
mefi 5:1802, ask 11:535, meta 0:548, total 16:2885 = 0.55%
Ryvar
mefi 4:1658, ask 10:467, meta 2:1379, total 16:3504 = 0.46%
zarq
mefi 37:3633, ask 3:218, meta 4:1689, total 44:5540 = 0.79%
posted by koeselitz at 1:23 PM on September 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Two difficulties with that score are that people's contributions to the subsites are unequal, generally, and that the deletion "bar" is higher as you go from Metatalk, to Metafilter, and finally to Ask Metafilter.
I'm not sure what the percentage is supposed to communicate exactly, but someone who spends more time in AskMe and has a higher proportion of deletions could perhaps just be running into higher scrutiny over that subsite. Some weighting algorithm might be useful so that percentages can be comparable from user to user.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:41 PM on September 23, 2010
I'm not sure what the percentage is supposed to communicate exactly, but someone who spends more time in AskMe and has a higher proportion of deletions could perhaps just be running into higher scrutiny over that subsite. Some weighting algorithm might be useful so that percentages can be comparable from user to user.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:41 PM on September 23, 2010
Quick! Some more people ask for their numbers, otherwise I'm the second worst person on Ask that isn't a mod!
posted by juv3nal at 2:01 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by juv3nal at 2:01 PM on September 23, 2010
I'd ask for my counts but I'd probably have to disable my account in shame. Ignorance is strength.
posted by Justinian at 2:05 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by Justinian at 2:05 PM on September 23, 2010
Me! Please do me! I suspect it's quite low. I am the epitome of harmless, collegial banter.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 2:42 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by Baby_Balrog at 2:42 PM on September 23, 2010
If you're still computing, mods, I'd be curious about mine as well
posted by jtron at 2:48 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by jtron at 2:48 PM on September 23, 2010
I don't really want to know my delete count. Why remind the mods of all the mistakes they've made, deleting my perfectly good comments? (See how considerate I am?)
posted by crunchland at 2:51 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by crunchland at 2:51 PM on September 23, 2010
About 1 in 2 of my comments are deleted. I just know to continue on the true path. I mean, Payback never gave up...
posted by Biru at 4:02 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by Biru at 4:02 PM on September 23, 2010
This looks like one of those invite threads.
"All out of Gmail invites, people."
"Hey, anyone else have an invite?"
"I know you're all out, but can I get an invite?"
"I would be soooooo grateful if I could just get an invite!"
I kid because I care.
posted by niles at 5:03 PM on September 23, 2010
"All out of Gmail invites, people."
"Hey, anyone else have an invite?"
"I know you're all out, but can I get an invite?"
"I would be soooooo grateful if I could just get an invite!"
I kid because I care.
posted by niles at 5:03 PM on September 23, 2010
Not even Donald Westlake can create an exception to the rule: Mel Gibson characters do not provide models of good AskMe behavior.
posted by box at 5:32 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by box at 5:32 PM on September 23, 2010
Blazecock Pileon: “I'm not sure what the percentage is supposed to communicate exactly”
That I am better than Mister_A
posted by koeselitz at 6:55 PM on September 23, 2010
That I am better than Mister_A
posted by koeselitz at 6:55 PM on September 23, 2010
Baby_Balrog: 15, 16, 2
jtron: 3, 3, 1
Biru: 0, 43, 0
Anyone else we've missed?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2010
jtron: 3, 3, 1
Biru: 0, 43, 0
Anyone else we've missed?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:01 PM on September 23, 2010
“God, that trolley problem thing seems completely straightforward. Is there anyone who hesitates to answer ‘flip the switch’?”
What if you add a variable like 'the single person who will be killed is your child'? This introduces a variable that forces the person to calculate the value of one life over another. Otherwise, it's just abstract.
I wouldn't mind having a mod do me, if they're not too tired. I doubt it will mean much.
posted by dg at 9:28 PM on September 23, 2010
What if you add a variable like 'the single person who will be killed is your child'? This introduces a variable that forces the person to calculate the value of one life over another. Otherwise, it's just abstract.
I wouldn't mind having a mod do me, if they're not too tired. I doubt it will mean much.
posted by dg at 9:28 PM on September 23, 2010
Thanks - I'm a bit ashamed at having 6 comments deleted from AskMe, I must admit.
posted by dg at 9:55 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by dg at 9:55 PM on September 23, 2010
Looks like it was only two deleted comments and four "more inside" auto-deletions like I mentioned earlier. Specifically affects people who have been around since AskMe started.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:59 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:59 PM on September 23, 2010
Can I have mine? (You can email it to me.)
posted by not_on_display at 10:13 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by not_on_display at 10:13 PM on September 23, 2010
Thanks, Jessamyn! That puts me right about in Ryvar-land, percentage-wise.
honestly I thought there'd've been a lot more
posted by jtron at 11:54 PM on September 23, 2010
honestly I thought there'd've been a lot more
posted by jtron at 11:54 PM on September 23, 2010
This is fun! I don't think I've had too many deletions but I do remember my first -- I said something snarky about Forest Gump and poof! I couldn't believe it disappeared but admittedly, it taught me how the community works, and how this place isn't a dumping ground for my mighty opinions. That is a very Important Thing to learn in making a commitment to an internet community, and why I think the mods -- our mods, and Matt, natch -- are in the forefront of writing the rules for something new and fascinating -- how we co-exist and communicate in these environments.
posted by thinkpiece at 4:31 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by thinkpiece at 4:31 AM on September 24, 2010
Anyone else we've missed?
I'd like to know, too. Thanks!
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:58 AM on September 24, 2010
I'd like to know, too. Thanks!
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:58 AM on September 24, 2010
I'm too lurkish to have had more than four deletions, I reckon.
posted by h00py at 5:25 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by h00py at 5:25 AM on September 24, 2010
Curiosity gets the better of me. Can I see mine, too, please?
posted by rtha at 6:29 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by rtha at 6:29 AM on September 24, 2010
Well, since I posted this question originally...how about mine??
posted by dfriedman at 6:38 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by dfriedman at 6:38 AM on September 24, 2010
I might as well jump on this bandwagon. I'd love to have mine.
posted by bondcliff at 6:56 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by bondcliff at 6:56 AM on September 24, 2010
msalt: 8, 1, 0
anotherpanacea: 20, 4, 0
b33j: 1, 11, 0
box: 8, 125, 1
rtha: 9, 15, 3
dfriedman: 0, 164, 1
bondcliff: 17, 36, 0
The DF ratio initiative has been terminated due to lack of dicks and farts.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:04 AM on September 24, 2010
anotherpanacea: 20, 4, 0
b33j: 1, 11, 0
box: 8, 125, 1
rtha: 9, 15, 3
dfriedman: 0, 164, 1
bondcliff: 17, 36, 0
The DF ratio initiative has been terminated due to lack of dicks and farts.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:04 AM on September 24, 2010
i too am curious about my deleted count, but only because my Mefiversary was this week.
Mine is tomorrow! I turn four!
rtha: 9, 15, 3
Three from the grey? Really? Jesus. I feel worse about the nine from AskMe. I'll try to do better.
posted by rtha at 9:41 AM on September 24, 2010
Mine is tomorrow! I turn four!
rtha: 9, 15, 3
Three from the grey? Really? Jesus. I feel worse about the nine from AskMe. I'll try to do better.
posted by rtha at 9:41 AM on September 24, 2010
I think all of them were accidental, rtha. Like one comment intended for the wrong thread, a comment saying "oops wrong thread" and some other comment that I can't figure out what it was doing there, so I assume another wrong thread comment.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:43 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:43 AM on September 24, 2010
I'm initially astounded by some of the deleted comment counts, but then I see they're generally for people who have made a very large number of comments, so as a percentage of total comments, the deleted count may not be unusual.
What's the overall percentage of comments that get deleted in each of the subsites?
posted by FishBike at 9:49 AM on September 24, 2010
What's the overall percentage of comments that get deleted in each of the subsites?
posted by FishBike at 9:49 AM on September 24, 2010
All right, I can't resist any longer. Can I see my numbers?
The one that still sticks in my head was my intemperate response to a bit of veterinary idiocy on the green that still steams me. I reposted after the much-deserved delete and actually used my words, but... people food. Gah!
posted by restless_nomad at 9:49 AM on September 24, 2010
The one that still sticks in my head was my intemperate response to a bit of veterinary idiocy on the green that still steams me. I reposted after the much-deserved delete and actually used my words, but... people food. Gah!
posted by restless_nomad at 9:49 AM on September 24, 2010
bondcliff: 17, 36, 0
I had no idea I had that many. Christ, what an asshole.
posted by bondcliff at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2010
I had no idea I had that many. Christ, what an asshole.
posted by bondcliff at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2010
Oh, good. That means I have an accurate idea of my own obnoxiousness.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by restless_nomad at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2010
so, is it ok if I ask to see my numbers again? or are we done with that.
posted by shmegegge at 10:37 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by shmegegge at 10:37 AM on September 24, 2010
I had no idea I had that many.
We can send you the list of them. An awful lot of the AskMe ones are the more inside thing. We don't split them out on the admin side because we don't really scorekeep in this sort of way with the numbers so it doesn't matter how many were "righteous" deletes and how many were just system adjustments, but maybe half of yours are the latter.
shmeg: 27, 11, 8
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:40 AM on September 24, 2010
We can send you the list of them. An awful lot of the AskMe ones are the more inside thing. We don't split them out on the admin side because we don't really scorekeep in this sort of way with the numbers so it doesn't matter how many were "righteous" deletes and how many were just system adjustments, but maybe half of yours are the latter.
shmeg: 27, 11, 8
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:40 AM on September 24, 2010
Thanks for the offer, Jess. I'm torn because I'll probably regret what I see, but it might just help me figure out what sort of shit I need to cut the hell out. So, yeah, go ahead and send 'em if you can.
If you can send them with time stamps, that would help. I suspect my behavior has improved over the years.
posted by bondcliff at 11:00 AM on September 24, 2010
If you can send them with time stamps, that would help. I suspect my behavior has improved over the years.
posted by bondcliff at 11:00 AM on September 24, 2010
bondcliff, I sent something that might be readable to the email address in your profile, let me know if it works.
and n_o_d, you are 7, 5, 6.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:09 AM on September 24, 2010
and n_o_d, you are 7, 5, 6.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:09 AM on September 24, 2010
Sweet mercy. Consider myself duly chastised.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:15 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:15 AM on September 24, 2010
Can we get these numbers privately? 'Cause I'm dying to know my numbers but I'm scared that my counts may be embarrassingly high.
posted by Mitheral at 11:16 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by Mitheral at 11:16 AM on September 24, 2010
Can we get these numbers privately?
Sure, check your MeMail.
And also, we really don't see having a few comments deleted as a problem, really.
Sometimes these deletions are of the FTFY variety [someone made a typo, then posted "oops, typo" then we fixed the typo and removed the "oops" comment] some are out-of-place snark or grar, some are the AskMe blip we mentioned earlier. Some times people are quoting a now-deleted comment and we delete the people who are replying too because it reads funny otherwise. Once you're safely in the dozens-deleted arena you may be causing a bit of a problem, but again if you were causing a big problem you would have heard from us. So, don't worry about it. Or if you are worried about it, feel free to contact us and we can give you a more fine-grained look at whatever you've had deleted.
Some people have tics. They get pedantic about fixing other people's typos, or they react strongly whenever someone talks about having an outdoor cat, or they bitch about Silverlight all the time. None of this is really a terrible personality flaw site-wise but it might lead to a comment deletion or two. To put it in a little perspective, the person with the most flags of all time [which may not have a direct relationship to comment deletions] is at the 112, 40, 3 range over about five years. We don't see a 0, 0, 0 rating as anything to strive for really.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:28 AM on September 24, 2010
Sure, check your MeMail.
And also, we really don't see having a few comments deleted as a problem, really.
Sometimes these deletions are of the FTFY variety [someone made a typo, then posted "oops, typo" then we fixed the typo and removed the "oops" comment] some are out-of-place snark or grar, some are the AskMe blip we mentioned earlier. Some times people are quoting a now-deleted comment and we delete the people who are replying too because it reads funny otherwise. Once you're safely in the dozens-deleted arena you may be causing a bit of a problem, but again if you were causing a big problem you would have heard from us. So, don't worry about it. Or if you are worried about it, feel free to contact us and we can give you a more fine-grained look at whatever you've had deleted.
Some people have tics. They get pedantic about fixing other people's typos, or they react strongly whenever someone talks about having an outdoor cat, or they bitch about Silverlight all the time. None of this is really a terrible personality flaw site-wise but it might lead to a comment deletion or two. To put it in a little perspective, the person with the most flags of all time [which may not have a direct relationship to comment deletions] is at the 112, 40, 3 range over about five years. We don't see a 0, 0, 0 rating as anything to strive for really.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:28 AM on September 24, 2010
I think some of those six on MeTa were of the "my boyfriend should not walk into my workplace and laugh if I'm having a bad day" variety, and that the AskMe's were of the lulzy type. I'm curious as to what I said in the blue!
Anyway, thanks!
posted by not_on_display at 11:29 AM on September 24, 2010
Anyway, thanks!
posted by not_on_display at 11:29 AM on September 24, 2010
Thanks, Jess.
I guess I think of having a comment deleted the same way I think of spilling my drink in a restaurant. Nobody is going to care tomorrow, it's The Guy's job to clean it up and he gets paid the same either way, it's not a huge deal, it happens to everyone, but I still don't like making people do work on my behalf.
I shall now review the list you sent me and start a Metatalk thread for every one I disagree with. Stay tuned.
posted by bondcliff at 11:38 AM on September 24, 2010
I guess I think of having a comment deleted the same way I think of spilling my drink in a restaurant. Nobody is going to care tomorrow, it's The Guy's job to clean it up and he gets paid the same either way, it's not a huge deal, it happens to everyone, but I still don't like making people do work on my behalf.
I shall now review the list you sent me and start a Metatalk thread for every one I disagree with. Stay tuned.
posted by bondcliff at 11:38 AM on September 24, 2010
the person with the most flags of all time --- this might be a more meaningful number to know, as well as flags -> deletions, as in, if a comment is heavily flagged, does it necessarily get deleted.
On second thought, maybe it's better not to know how frequently one pisses off the community.
posted by crunchland at 11:53 AM on September 24, 2010
On second thought, maybe it's better not to know how frequently one pisses off the community.
posted by crunchland at 11:53 AM on September 24, 2010
jessamyn writes "Sure, check your MeMail."
Whew! 9:4327, 23:3520, 1:1985. Or 0.335%
posted by Mitheral at 11:59 AM on September 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Whew! 9:4327, 23:3520, 1:1985. Or 0.335%
posted by Mitheral at 11:59 AM on September 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
this might be a more meaningful number to know, as well as flags -> deletions, as in, if a comment is heavily flagged, does it necessarily get deleted.
The general rule of thumb is the more flags the more likely something is to get deleted, with some subsite specific caveats.
In AskMe pretty much any flags will get something looked at but we may not delete a heavily flagged comment if
- it's by the OP [we're more lenient with follow-up comments even if they're offy]
- it's saying something that a lot of people have already quoted and so can't be excised simply
- it's a quote that the person responsible for already explained/apologized for or whatever
- it was flagged for some fixable reason and we fixed that
- it's flagged by the same old axe-grinders who follow some people around AskMe [this is rare]
In MeTa we don't delete many comments at all but people flag a lot anyhow. We've discussed whether we need to change how the site work because the high number of flags seems to indicate that people maybe don't get that MeTa is different, but so far we've decied to leave things as is.
In MeFi things need to be flagged a few times before we'll give stuff a close look usually, unless it's a slow day. Sometimes heavily flagged comments get removed, sometimes they don't. A thing we see a lot on MeFi is that old comments suddenly get new attention and people flag stuff that is either several days or sometimes several weeks old. We rarely go back and delete old comments unless there's a really good reason and generally in MeFi except for early-threadshitting, we try to err on the side of non-deletion if there are any compelling reasons to not delete something. Often we'll remove heavily flagged comments that are at the end of a thread, but it's harder to remove a similarly flagged comment waaaay up in a thread.
We have a little spark line visualizer thing on the admin side user pages which shows how much a user has gotten flagged over time which can be helpful when you're looking at a lot of flags and thinking "is this person having a bad day, or is this person usually like this" but otherwise we don't brak out flags-by-subsite and don't pay much attention to them in the long run [either who is flagging or who hasbeen flagged] except to have a few aggregate lists that we don't even look at much.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:09 PM on September 24, 2010
The general rule of thumb is the more flags the more likely something is to get deleted, with some subsite specific caveats.
In AskMe pretty much any flags will get something looked at but we may not delete a heavily flagged comment if
- it's by the OP [we're more lenient with follow-up comments even if they're offy]
- it's saying something that a lot of people have already quoted and so can't be excised simply
- it's a quote that the person responsible for already explained/apologized for or whatever
- it was flagged for some fixable reason and we fixed that
- it's flagged by the same old axe-grinders who follow some people around AskMe [this is rare]
In MeTa we don't delete many comments at all but people flag a lot anyhow. We've discussed whether we need to change how the site work because the high number of flags seems to indicate that people maybe don't get that MeTa is different, but so far we've decied to leave things as is.
In MeFi things need to be flagged a few times before we'll give stuff a close look usually, unless it's a slow day. Sometimes heavily flagged comments get removed, sometimes they don't. A thing we see a lot on MeFi is that old comments suddenly get new attention and people flag stuff that is either several days or sometimes several weeks old. We rarely go back and delete old comments unless there's a really good reason and generally in MeFi except for early-threadshitting, we try to err on the side of non-deletion if there are any compelling reasons to not delete something. Often we'll remove heavily flagged comments that are at the end of a thread, but it's harder to remove a similarly flagged comment waaaay up in a thread.
We have a little spark line visualizer thing on the admin side user pages which shows how much a user has gotten flagged over time which can be helpful when you're looking at a lot of flags and thinking "is this person having a bad day, or is this person usually like this" but otherwise we don't brak out flags-by-subsite and don't pay much attention to them in the long run [either who is flagging or who hasbeen flagged] except to have a few aggregate lists that we don't even look at much.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:09 PM on September 24, 2010
I'm generally a shy sort around here and like to think that I don't say anything too controversial. So pretty please, can I have mine so I can confirm?
posted by ms.v. at 1:10 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by ms.v. at 1:10 PM on September 24, 2010
I've copy-pasted every comment I've made into a Notepad/GEdit document I keep open on my desktop at all times (and back-up regularly) so, even though I'm curious to count them up and read back a bit, there's really no need for y'all to run the numbers on my account. I've got 'em highlighted on the printouts here.
posted by carsonb at 1:42 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by carsonb at 1:42 PM on September 24, 2010
ms.v., you've got a perfect record. Way to be!
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:16 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:16 PM on September 24, 2010
Thanks for doing mine. I'm quietly horrified that I've been so naughty.
posted by b33j at 3:09 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by b33j at 3:09 PM on September 24, 2010
OK if this is still going on I gotta get on the shame wagon. And if you're not burned out, and it's not a shitload (is it? maybe especially if it is) could I get a copy of them?
posted by cmoj at 1:42 PM on September 25, 2010
posted by cmoj at 1:42 PM on September 25, 2010
you're 3, 25, 0 and I'll send them to you in MeMail. They're a bit context free, ask if you have questions.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:31 PM on September 25, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:31 PM on September 25, 2010
no need for detail, but I am wondering about myself (as well as my self-banned former secret identity)...
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:23 PM on September 25, 2010
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:23 PM on September 25, 2010
I only remember one comment of mine that's been deleted -- a big jokey ASCII version of a desired painting in an artwork ID AskMe after the sought-after work had been found. It was before I got the memo that AskMe is Serious Business. Actually, I believe that particular deletion was the cluestick for imparting that important lesson.
So in the spirit of continuing education, could you please send me a backlog of my deleted stuff too? Assuming it's not, you know, a lot. *crosses fingers*
posted by Rhaomi at 3:21 PM on September 26, 2010
So in the spirit of continuing education, could you please send me a backlog of my deleted stuff too? Assuming it's not, you know, a lot. *crosses fingers*
posted by Rhaomi at 3:21 PM on September 26, 2010
You're 6, 11 and 0. I'll MeMail you the comments.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:39 PM on September 26, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:39 PM on September 26, 2010
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posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 8:00 AM on September 22, 2010