Metafilter IRC?

November 21, 2002 4:33 PM

Is Metafilter IRC gone for good?

Is there now a quota of nearly zero on political and geopolitical threads? I never got the memo.
posted by ParisParamus to Etiquette/Policy at 4:33 PM (18 comments total)

The irc server hasn't been re-setup by Chris yet, who donated the server and space for it in the past.

As for the decrease in political posts, this is pretty good summary of earlier discussion.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:41 PM on November 21, 2002

Ahh, Fack it.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 6:09 PM on November 21, 2002

Thanks to frykitty for a fantastically complete Frequently Asked Questions update!

Well done!
posted by hama7 at 8:57 AM on November 22, 2002

But where's the Mefi discussion itself (assuming one resulted in an unofficial, or official ban)? If war breaks out, in you know where, or you know where, when a certain wall collapses, still a ban? : (
posted by ParisParamus at 1:41 PM on November 22, 2002

If war breaks out, in you know where, or you know where, when a certain wall collapses, still a ban? : (
Lord I hope so. The links are almost never new and rarely interesting and the discussion is usually a total cringe fest. LGF, DU, FR: a bazillion sites will be covering this when it happens. Take it to them.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:45 PM on November 22, 2002

And it's not so much a ban as a concensus.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:46 PM on November 22, 2002

Well, i'm not going to go out on any limbs. By the way, the whole charm of such threads on Mefi is that Mefi isn't a specialized site. What's LGF? and DU?

Vitriole is ALWAYS welcome in my e-mailbox....
posted by ParisParamus at 1:50 PM on November 22, 2002

Sorry, I was being cryptic. Little Green Footballs and Democratic Underground. And also sorry if I came across as vitriolic. My issue with those kind of threads is that while Mefi isn't a specialized site with regards to subject, it does have a specialized type of post: interesting and new (or at least little known). Most news and politics threads tend to be anything but: CNN links, wire service reports, widely read pundits... yawn.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:56 PM on November 22, 2002

Wasn't suggesting you were being vitriolic(sp?); just that I'm always interested what others are thinking, whatever they are. As far as I'm concerned, the loss of those threads, particularly since no one is forced to read them, is a loss. In any case, I'm sure they'll be back once a certain current events threshold is crossed.

Also, I find it curious that talk of politics on Mefi stopped just around the time of this past election day. I think there are just a lot of demoralized people around here.
posted by ParisParamus at 2:03 PM on November 22, 2002

The links are almost never new and rarely interesting and the discussion is usually a total cringe fest. LGF, DU, FR: a bazillion sites will be covering this when it happens. Take it to them.

I'm actually a little disappointed on the consensus... I'd agree that there have been some highly polemic and incisive posts and comments which have turned even decent posts to crap.

But here's the thing... while I occasionally visit LGF and DU, the political discussion on MetaFilter is much, much better. Either place, mostly you get a bunch of people reinforcing their groupthink along whichever wing of the political spectrum is most represented. With MetaFilter, if there's a counterargument, it's likely it will show up, and if you do it right, you might even be respected (as well as shouted at). At LGF, just try expressing the idea that Israel bears some responsibility for the Israeli-Palestine conflict, for example...

Maybe I'm one of the few here, but I've actually been influenced by some well-written/linked arguments which opposed viewpoints I've had, and definitely been informed. If political stuff stops showing up, I'll miss that.
posted by namespan at 2:17 PM on November 22, 2002

What namespan said.
posted by spacewaitress at 2:24 PM on November 22, 2002

ditto here too...i think we're reaching a new consensus.
posted by amberglow at 2:39 PM on November 22, 2002

I agree with namespan wholeheartedly. Though many (including Matt) think MeFi does discussion of that nature poorly, I think that many of our members conduct such discussions very well. I've had my own beliefs shaped by a number of the posts I've read here.

Of course, I don't think MeFi should encourage CNN posts, newsposts, or links to article by well known pundits. There is, however, room for the discussion of well-articulated points-of-view and innovative ideas in the domains of politics (etc.).
posted by Marquis at 3:56 PM on November 22, 2002

PinkStainlessTail: What's FR? Free Republic?
The other two are exceptionally relaxing, as you may well know.
posted by hama7 at 5:16 PM on November 22, 2002

Less political posts recently? What Metafilter are you guys reading?

Disclaimer: My definition of politics also includes social issues (anything from PETA to Sweatshops) and Iraq

Anyway, I agree the level of discourse in political discussions here is much higher than other sites. The problem is that people get excited from these discussions and make too many political FPPs. I've seen days where a good 50% of posts on Metafilter were political, which in my opinion disrupts the balance. 10% of posts a day would be enough for everyone to get their jollies in. If you're about to make a political post and you've seen a lot of political-geared stuff on MeFi that day, it would be a good idea to hold it off for tomorrow.

This is also happens from time to time with "ArtFilter". I could probably make a really good Art post everyday, but I usually hold off when I see others have beaten me to the punch.
posted by Stan Chin at 5:48 PM on November 22, 2002

I would very much be dissapointed if no news could be posted and discussed here. I actually like posts about topics relevant to the world at large. Why should every post be some "something funky on the web" thing. Frankly, all the flash and posts about movies and Micheal Jackson's face, et al are pretty much wacky news posts aren't they? What's wrong with some people here wanting to discuss recent world events?
posted by xammerboy at 6:58 PM on November 22, 2002

What's wrong with some people here wanting to discuss recent world events?

nothing, except that mefi is not a discussion board. discussion is not its sole purpose, and that has been wrong. interesting discussion prompted by interesting links are fine; shitty links, used as an excuse to start a discussion, are a terrible problem. the more metafilter is championed for its discussion than for its links, the more often you will see metafilter abused toward that end. a balance has to be reached.
posted by moz at 10:31 PM on November 22, 2002

that has been what's wrong lately, i should say.
posted by moz at 10:32 PM on November 22, 2002