Do you want an answer or a smug explanation of what's wrong with your question?

November 3, 2010 9:20 AM

If you're not getting the answers you want at AskMe, Wired has a handy flowchart to help you decide which social search site is best for you.
posted by 23skidoo to MetaFilter-Related at 9:20 AM (55 comments total)

Let me give you a smug explanation of what's wrong with this post, nerd.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:22 AM on November 3, 2010 [14 favorites]

I guess Wired is mercifully unaware of the Tar Pits of RelationshipFilter.
posted by Gator at 9:24 AM on November 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

That's funny, I see very little grammar correction on Quora.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:25 AM on November 3, 2010

Pssh. I guess Wired is okay for people of the lower echelons.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 9:27 AM on November 3, 2010

Hmm... if Wired thinks Ask Metafilter is the high temple for nerd-related questions, smug explanations notwithstanding, they surely haven't seen Stack Overflow.
posted by RichardP at 9:33 AM on November 3, 2010 [8 favorites]

Tired.
posted by flabdablet at 9:37 AM on November 3, 2010 [6 favorites]

If anything, I'd like to see much much more nerdiness in AskMe question and smugness in AskMe answers. Even at the cost of some misspelling.
posted by DU at 9:40 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's been so difficult for me to admit to myself how over the hill Wired is.
posted by rhizome at 9:41 AM on November 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

Well c'mon, I mean it's not like they're even called Wireless.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:44 AM on November 3, 2010 [9 favorites]

yeah... that is either bad humor or a bad flow chart... not sure which...
posted by HuronBob at 9:47 AM on November 3, 2010

Well, I'm going to give them partial credit for at least spelling 'ask metafilter' correctly.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:50 AM on November 3, 2010

Chart created by MeFi's own emptyage actually.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:52 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've never heard of half of these sites. Am I still allowed to participate around here?
posted by Think_Long at 9:52 AM on November 3, 2010

The only Wired I care about is the Bob Woodward biography of John Belushi.

No, not really.
posted by box at 9:59 AM on November 3, 2010

I always want smug nerd answers, as quickly as possible. So I'm in the right place apparently, who else will really quickly give me the names of ten comics to buy my kid?

(although THANKS FOR THAT, I'm over £300 down on Amazon and Spider Jerusalem snark has taken over my house)
posted by shinybaum at 10:11 AM on November 3, 2010

Apparently emptyage has a special browser that allows it to see only deleted answers from Ask MetaFilter or it wouldn't make the grossly inaccurate snark about "a smug explanation of what's wrong with your question." Or maybe they're reading MetaTalk THINKING it's AskMetafilter.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:47 AM on November 3, 2010

Having grammar corrections is a good thing? How about spelling?
posted by Cranberry at 10:50 AM on November 3, 2010

I'm very wary of all these companies wanting to mine my private life and demanding a facebook or twitter login.
So here I am on mefi; nobody I know in real life is on mefi. (yes, I'm sure)
I love that.
posted by joost de vries at 11:04 AM on November 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Dad!
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:28 AM on November 3, 2010 [6 favorites]

The 'Do you like working your way through tedious decision trees?' NO arrow leading back to the start point was rich.
posted by carsonb at 11:36 AM on November 3, 2010 [7 favorites]

Wired only exists to remind us to mourn Mondo 2000, in the same way the BoingBoing only exists to remind us to grieve the awesome zine that it once was.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:42 AM on November 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

BoingBoing only exists to remind us to grieve the awesome zine that it once was.

Wait I thought that's what Metafilter comments were for.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:46 AM on November 3, 2010

AskMe is actually pretty mediocre for real nerd stuff. StackOverflow is definitely the king of that hill. AskMe is good for hipster trivia and/or trying to suss out some local knowledge that's really hard to find like the best cupcake place in Topeka, etc.
posted by GuyZero at 11:48 AM on November 3, 2010

Do you want facts or opinions-->FACTS-->Do you want them to be in any way relevant, or will just some random facts do?-->RANDOM-->Wolfram Alpha!
posted by Artw at 11:48 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wired only exists to remind us to mourn Mondo 2000

Dude. Seriously?

Reading Mondo 2000 was like listening to stoners talk about the meaning of the universe. Maaaaaaaannnnnn. They seemed to think it was deep. The rest of just heard Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudddddde! over and over.
posted by GuyZero at 11:50 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but the colours on those photoshop filters!
posted by Artw at 11:51 AM on November 3, 2010

I got stuck trying to figure out how to get to the rest of the chart, and I was all like "this chart's BROKEN!" before I realized I missed the "answers" arrow and was following the "smug explanation" direction every time.

I think I'm supposed to learn something from this experience, but I'm not sure what.
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:58 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Needs more Stack Overflow.
posted by schmod at 12:08 PM on November 3, 2010

Do you need an answer to your coding question, or a bunch of SEO bullcrap?
Answer: Stack Overflow
SEO bullcrap: Every other stupid annoying coding site. No I do not want to sign up for your stupid thing, die already, die die die.
posted by Artw at 12:11 PM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

Apparently emptyage has a special browser that allows it to see only deleted answers from Ask MetaFilter or it wouldn't make the grossly inaccurate snark about "a smug explanation of what's wrong with your question." Or maybe they're reading MetaTalk THINKING it's AskMetafilter.

Nah. They know how cool AskMeTa is and don't want to tip off the hoi polloi.
posted by Karmakaze at 12:16 PM on November 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

I just went over to stack overflow thinking "NNEEEERRRDSSSS...my kinda people" and if the question is Assigning, mutable to immutable array? I don't have an answer, and any answer is not going to be something interesting, apart from ITS NOT MUTABLE!!!!! Because that's not nerd stuff, that is just work.
posted by zenon at 12:21 PM on November 3, 2010

Note: I have no idea if assigning mutable to an immutable array isn't obviously illogical, it just looked like the "funnest"* one to pull out.

*weeeeeeeee........ coding headaches!
posted by zenon at 12:25 PM on November 3, 2010

AskMe is actually pretty mediocre for real nerd stuff. StackOverflow is definitely the king of that hill.

Yep.
posted by Kwine at 12:43 PM on November 3, 2010

who else will really quickly give me the names of ten comics to buy my kid?

I spent a good thirty seconds wondering why on earth you'd be wanting to sell your kid to stand-up comedians. Specifically, I mean.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:02 PM on November 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

Smug Nerd.

And just like that, I have yet another title for a business card.
posted by quin at 1:26 PM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

And just like that, I have yet another title for a business card.

If you rate well this quarter you may move up to "Staff Smug Nerd".

I myself am "Senior Smug Nerd".

So back of the line, kiddo.
posted by GuyZero at 1:35 PM on November 3, 2010

Hey now, I'm also a Minor Internet Celebrity. So I will go to the back of the line, but only because I'm told that's where the cool people hang out.
posted by quin at 1:40 PM on November 3, 2010

Chart created by MeFi's own emptyage actually.

So this chart on Wired is just a roundabout way of telling us we're being too smug on AskMe, without having to bring it up on MetaTalk? Well played, emptyage, well played.
posted by davejay at 1:54 PM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

AskMe is actually pretty mediocre for real nerd stuff. StackOverflow is definitely the king of that hill.

Only for one kind of nerd stuff.
posted by grouse at 2:01 PM on November 3, 2010

Wait, I missed a comics recommendation question? Dammit.
posted by Artw at 2:50 PM on November 3, 2010

BoingBoing only exists to remind us to grieve the awesome zine that it once was.

That's how I feel about The Onion. People were complaining about how it's not as cool as it once was. I've thought that every since it went online!

I loved that physical paper. A much better parody when it's a physical product.
posted by cjorgensen at 4:33 PM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

A much better parody when it's a physical product.

It still is available as a physical product.*

*Offer void where prohibited, or because your city isn't cool enough to get the Onion print edition
posted by drezdn at 5:03 PM on November 3, 2010

The Onion's got one of the better weekly crosswords (and I'm thrilled to live in a city where the print edition is bountiful!) but yeah, things ain't what they used to be.
posted by SpiffyRob at 5:52 PM on November 3, 2010

The onion av club has far eclipsed the parody, at least in my eyes.
posted by Think_Long at 6:34 PM on November 3, 2010

I just went over to stack overflow thinking "NNEEEERRRDSSSS...my kinda people" and if the question is Assigning, mutable to immutable array? I don't have an answer, and any answer is not going to be something interesting, apart from ITS NOT MUTABLE!!!!! Because that's not nerd stuff, that is just work.
posted by zenon at 2:21 PM on November 3 [+] [!]

zenon- stackoverflow is just the most prominent in a set of sites (all running essentially the same software) collectively called stackexchange. There might be one more suited to your tastes. For example, if stackoverflow turned you off because it was about the practice of programming rather than theoretical computer science, there's cstheory.stackexchange.com. If you were thinking of "nerd" in a more general sense than programming, there are plenty of other stackexchange sites that might have a bearing on your interests, like gaming or photography.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 4:06 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

AskMe is actually pretty mediocre for real nerd stuff. StackOverflow is definitely the king of that hill.

I'm pretty sure this thread proves the graphic's accuracy.

also, I thought it was cute and chuckled several times.
posted by victors at 11:40 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Smug?" Really? I find a lot of people on here pretty forgiving (sure, we can all be pricks at times, but it feels like a community to me). When considered in relation to the rest of the fucking web it's a pretty dramatic difference actually. We're talking about the green here, not the blue or grey, right?

I'm taking this a little personally, which is funny.
posted by dubitable at 6:45 PM on November 4, 2010

So this chart on Wired is just a roundabout way of telling us we're being too smug on AskMe, without having to bring it up on MetaTalk? Well played, emptyage, well played.

Except...we're now talking about it on MetaTalk right now. WTF, my head is spinning.
posted by dubitable at 6:50 PM on November 4, 2010

Jpfed: I was totally joking - the stackexchange has a sub unit dedicated to board games and cards, which again is a pretty specific type of nerd that would active there, and certainly not work (for most of us anyway). That said there is a defiant slant towards pro over there, with most forums looking a great deal like IT work, which is what I do, but thankfully I am an amateur*, and so I am over here mucking about.

*I have snuck over to the stackexchange once or twice (TEX!), and it was pretty helpfull.
posted by zenon at 7:10 PM on November 4, 2010

I don't understand. I can't get the flowchart to send me here.
posted by nat at 12:09 AM on November 5, 2010

I was given a copy of the Onion print edition a few years ago and was surprised that it was an actual proper paper rather than just a snarky few-page-long pamphlet.

I find for specific nerd things, it's sometimes easier to find specific nerd fora - Craftster and Specktra, for example. Everything else goes on AskMe, as long as it's not too British.
posted by mippy at 4:07 AM on November 5, 2010

I see very little grammar correction on Quora

Jessamyn I know it are because you talk so nice and good! Them Quorans are forever changing the way words are in mine questions to make them pretty up.

And for my money, there's still no better question and answer site than AskMeFi, nerds.
posted by emptyage at 5:46 PM on November 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

<3
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:48 PM on November 5, 2010

so this thread is still open for disus...about
oh shit.
posted by clavdivs at 5:40 PM on November 23, 2010

Wired only exists to remind us to mourn Mondo 2000 ... OMNI Magazine.
posted by crunchland at 5:16 PM on November 27, 2010