Shit Someone's Dad Says? May 18, 2011 12:51 PM   Subscribe

Why did "Kid tells his 81 year old Dad that The Twitter is a search engine" stay on the blue?

Yeah, yeah, I flagged it. But it bothers me.

As Riki riki put it:

Option 1: this is real, and someone is having their privacy invaded and published to the world by their own child.
Option 2: this is fake, and the joke is essentially "Old people are fucking morons! LOL"
Option 3: this is fake, and the joke is "People are fucking jerks who will laugh at Options 1 and 2! LOL"
Option 4: this is Skynet trying to distract us while it reprograms our nukes.


It seems like this is bad for Metafilter, whether it's bald-faced-liar trolling, or let's-publicly-humiliate-an-old-man trolling.
posted by overeducated_alligator to Etiquette/Policy at 12:51 PM (81 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

Nah, all of those options are fine for MetaFilter.
posted by Plutor at 12:52 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


I mean, #4 is borderline, I guess.
posted by Plutor at 12:52 PM on May 18, 2011 [21 favorites]


I'm waiting for more substantial headlines to come out before I make a Skynet FPP.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 12:53 PM on May 18, 2011


I agree that it was pretty dumb, and if I'd seen it right when it went up I probably would have nixed it. But it got rolling overnight, and it's more just dumb than maliciously dumb as far as posts goes, and, eh.

As it is, I think it was more people having a laugh about the idea of mis-sent searches, but I thought the deconstruction as per Riki tiki's comment was kind of decent conversation about why this stuff exists, why it makes the rounds, and why past the lulzy premise it's kind of complicated to do so.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:55 PM on May 18, 2011


Getting old sucks.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:07 PM on May 18, 2011


Didn't love it, but by the time I went to bed it didn't get near deleteworthy on flags alone. Sometimes meh posts stay up.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:11 PM on May 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


It is some super weak sauce for sure, but I don't see how it explicitly breaks any guidelines, and yeah, the discussion going on is bearing some fruit so...
posted by ifjuly at 1:11 PM on May 18, 2011


Getting old sucks.

It sure does, but it beats the alternative.
posted by entropicamericana at 1:15 PM on May 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


Some days it does. Not today, though.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:16 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Speaking as an old man, I'd just like to say that I don't mind a bit of humiliation.

I've said too much.
posted by Decani at 1:23 PM on May 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


Getting old sucks
anagram
Dog licks get nuts
posted by found missing at 1:32 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


I would have found it much funnier with one more layer of dispbelief, ie.:

Matthew Perry guest stars on 30 Rock as Liz's ex-boyfriend, a twitchy insomniac with an unjustifiable ego who wants her to get him a TV deal for his show about his nonexistent 81 year old dad, which he reveals on his Twitter account;

everyone believes that it's real except for Twofer, who makes a speech in the writer's room about how mass-media make people into intellectually docile sheep, followed by a moment of silent contemplation, which Frank breaks by farting.

Everyone laughs, still not taking Twofer's wisdom seriously, someone changes the subject annnnnd cut!

This is why there are literally no innately bad ideas in humor-- it's all in how it's presented.
posted by herbplarfegan at 1:35 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


A "kid" has a dad who's 81?
posted by drjimmy11 at 2:10 PM on May 18, 2011


Bloody deletionists.
posted by Justinian at 2:11 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


post that annoys me not deleted + why site:metatalk.metafilter.com
posted by mullacc at 2:29 PM on May 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


A "kid" has a dad who's 81?

Yeah, Larry King already has a twitter account! HI-OH!
posted by mullacc at 2:36 PM on May 18, 2011


Dog licks get nuts

Well, in fairness, I've given my pup a peanut when I got home from work and he gave me a happy-to-see-me slobber on the hand.

So yeah, dog licks do get nuts. Also, ear skritchies and "whosagoodboy?" inquiries.
posted by quin at 2:41 PM on May 18, 2011


Dog licks get nuts

Gross. Some things are best kept to yourself.
posted by gman at 2:51 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Dear Whosagoodboy,

I never believed it could happen to me...

-Cesar Millan
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:56 PM on May 18, 2011


Hmmm. So what is Google? Another fake?
posted by Namlit at 3:10 PM on May 18, 2011


Getting old sucks.

It sure does, but it beats the alternative.


Being an eternally young vampire ?

Well, in fairness, I've given my pup a peanut when I got home from work and he gave me a happy-to-see-me slobber on the hand.

Just remember where else he puts that tongue. That's right -- dog licks nuts. Among other body parts.
posted by y2karl at 3:15 PM on May 18, 2011


Dog licks get nuts
posted by found missing at 8:32 PM

Dog nuts get licks FTFY
posted by dash_slot- at 3:15 PM on May 18, 2011


Donuts get licks, G.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:17 PM on May 18, 2011


Don't get licked donuts, though.
posted by Namlit at 3:38 PM on May 18, 2011


Don't get licked donuts, though.

I didn't get 'em either, til I tried it. And now I'll never go back.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:07 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


You should tried licked holes.
posted by found missing at 5:30 PM on May 18, 2011


I like that when SkyNet finally does come online, there's a high likelihood that it will be named SkyNet because its creators will think that's a funny reference.
posted by contraption at 5:45 PM on May 18, 2011 [13 favorites]


What is all this? I'm just looking for www.usedcar.com.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:45 PM on May 18, 2011


ssshhhh! Hush now, contraption! You're going to ruin everything!

*picks up soldering iron
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:55 PM on May 18, 2011


I'm on Skynet now.

I often wonder how many of my neighbors are worried by the little locked icon next to my wireless network when they're looking for a connection.
posted by maryr at 6:12 PM on May 18, 2011


my little locked icon,
she won't let me in
i need to connect,
but where to begin?
whatever i do,
lord i just can't win
my little locked icon,
she won't let me in
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:32 PM on May 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


This think it stayed because it is HILARIOUS.
posted by two lights above the sea at 6:36 PM on May 18, 2011


You are making no sense; have you been licking donuts?
posted by found missing at 6:39 PM on May 18, 2011


Well, overeducated_alligator (overeducated_alligator: MeFi: 11 posts, MetaTalk: 5 posts, Ask MeFi: 18 questions ), I guess when you're someone who make more FPPs than Asks (Contributions by orthogonality: MeFi: 181 posts, MetaTalk: 37 posts, Ask MeFi: 34 questions)

sometimes you make a swing and a miss. That's a consequence of getting up to bat a lot more often than a minor leaguer.


It seems like this is bad for Metafilter

Yeah, it amused people enough to garner 113 comments (hint: that's more comments than any of your FPPs have gotten), and it got Matt a lot of page views, but I'm sure you're right, we'll never be the same after losing our innocence over a link. A link. To something. Bad.
"A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before, there is something interesting about the content on the page, and it might warrant discussion from others"
Judging by your other Metatalk posts, you do seem a bit obsessed concerned with bad posts, Mr. Alligator. It's so, uh, refreshing, when someone new comes by and is so concerned that he appoints himself a member of the neighborhood watch.

It's too bad you didn't catch us sooner; you might have saved us all form the very bad not good terrible horrible link. Bravo sir! You might have saved all those benighted people, who lacking your sensitivity, commented in that bad bad thread.

Unlike Brave Sir Robin Alligator, who rather than express his doubts in-thread, which would have been perfectly legitimate, flagged and then, still feeling a metaphorical itch from an existential rash, posted this holier-than-thou metatalk.

Incidentally, it's considered polite to post in the thread you're calling out a link to your metatalk call-out, and I like to go further and memail whomever I'm going to be criticizing. I just think that's fair play. But I understand, you were on a mission! To save Metafilter! From a bad post! and so didn't have time to waste on details.

But no worries, we'll forever be grateful for your self-appointed action to clean house, because God knows, if overeducated_alligator doesn't like a post, it's a bad post for Metafilter.
posted by orthogonality at 8:36 PM on May 18, 2011


Pie, anyone?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:38 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


hint: that's more comments than any of your FPPs have gotten --- It's not a contest. Furthermore, I think your post sucked, too. Do you want to take out your dick measuring stick with me, too?
posted by crunchland at 8:46 PM on May 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


Ortho, you're a hateful troll and I guessed you'd react this way and embarrass yourself as soon as you saw this thread. Go ahead and quote my stats at me and dig through my history; I don't give a shit.
posted by Toothless Willy at 8:47 PM on May 18, 2011


That's a consequence of getting up to bat a lot more often than a minor leaguer.

You are acting like an asshole. Please cut it out.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:50 PM on May 18, 2011 [6 favorites]


I don't care about orthogonality's stats. As far as I'm concerned, he's overpaid, and that rage is an indication that he's on steroids.
posted by found missing at 8:51 PM on May 18, 2011 [5 favorites]


Not the best post in the world, but as others said, the comments saved it. Probably not call-out worthy.

Part of MeFi's culture is that we're welcoming to newcomers. Snippy responses to people who are feeling their way doesn't help that so please cut it out.
posted by arcticseal at 8:52 PM on May 18, 2011


Do you want to take out your dick measuring stick with me, too?

But that's precisely my point: criticism from you, someone who has "paid his dues", I'm much more inclined to take seriously than criticism from the peanut gallery.

And truly: as you make more more posts, likelyhood increases that some will be "meh".

What I don't like is people who barely contribute playing arm-chair quarterback. If someone thinks he can do better, be my guest. Do that, rather than second-guess me.
posted by orthogonality at 8:57 PM on May 18, 2011


Ortho can be the scorecarding & hierarchizing team captain.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:57 PM on May 18, 2011


it amused people enough to garner 113 comments (hint: that's more comments than any of your FPPs have gotten), and it got Matt a lot of page views, but I'm sure you're right, we'll never be the same after losing our innocence over a link. A link. To something. Bad.

You are being a weird creep about this and you need to knock it off. Your post was fine, some people didn't like it. It is ALWAYS okay to come to Meta for any reason and talk about whether a post is good for MetaFilter or not. Don't do this.

And, to the larger uptick in "you're a troll" "he's a troll" "she's trolling us" accusations: please stop it. If people are trolling they will go away if people don't get trolled by them. Or they'll settle down and be decent community members. If people have differences of opinion that other people think are trolling, people can engage them civilly and discuss things. MetaFilter is not and will not become a bastion of trolls. The larger problem is whether it becomes a place where troll accusations fester all the time. I'd like people to be more constructive in their responses to other people here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:57 PM on May 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


Well, overeducated_alligator (overeducated_alligator: MeFi: 11 posts, MetaTalk: 5 posts, Ask MeFi: 18 questions ), I guess when you're someone who make more FPPs than Asks (Contributions by orthogonality: MeFi: 181 posts, MetaTalk: 37 posts, Ask MeFi: 34 questions) sometimes you make a swing and a miss. That's a consequence of getting up to bat a lot more often than a minor leaguer.

And that's another dinger knocked over the fence at Jackass Park! Way to go, slugger!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:00 PM on May 18, 2011 [3 favorites]


Ortho, you're a hateful troll and I guessed you'd react this way and embarrass yourself as soon as you saw this thread. Go ahead and quote my stats at me and dig through my history; I don't give a shit.

Wow. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about me and how I'll react? It's funny, especially given that I had no idea that you or your (history-less) account even existed.

Are you a second account of someone we've heard of? Are you like, my stalker or something?
posted by orthogonality at 9:25 PM on May 18, 2011


Are you like, my stalker or something?

If a person tends to talk a lot of shit, people are liable to pick up on it. On a side note, what is up with you and stalking accusations? I've noticed* that you tend to toss that sort of thing out with a certain regularity.








*While stalking you.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:32 PM on May 18, 2011


Stop digging, Orthogonality.
posted by crunchland at 9:47 PM on May 18, 2011


Or at least start digging orthogonally.
posted by dersins at 10:03 PM on May 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


i think it's hilarious
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:17 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think you guys should cut orthogonality some slack, 2289 answers last time I looked. That is a good contribution to a community. The other guy who started this, not so much. Seems he flagged it and didn't move on, called the poster out and got pissed on from a large height. Such is meta.
posted by adamvasco at 12:14 AM on May 19, 2011


Hierarchy by answers/post count/favorites =! "such is meta"

(I mean, I could have saved myself trouble and skipped your comment altogether, you 18ker.)
posted by Joseph Gurl at 12:26 AM on May 19, 2011


Indeed such is meta. However your lawn is very far away so I shall ignore it.
posted by adamvasco at 1:33 AM on May 19, 2011


I see that there is a new pastime developing here, apart from pie making and donut licking: digging in people's posting history. Can't wait for the scientific outcome. This site would provide enough data for a sociological postdoc, with three attached PhDs. (Or expressed otherwise: this isn't anything to do lightly and/or while you're fending off alligators. Social media statistics have to be treated with dignity. And pie. I still want pie).
posted by Namlit at 1:34 AM on May 19, 2011


First, let me apologize to overeducated_alligator; he bore the full brunt of what's been a frustration building in me over time, when he was merely the final straw.

His call-out I'm sure is meant earnestly and in the best interests of Metafilter.

But, overeducated_alligator, if you're going to make a call-out, if you're going to say "X is bad", please do more than quote another user's comment (Riki tiki's), especially when there's a subtle difference between your meaning and his.

Or at least quote it in full: you left off the part where Riki tiki concludes
"There is no option in which the creator of this Twitter account is not either a colossal asshole and/or an evil AI trying to kill us",
changing it to your
"It seems like this is bad for Metafilter, whether it's bald-faced-liar trolling, or let's-publicly-humiliate-an-old-man trolling"
which seems to imply I was the troll for posting it. I'm sure you didn't mean that, but that's how it came across.

And as as I mentioned above, it's just polite to mention to your call-out in the post at to the poster. Not to mention necessary if you really want a balanced discussion about it.

But regardless, I got overwrought, and I apologize. I fully agree with jessamyn that any user old or new, should be able to post whatever metatalk they want.

Nor did I ever say otherwise; my complaint about your contributions was just what I said above: when you make a lot of posts, some are really good and some are merely ok. Law of averages. If you don't make a lot of posts, but you complain about the posts others make, I think it's not unfair to suggest that you show us what youthink we're missing. Maybe you can show us how it's done, or maybe you'll be more sympathetic when some of your own posts don't hit the bull's-eye.


And I guess I really don't understand the intent behind flagging; I've almost never flagged any post or comments other than my own, and only when they contain a formatting error. My feeling is, there'll be a half a dozen more posts along any minute, so chances are you'll be able to find one you like.

What annoys about flagging and worse, complaining is what I talked about over a year ago:
With all due respect to Mainers, lesbians, Christians, BoingBoing fans, and Purple People Eaters, there's a difference between "terribly offensive" and "somebody said something on the internet that I disagree with!"

Ands it's troubling to me to see several Metatalk posts lately that essentially come down to people asking either that their opinions be group-validated, or that opinions they don't like be removed by the mods.

I don't want a clean, inoffensive, sanitized Metafilter where comments are policed or worse, self-censored for fear of provoking a callout. Sure, remove direct personal insults ("User X is a knob!"), but this "you were insensitive to my kind of people" crap is getting out of hand.

If you disagree with someone's opinion, refute them in the thread or don't read the thread -- but please stop asking for the mods to protect you from reading things you disagree with.
It seems lately that Metafilter has become pockmarked with Helen Lovejoys, running around and flagging and hand-wringingly asking, "Won't somebody think of the children!"

Now I realize that overeducated_alligator isn't complaining that some protected class's ox has been gored, and is instead concerned about -- well, I'm not exactly sure, because overeducated_alligator never really spells it out. But the desired outcome -- remove the post -- is the same.

The difference between Riki tiki's comment and this callout is that Riki tiki is discussing the thing posted about (is the Twitter account fake?), while overeducated_alligator is saying "we shouldn't even have discussed the Twitter account -- that was wrong." Which just strikes me as absurd.

Yes, perhaps if the post had been the only publicity about that account. But the Twiter account was out there, it was public, there was no pulling it back, and it was (somewhat) interesting and worthy of discussion. We can't have that discussion? Reddit can have it, Slashdot can have it, Fark can have it, but we're too elite, or too fragile? Come on.

Again, I did over-react, and for that I apologize. That said, I still maintain that this call-out is vague and hand-wringing, and that what's bad for Metafilter is that we've collectively gotten too thinned-skinned, and far too ready to complain to the mods whenever we see a post or comment that we don't like.
posted by orthogonality at 2:47 AM on May 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


For what it's worth, which is nothing, I agree with orthogonality's last post.
posted by joannemullen at 3:50 AM on May 19, 2011


Or at least quote it in full: you left off the part where Riki tiki concludes
"There is no option in which the creator of this Twitter account is not either a colossal asshole and/or an evil AI trying to kill us",
changing it to your
"It seems like this is bad for Metafilter, whether it's bald-faced-liar trolling, or let's-publicly-humiliate-an-old-man trolling"
which seems to imply I was the troll for posting it.


I never meant this to be a personal complaint against you at all or against the quality of your posts. The troll I was referring to was whoever made the Twitter account.

Please believe me that I didn't make this MetaTalk post to rhetorically demand that the post be deleted. I was sincerely asking why this in particular made it through, when I have noticed other posts of a similar is-this-real-or-what tenor get deleted.

We can't have that discussion? Reddit can have it, Slashdot can have it, Fark can have it, but we're too elite, or too fragile? Come on.

I'm going to say yes on the "elite" part. I love reddit, but it has its frustrations, many of which I think owe to the lack of editorial control over what is posted. I would never want mods to descend on reddit and say, "this post is OK, this is not," because that complete openness and anarchy is what gives reddit its particular voice. It's also what makes reddit now overrrun with fake IAmA's, reposts, and sensationalist framing of news items. One of the reasons people do stunts like the Twitter feed is because they go viral and get attention on news aggregators.

I come to MetaFilter, in part, to get away from that.

Again, this is not a personal criticism of you for posting the original link. It was an open question to the admins because it seemed out of character for what I've seen fly/not fly on the blue in the past.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 4:33 AM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Again, this is not a personal criticism of you for posting the original link.

If this is true, why wasn't the call-out less public? Did you want a clarification on why it remained or did you want to host your own call-out party?

Sometimes funny things are just "lol this fictional person". Wasn't that the case with Michael Scott all these years?
posted by inturnaround at 5:40 AM on May 19, 2011


If this is true, why wasn't the call-out less public?

I thought that was part of what MetaTalk was for.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 6:04 AM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


If this is true, why wasn't the call-out less public?

It's totally okay to talk about policy/practice stuff on Metatalk generally speaking and this doesn't feel like much of an exception to that to me; hitting us up via the contact form is always fine and the more actually personal a concern or complaint is the better an idea it probably is to at least start there, but "hey, I'm trying to understand the situation with this post or mod decision or mefi policy" is pretty typical territory for Metatalk.

If it was e.g. "what is username's deal, anyway?", that would be more something where an email first would generally be a good idea.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:53 AM on May 19, 2011


I know it's typical, I guess it just seems like call-out after call-out here due to personal taste.

I guess for every user here, there's a corresponding vision about what MeFi should be that is different from everybody else. I don't envy your job, cortex.
posted by inturnaround at 7:16 AM on May 19, 2011


I know it's typical, I guess it just seems like call-out after call-out here due to personal taste.

I feel like lots of people are inferring that MeTa posts are call-outs of them personally when someone is asking a question about the community using a post as an example. This is not helped by the subjects of those posts taking things extremely personally at times. I don't know if this is a case where we-as-mods need to say "This isn't about you" a little more forcefully or what, but I will say that keeping MeTa freely available for people with questions is one of the main things I do here and lately that seems to involve a lot of telling people to not be prickly, defensive or outright mean to people trying to understand things here.

Taunting people because of their relative lack of experience/contribution here is not only absolutely not okay, it's basically going after the people who we encourage to use MetaTalk in the first place. MetaTalk is useful for the community and honestly it's useful for us as mods also because it means we don't have to have endless one-on-one email/IM conversations with people that really should happen in public if they're to be useful to the most people.

And maybe I'm just used to it since mod callouts are pretty standard here, but for people who are on the site a lot and have contributed a lot, it seems to me that being able to manage the occasional MeTa thread about something you did is something you should be prepared to deal with and, in my dream world, deal with somewhat gracefully.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:00 AM on May 19, 2011


I see that there is a new pastime developing here, apart from pie making and donut licking: digging in people's posting history.

I disagree; it used to be a lot more common, and far more indepth than the example here.

It seems lately that Metafilter has become pockmarked with Helen Lovejoys, running around and flagging and hand-wringingly asking, "Won't somebody think of the children!"

I disagree with that, too (Sorta), and disagree that it's a blight upon MeFi.

If there is a difference between now and before-now, it's that the tone of the community is more respectful and less dismissive when someone expresses concern or objection to something (Exceptions, as always, do exist). If people feel less inhibited about communicating their discomfort about a subject, then that may explain why you feel the frequency of that sort of thing is increasing. It could also just be that the number of 'Helen Lovejoys' has increased proportionally with the active userbase. I prefer to believe the former, as it means people feel more invested in the site and aren't afraid to advocate for themselves as they may have been in the before-now.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:10 AM on May 19, 2011


Are you a second account of someone we've heard of? Are you like, my stalker or something?

Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
posted by Dano St at 8:18 AM on May 19, 2011


what's bad for Metafilter is that we've collectively gotten too thinned-skinned

I know, right? Someone posts something to Metatalk saying something critical about one of our posts (not even about us!) and we're so thin-skinned that we get totally offended and bitchy about it so we take it out on them personally by being nasty and sarcastic and patronizing and dickish. We need to work on getting over that. Collectively, of course.
posted by dersins at 8:32 AM on May 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


"If this is true, why wasn't the call-out less public?"

This MeTa was not about orthogonality until zhe made it about orthogonality.

"I know it's typical, I guess it just seems like call-out after call-out here due to personal taste."

For what its worth, I flagged the post. Because the Ha Ha, laugh at the poor old stupid man left a bad taste in my mouth, plainly I was not alone. The objections to how Mainers, lesbians, Christians and to a lesser extent BoingBoing fans and Purple People Eaters are all just so X! Or how they all do Y and thats so funny! Or how they are all so stupid they can't figure out Z! are not about what we do, its about who we are. There really are plenty of places on the internet where one is free to be an asshole, free to be creepy and obsessive, free to groupthink about the otherness of others, and free to winnow down that slice of internet until it only contains people JUST LIKE YOU. Metafilter doesn't need to be one of them.
posted by Blasdelb at 8:47 AM on May 19, 2011


I feel like lots of people are inferring that MeTa posts are call-outs of them personally when someone is asking a question about the community using a post as an example. This is not helped by the subjects of those posts taking things extremely personally at times. I don't know if this is a case where we-as-mods need to say "This isn't about you" a little more forcefully or what, but I will say that keeping MeTa freely available for people with questions is one of the main things I do here and lately that seems to involve a lot of telling people to not be prickly, defensive or outright mean to people trying to understand things here.

I understand the need for this effort, and generally think it is a good thing. But there is such a long history of MeTa-as-callout that it seems to me to be asking a lot of someone targeted in the grey to not take it personally. Especially if the originator of the calloutquery does not make an effort to say it's not personal.

In other words, it's great if team mod wants to change the culture of metatalk, but while that slow process is taking place it seems like we all, mod or non-mod, could show some understanding why people might be offended and avoid phrases like "you are being a weird creep about this" or –hey there– "nasty and sarcastic and patronizing and dickish".
posted by Dano St at 8:50 AM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


zhe made it about orthogonality

Who is zhe?
posted by Meatbomb at 9:28 AM on May 19, 2011


A gender neutral pronoun
posted by Blasdelb at 9:32 AM on May 19, 2011


Totally illegal here blasdelb please use standard English.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:38 AM on May 19, 2011


Who is zhe?

zhe's a woman who understands
zhe's a woman who loves her man
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:50 AM on May 19, 2011


Who is zhe?

That's what thon said.
posted by dersins at 9:51 AM on May 19, 2011


zhesus
posted by found missing at 10:06 AM on May 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


This is the first case I've come across where Metafilter's standard style would have been actively confusing
posted by Blasdelb at 10:06 AM on May 19, 2011


ZHE'S A LADY, WOAH OH OH OH *pelvic thrust*
posted by entropicamericana at 10:37 AM on May 19, 2011


Sir, the pelvic thrusters are overheating!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:00 AM on May 19, 2011


zhrust??
posted by Namlit at 12:41 PM on May 19, 2011


Never sleeps.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:58 PM on May 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Aha. Actor-network theory. To quote from a manuscript that I'm fiddling with at this very time: "The difference between baboon societies (one of Bruno Latour’s examples), where social ties are constantly being groomed and maintained, and human societies, where social hierarchies survive over longer stretches of time, must be the existence of “entities that don’t sleep and associations that don’t break down.”
Latour's argument is about "objects as actors". I can see it clearly now. Zhrust, the never sleeping dishwasher.

(Man, how I would like to have a dishwasher that never sleeps).
posted by Namlit at 3:20 PM on May 19, 2011


when you make a lot of posts, some are really good and some are merely ok. Law of averages.

So don't make a lot of posts. It's not hard. Maybe some of the folks in "the peanut gallery"* don't have as many posts because they have a built-in quality meter where they can measure how good a post would be by themselves instead of submitting it and seeing what sticks.

It annoys and amuses me in equal measure when people are protective of the nerd table in the lunchroom.
posted by yerfatma at 6:38 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


Who is zhe?

Yes, good god, just say he/she. It's only three more keystrikes, and it will keep some of us from the feeling of nails scraped on a chalkboard.
posted by torticat at 1:17 AM on May 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


You are being a weird creep about this
posted by jessamyn ★ at 4:57 AM on May 19


Point of order: is telling someone they are being a weird creep as acceptable as telling someone they are acting like a weird creep, in that both are more acceptable than telling someone they are a weird creep? I'm still struggling with these subtle but doubtless totally rational MeFi insult guidelines.
posted by Decani at 9:10 PM on May 22, 2011


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